Thunder Rosa Calls Tony Khan "A Character", Discusses Possible Next Steps With AEW
NWA World Women's Champion and TJPW International Princess Champion Thunder Rosa recently sat down with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman on The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast where they talked about Rosa's AEW Dynamite debut and her interactions with AEW President Tony Khan. Rosa called Khan "a character" for his vast knowledge of wrestling and said that the AEW environment was very positive due to her knowing many of the talent on the indies.
"He is such a character," Rosa said. "If I have a question about wrestling [or] a wrestling event, he can literally open his brain. He is like an encyclopedia of wrestling, and he is so fun to work with and he was very welcoming from the moment I got there. He was just like, 'thank you for being here,' and I was like 'whoa, whoa whoa. Whoa, this is pretty cool.' So I always felt welcomed by him, Cody [and] the ladies because I worked with a lot of them in the indies, so it's not like we're strangers, but the environment, for me, it's been very positive."
Rosa revealed that she was contacted by AEW to appear with the promotion but the NWA and AEW negotiated on the details separately. Hausman asked Rosa about the future of AEW and NWA's partnership.
"I don't know. That's up to Billy [Corgan] and Tony Khan," Rosa noted. "Right now, we have a very good partnership, and that's up to them."
Hausman then asked if her future would include her being signed to not only NWA but also AEW. Rosa said that she would be open to that, but she also noted that she is currently living in the moment and is happy and blessed for the opportunities.
"Who wouldn't want to do that? It's like having two girlfriends," Rosa described. "It would be perfect, but I am living in the moment. I am, right now, in Jacksonville. I just had a match yesterday, a tag match [that] I enjoyed very much. In the future, I know, like I said, Tony's been very open. He likes my work, and again, I'm here to work. I'm here to elevate my opponents as much as possible and to make it fun and to make people talk about the women's division not in a negative connotation [but] in a positive way.
"At the end of the day, we want to be competition to the big dogs because AEW are in the big dog league. Me being here and them allowing me to work and give my little grain of salt to the women's division, to elevate it, it's great. I am blessed. I am humbled, and I'm very thankful for this opportunity."
Rosa also said that AEW does have a chance to compete with WWE starting with Khan who has the passion and capital to make it happen. She noted that AEW is still a new promotion, but she hopes that it can grow to become a destination for wrestlers to work and provide them a platform to continue their dream.
"Absolutely, if it's done right, anybody can," Rosa stated. "Nothing is impossible, and I know Tony Khan has the love for professional wrestling. He is a fan from the heart, and he has the means to make something happen. The company's really young, and they're trying their best. They've had pretty good shows, and the production is really good. It's that learning experience.
"We all go through it. We have to go through growing pains, until we get what we want [and] we get the product that we want. So I'm hoping that they continue for many many years, and it will be something where people can go and have jobs. At the end of the day, it's jobs for us and a platform for us to do what we love."
Thunder Rosa can be found on Twitter @thunderrosa22. Rosa's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.