Supernova: AMA with Aia

[Lo-Drew]

[In November of 2020, the GCW world was introduced to Aia, a wrestling prodigy hailing from Japan. Thanks to Trevor Cash, a five match excursion was put in place for her to compete against the best GCW had to offer. Other than a loss in her debut match, a tag team affair with former GCW North American Champion Dianna Kruse (Aia did not take the fall in said match), Aia has defeated every opponent in her way and has showed the world why she was so highly regarded on the Puro scene. With Resurrection on the horizon, her match with Kelsai Adamson-Mason on Night 3 marks her final match of her American excursion. We sat down with Aia for an AMA style interview; where the GCW fans submitted the questions for her to question. Note: throughout the interview, Aia spoke in her native language while a translator relayed her reposes to us.]

[This interview was conducted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2021]

-So this Sunday will be your last match in GCW.

Aia: Yes. This experience has been amazing and I'm definitely a bit sad that it's coming to an end. At the same time, I'm ready to go back home and show everyone all the new tricks I've picked up. So on Sunday, I'm going to have a different range of emotions inside me.

-Can you describe what those emotions will be?

Aia: I always feel a swell of emotion when I compete. I think wrestling is such a unique platform where there are no restraints to how you can express yourself. The wrestlers that I admire wrestle with conviction and passion and they display all of their hopes and reams on their shelves. The shitty wrestlers are the ones who wrestle without any meaning or goal or emotion. And they get eaten alive when they step into the ring.

-You feel as if wrestlers that don't wrestle in this manner are sub-par?

Aia: I have no time for people who are unsure of themselves in the ring. I wrestle because I have certain goals that I want to reach and with each match, it takes me closer and closer to achieving them. What attracted me to pro wrestling was the competition and watching the wrestlers put everything that they felt on the line to prove themselves. I think people who put on this show but wrestle in this soulless manner are liars. And I have no time for them.

-Many people don't know this but wrestling wasn't your first passion. It was baseball. You were highly regarded as a third baseman in high school and was even offered a scholarship.

Aia: I grew up watching baseball with my father because he loves it so much. I decided to give it a try and I was really good right away. There were times where I thought that's what I was going to do for my life. But I guess that's where you could say pro wrestling swept me off of my feet.

-You trained in the same school, INSPIRE Dojo, as former Cartel Nxt:Gen Chameleon champion KIRA Nakajima, another highly regarded female wrestler when she came here. That same school also produced El Rudo, former member of PUNK HAZARD. Yet, as you were preparing to make your debut here, the word was that they considered you to be the best student they've ever taught.

Aia: I someone like me was made for pro wrestling. As soon as I attended my first wrestling school, I connected with the concept of wrestling so quickly that I had to go deeper and see where that journey would take me. The core is being competitive and striving to be the best and I've never done anything in my life where that wasn't my aim. I don't take pleasure in doing things for fun or doing anything out of exhibition. I want to feel as if my skills and my resolve are being tested. I don't play games with people and I don't have time for people who want to engage in that. There's no greater feeling than being thrown into the heat of battle and having to use everything inside of you to prevail.

-It's the competition that appeals to you most.

Aia: It's what draws me in the most. Even when I spar, it gives me a rush of adrenaline that can't be described.

-INSPIRE Dojo has a reputation for how rugged and intense the training regimen can be.

Aia: I hear that a lot, but personally I didn't mind it at all. Truthfully, I skipped a good chunk of my sessions when I was being trained. My trainers forced me to spar for 90 minutes straight until I could no longer walk. And they wanted me to insist to them that I would never do it again. But I ended up doing it again the next day.

-Why's that?

Aia: I don't need to practice to know how to wrestle. If I can imagine doing something in my head, I can do it in the ring. The style that I wrestle I think compliments this because it's just pure strikes and emotion.

-Do you still skip practice?

Aia: Not at all. It's not skipping if I don't need it. I don't run myself to the ground when I spar. I spend more time in the gym than I do sparring, but those two are married together. Because of my style, working on my arms and my core has been my top priority because it allows me to withstand a lot of punishment but it also allows me to deal out harder strikes.

-So let's get to these questions. We offered the fans a chance to ask you anything about we picked out a few for you to answer.

-Aia. OK.

