Serena Deeb Reveals Her Pro Wrestling Mount Rushmore

On a recent episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast, NWA Women's World Champion Serena Deeb chatted with Aubrey Edwards and Tony Schiavone about her time in AEW so far. Deeb first talked about what it's like to be NWA Champion.

"It's an honor that goes without saying," Deeb stated. "The NWA is, historically speaking, one of if not the most important promotion in wrestling, and it goes back so far. The people that have wrestled for the NWA over the years are the biggest names in wrestling and people that I just have so much respect for and people that I grew up idolizing.

"Even the list of women that have had held the Women's Championship is just incredible, and it's an honor the fact that this year has been just a whirlwind of I went from coaching to not knowing what was happening in my life for several months to getting back in the ring and now being NWA Champion is a big accolade in my life both personally and professionally."

Deeb was brought on to AEW in early September. She made her Dynamite debut against then NWA Champion Thunder Rosa, and Deeb revealed when she found out about the match.

"48 Hours beforehand," Deeb revealed. "It was really really last minute."

Later that month, Deeb officially signed with AEW. She talked about coming in to AEW and said she knew she wanted to sign with the company when she arrived at the first taping she went to.

"The match with Thunder Rosa from Dynamite, like I said, that was brought to my attention about 48 hours beforehand," Deeb recalled. "I think it was that Monday before the Wednesday taping, and it was just a simple 'are you prepared for this? Is this something that you're interested in?' Of course the answer was yes so came in did the match and didn't really have any expectations.

"I just wanted to have an awesome match, make her look incredible heading into the PPV against [Hikaru] Shida and it went really really well, very positive feedback from management from fans, all of the above. It was really cool to see the response to that especially after not having wrestled for so long and just from there I was asked to come back to the next set of tapings, and at the next set of tapings is when I was officially offered something.

"And it was less than a week later we made it final, and I knew from that first taping that I wanted to be a part of it. I just had such a positive experience. Just the way it all turned out, I couldn't have asked for a better story."

Later in the podcast, Deeb answered questions from the fans. One fan asked Deeb who she has one her Mount Rushmore of professional wrestling.

"Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels [and] Eddie Guerrero," Deeb named. "There's some honorable mentions too. Dean Malenko's on there as well."

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