NXT Star Thea Hail Says AEW Star Helped Her On Journey To WWE

Later tonight, Thea Hail will challenge Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women's Championship as a part of the 2024 "WWE NXT" Great American Bash. Before she steps up to Perez, Hail spoke with the Pittsburgh City Paper to reflect on her journey in WWE thus far, revealing which of her former opponents first helped her get in contact with the company back in 2021.

"[My dad] found me a training school in Pittsburgh called the Stronghold Training Center, and then that was combined with the Iron City Wrestling Academy, and I trained at both of those schools," Hail said. "I ended up landing a Dark match for AEW after having a seminar with QT Marshall, and I wrestled Thunder Rosa, and she got me in contact with a recruiter from WWE."

Hail's respective match against Thunder Rosa, a former AEW Women's Champion, aired on the September 28, 2021 episode of "AEW Dark" – a time in which she performed under the name of Nikita Knight. The following month, Hail returned to AEW for another "Dark" match, this time against former TBS Champion Julia Hart.

With the aid of Rosa, Hail later received an invitation to a three-day WWE tryout in December 2021. Other notable talents at this tryout include The Renegade Twins (Charlette and Robyn), Kiana James, Arianna Grace, and Roxanne Perez — the latter three of whom joined Hail in the WWE Performance Center class of March 2022. Fast forward two years, Hail is now a regular fixture on "NXT" programming alongside her fellow Chase U members, such as Duke Hudson, Riley Osborne, and Andre Chase.