Our very own Ray Petree is making news in the world of pro wrestling, with his reporting on up-and-coming AEW star Maya World.
Petree’s interview with World, 24, conducted yesterday, ahead of her scheduled appearance at tonight’s “Collision” live TV broadcast from the Berglund Center in Roanoke, caught the attention of the editors at F4WOnline and Fightful.
F4WOnline highlighted, in “Maya World reveals her AEW dream opponent following Mercedes Mone match,” how World told Petree in the interview, that she would look forward to the opportunity to wrestle Hikaru Shida, the current TBS champ, and a former AEW world champ.
“There’s new challengers. I could be one of her new challengers. So, hopefully one day I get to face her, too, because that’s definitely a dream match of mine,” World told Petree in the interview.
Fightful’s headline on that topic: “Maya World On Hikaru Shida: Hopefully One Day I Get To Face Her, Because That’s Definitely A Dream Match Of Mine.”
That story linked to another from Fightful: “Maya World Says Athena’s Coaching And Teaching Prepared Her For Moments Like Filling In On Short Notice In The Owen Hart Cup.”
They like really long headlines there at Fightful.
That story was built off World telling Petree this about Athena, the “forever” Ring of Honor world champ:
“Honestly, I say her coaching and teaching is what prepared me for moments like, making sure I’m ready whenever opportunity knocks. It’s definitely something she instills in her students to this day[…] In professional wrestling, you never know what’s going to happen. Even moments like, me getting signed after stepping up for a tag match, she told me, ‘I’ve been telling you, you never know what’s going to happen. Just always be ready, always be prepared, and never stop training. Stay ready.’”
One more headline from Fightful harkening back to the Petree interview: “Maya World: I Feel Like So Many People Have Gotten To Wrestle At The 2300 Arena Recently, I Would Love To Wrestle There.”
The corresponding quote from the interview:
“I would love to wrestle at the 2300 Arena. It’s just iconic. I feel like so many people have gotten to wrestle there recently, and I haven’t. So I want to do that, especially if it’s for the ROH women’s world championship. You never know. That would be dope.”
I think there’s at least one more set of stories coming: from what World told Petree in the interview about her breakout match with Mercedes Mone at the “Forbidden Door” pay-per-view.
“I didn’t expect it for me so early on, at least here in AEW. Of course, wrestling Mercedes, which was a dream match of mine. I wish I would have won, that would’ve made it even better. Like you said, I just started wrestling four years ago, so it’s been a crazy ride, and just having that match so early on — it really catapulted me to another level.
“The rush of the crowd, being that deep into the match — I still think about the moment where I had her in the crossface, and the crowd was getting behind me. Going that deep into a match was amazing, and now that I know I can do it, I want to do it again.”
The fun part to this for me: just like Athena and Mercedes Mone are helping a young talent like Maya World get over in the wrestling business, I view AFP as an incubator for young talents like Ray Petree get over in the media business.
Just as long as the kids remember me when they get to the top …
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Chris Graham
