Paige VanZant, joined Renee Paquette & Miesha Tate on SiriusXM’s Throwing Down with Renee & Miesha to discuss her current pro wrestling training.
Paige did reveal that while she is picking things up fairly quickly inside the squared circle during her training, it will be her work on the microphone that will be the most challenging.
“Yeah, that is gonna be, honestly, the hardest part is learning to work the microphone, learning to work the room on the microphone, learning to speak in public,” Paige explained. “I feel like I’ve always done well speaking in public, but all the questions are about me, and it’s pretty easy to just talk about yourself, but in this instance, it’s going out there, and you have to like – I’m going to be calling people out, I’m gonna be talking to other female wrestlers. It’s making it in the entertainment industry as well, but at the same time, I do know luckily I’m going in there I’m still Paige VanZant.”
In preparation for her eventual in-ring AEW debut, Paige has been watching some other athletes who have transitioned into the world of pro wrestling such as Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler.
“You know, I’ve been trying to get some ideas and some new moves to use,” VanZant said. “I’ve been watching everybody. I’ve been watching Ronda. I’ve been watching Shayna for a long time, she’s been wrestling forever. I’ve been watching everybody in WWE and in AEW. I still go to all of the AEW shows, and I just watch in the back and get a sense of what I’ll be doing, just to make sure I’m good at it. So I feel like the more involved I am the more I’ll pick up just from watching.”
One key component that Paige VanZant has noticed that is different between UFC and AEW, is the energy that the fans provide at each show.
“You know in the back, I notice that at the shows, it’s definitely a – there’s a lot of similarities,” Paige said. “I mean at the end of the day everybody’s coming for your job. Everybody’s trying to come and come at you. Everybody’s competition, it doesn’t matter who you are. It honestly feels like the same world.
“The one biggest difference though – I love MMA fans, I love UFC fans, I know there’s a lot of diehards but when you’re in the audience at a pro wrestling show the energy is shocking. The love and support, whenever a pro wrestler walks out, the entire audience is singing their song, they know the song by heart. They have the banners. The love, just the energy from the fans. I don’t know if they’ll love me or not. Doesn’t matter. I just know they’re going to give me a ton of energy no matter what.”