-This questions says with the upcoming match this Sunday at Resurrection X, you will be at the end of your 5 match excursion, and so far no one has come close to defeating you. So, with GCW Management knowing you were coming, are you in any way disappointed that they could not find a better quality of opponent for you, or this what you expected and why?

Aia: I'm not disappointed at all. The purpose of coming to America was to learn a new style and wrestle in a new environment and testing yourself against a new group of wrestlers. So I wouldn't say it was a disappointment at all. I feel as if I've learned a lot of valuable lessons and there's new aspects about pro wrestling that I learned that I will take with when I go back home.

-What about the second half of the question regarding the quality of opponents?

Aia: I thought everyone I stepped into the ring with were quality, capable opponents. I felt as if they make me sweat a little, which is what I wanted. Though there isn't a wrestler than I haven't laid eyes on that I've felt like I can't beat. So I don't see the need to e disappointed about something I knew was going to happen. I knew I was going to win all of those matches.

-This question talks about your match at Resurrection. It reads; "What are you expecting for the match when you face Kelsai Adamson-Mason at Resurrection X?"

Aia: I'm expecting a challenge from her. I'm expecting to be hit with this burst of emotion and energy from her. My impression of her is that she is unable to properly control her emotions and that makes her vulnerable to me. I don't fault anyone for wrestling with emotion and I am relived that I'm wrestling someone who gives a shit. However, being ruled by your emotions makes you wrestle sloppy and wrestling that way against me is the easiest way to defeat. So I'm expecting a good match. I know she's highly touted here and is looked at as a future World champion. I can see what those people see. She is talented and is more than capable in the ring. I think everyone will see us express our emotions to one another in the ring and that'll be a beautiful thing. With that said, I know I'm the better wrestler and I know I'm going to break her will in the ring.

-Someone writes; Has there ever been any thought on your part to pursuing a full time contract with GCW?

Aia: Not right now. I've enjoyed my time in America. There are things about this country that I love and things that I'll miss. Throughout this whole time I've stayed in San Francisco and it's such a beautiful town. But, there are a lot of things I want to accomplish in Japan and that's where my focus lies. Perhaps down the road we'll see. One thing's for sure, I am definitely coming back to America at some point. I don't know when but I can promise you that.

- We have another one here. This questions says, "Your manager Trevor Cash is also the manager of Princess Nava Farrin. If you were to face the Princess, which one of you would come out on top?"

Aia: I'm not sure what this question is asking, to be honest. I think the answer would be quite obvious, wouldn't it? A big part of being a successful wrestler is having that confidence in yourself, which is something I've noticed is lacking a bit with some of the wrestlers here. There's this need to even be "showy" in their views of themselves or there's this need to glorify their lack of self confidence. Everyone's going to have doubts about certain things. I have my own. But true confidence is not "showy'. I think it's someone that's expressed without speaking. So people come to me and say i'm so confident and strong. but I'm just being who I am. That doesn't change. I know what I'm capable of and you know it when you look at me. So I think I would win and I think she [Nava] would think that she would win. We never personally met but I am a fan of hers. I think we have a lot of similar views on wrestling and the way she wrestles is something I respect. The reason she's been so successful is because she has that belief in herself. So I would love to test my skills against her one day if that happens.

-Looking over the GCW roster, is there anyone you would like to face that you haven’t at this point?

Aia: Alan Monroe. He's a wild guy! But we wrestle the same so I would have looked forward to brawling with someone who loves to brawl too. Chantelle Chambers. I've heard about her and managed to see some of her matches in person. She wrestles at an elite level and I would love to fight her. Travis Vessey is highly regarded and is another that's on my list. Those are the names that come to mind.

-Final question. "You are undefeated on your excursion. Suppose that you were to lose at Resurrection X, would you still consider the excursion a success?

Aia: I don't know, honestly. On one end, like I said, I felt like I learned a lot and that has made me a better wrestler. On the other end, I hate to lose and if I lost to Kelsai on Sunday, I would be f**king mad. So I don't know, truth be told. Maybe the answer is somewhere in the middle? But any thoughts of losing hasn't entered my mind at all. I don't think I'm going to lose in any capacity. I've prepared for Kelsai this last month and wrestling in a famous arena like Madison Square Garden has me amped up. I feel it's the perfect arena, perfect platform to show the world what I can do. So I don't think I'll lose so I would consider it a massive success. Five stars. 10/10 [laughs.]