Anna Jay Names Her Favorite WWE Stars When She Was Growing Up

Anna Jay of Dark Order was on a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho where she talked about her rise in AEW so far as well as getting into pro wrestling through a family friend in former WCW star Glacier. Jay was also a WWE fan growing up, and she talked about how The Bella Twins were her favorites.

"I love The Bella Twins, always say that," Jay said. "Of course, people are like, 'Oh, of course you do,' but that is what got me into it because I see them and think, if they can do it, I can do it. They were good at branding themselves, and you could see that. And I feel like it started a whole different era. I did [watch Total Divas], not so much later on, but when it first started I did. I did [go to a WWE show] in Jacksonville. It was just one of their live shows, and she was there, Nikki Bella. So that was cool. I got to see her. I think I was in my freshman year of high school."

Jay officially signed with AEW in early April after only a few matches in her career. Jay admitted that she didn't know if she would ever be a fit in AEW when she first started watching.

"Obviously, there was a connection there, and of course, you want any opportunity you can have, but I didn't know if I would fit in here, [or] if they would want me here," Jay admitted. I remember watching it and loving it, but... I wonder if I would fit in there, if they would have a place for me there."

Chris Jericho asked if she ever enquired about a WWE tryout. Jay said she didn't mostly because of how new she was in pro wrestling.

"I didn't," Jay stated. "I hadn't gotten to that point yet because [of] me being so new. I debuted and came here in March. That was the pandemic too. Everything was happening so quickly. So no, I never really got to that point."

Jay recalled when she got the call to be part of the Atlanta tapings to make her AEW debut. She talked about her reaction to making her Dynamite debut.

"Well, I was actually in Jacksonville first. I wrestled Penelope [Ford] on Dark," Jay recalled. "That was the first time, and then, I think, the following week I remember QT [Marshall] text me at Sunday night, late one night. And he was like, 'Hey, I think we're going to have you back on Dynamite this week in Atlanta, and it'll be live. And it'll be against [Hikaru] Shida, and I was like, 'Shoot. Okay, I'll do it.'"

Jay noted that the Shida match was only about her sixth match ever. She also noted that with her lack of experience, she was used to working with little to no crowd.

"I think that was my fifth or sixth," Jay revealed. "It's crazy. I will say. I think it actually was not bad for me because I'm not really used to people. So it's kind of like, 'Oh, this works out,' especially in the Atlanta tapings because that's where I trained. I was like, 'Well, it's not that different.'"

Jay also revealed that she was signed that night. She said AEW EVP Cody Rhodes came up to her after her match and offered her a contract.

"That night," Jay said. "After the Shida match, Cody Rhodes is the one who came up and offered. It didn't feel like it was real at all. It's like, 'What is going on?' It was that night. It was really cool."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.