Current World of Stardom champion and AEW wrestler Bea Priestley was offered a contract to join NXT UK. Priestley would turn down the offer, however. She noted in a recent interview with Talk Sport in the UK that she did so out of fear she would get lost in the shuffle in WWE.
“It was very difficult because, Toni Storm, she is one of my best friends ever,” Priestley said when asked if it was difficult to turn down the NXT UK contract. “And also, I’ve got a very strong bond with Kay Lee [Ray] and Viper [Piper Niven]; Piper and I are a tag team in Japan and I’ve got a lot of working experience with Kay Lee.”
Priestley would continue to say that at the time they offered her a contract, however, she felt as though she would get lost in the shuffle of their roster.
“At the time when they offered me a contract, I already knew that Piper and Kay Lee had signed. So for me, I didn’t think that I was never going to have a spotlight on me because they had just signed two of the top girls in the UK.”
Priestley was concerned she would end up as a mid-carder on the brand.
“So I was going to be signed as a mid-carder and it would have taken me a while to get the spotlight on me. So in my head, I was like ‘Ok, if I stay away – I still want to get a lot more experience in Japan – I still have a lot of other things I want to do’, for me, that was the best decision for me.”
Bea Priestley on Signing With AEW
Priestley would also talk about her relationship with the team from AEW during the interview. She mentioned first working with Cody and Brandi in 2016/17 around the time when she was being recruited by the NXT UK brand.
“I first met Cody Rhodes and Brandi Rhodes during a What Culture show in 2016 or 2017? It was a few years ago. So I already had a good relationship with Brandi and at the end of 2018, then Brandi and Cody did a tour with a promotion called Fight Forever. I wrestled Brandi on one of those shows and Brandi really enjoyed the match, Cody really enjoyed the match and they were like ‘that was really great’, but then I got a phone call from NXT UK.”
Ultimately, AEW would offer her a deal which would allow her to continue to work with Stardom as well.
“So I contacted Cody and said ‘they’ve made me an offer but I’m not really sure what I want to do’ and then from there, Cody and Brandi offered me a part-time deal and for me, I still wanted to have a big poart in Stardom, so the AEW deal worked out a lot better for me than the NXT UK deal. Because I wouldn’t be able to commit as much as I have to Japan if I was in NXT UK.”
The full interview can be read here.
