Quinn is in.
After ROH host-turned-wrestler Quinn McKay won a fan vote with an astounding 95%, she earned a spot in the Ring of Honor Women’s Championship Tournament. Her reward was a first-round match with her bitter rival, Mandy Leon. As part of The Allüre, Leon has been a thorn in McKay’s side for over two years now, and the fan-favorite star would like nothing more than to get some sweet revenge by defeating her.
In an interview with WrestleZone, McKay expressed her gratitude to those who voted her into the tournament and shared her excitement about the fact that this result shows that the fans genuinely wanted her to compete for the title.
“That’s incredible because when Maria [Kanellis-Bennett] told me that she was gonna leave it up to a fan vote, I was like oh man, Reddit is gonna get a hold of this or something, and there’s no way that I’m gonna get into the tournament just out of sheer spite,” said McKay. “So yeah, it was really incredible to have the fans rally around me like they did and say that they really, really wanted me in the tournament because obviously without them, I wouldn’t be in it at all. But yeah, there was obviously that fear that I was just not gonna be able to get in at all. So thank you so much for everybody who voted.”
As for her match with Leon, McKay emphasized the outcome of their previous encounter, in which Leon cheated in order to emerge victorious. With Kanellis-Bennett’s decision to ban Leon’s partner in The Allüre, Angelina Love from ringside, McKay expressed her belief that the levelled playing field will make all the difference. Because she practically had Leon beat last time around, McKay is confident that she’ll walk away with the win in this tournament bout.
“First and foremost, Mandy is a big cheating cheater, so let’s just get that out of the way,” said McKay. “She blatantly hit me in the head with brass knuckles and I had a headache for a week, so that was super fun. But the one thing I know about cheaters is cheaters never win. I’m gonna be on the lookout this time. Angelina [Love] is banned from ringside so one, I know if there’s outside interference, Mandy is gonna to have to have been smart enough to think about it and coordinate it for herself, and if I know anything about Mandy, she’s not capable of doing things like that without help.
“So I think, going into this, that I’m safe. I mean, she’s a more experienced wrestler than me, she’s been doing this a lot longer than me, but before Angelina went and twisted her brain, she was, I don’t know, you could even go so far as to say a good person. But yeah, I don’t think she can get of those hijinks over without Angelina by her side, and considering that Angelina is banned from ringside and vice versa during Angelina’s matches, I think that you’re going to see a cleaner style coming from both, to put it politely… Without Angelina there, there is no doubt in my mind that I can finally close this chapter with Mandy.”
If McKay does beat Leon, her next match will be with Rok-C. A win in that match could secure McKay’s spot in a semi-final match with Love, which could be an excellent opportunity to settle the score once and for all. Though McKay explained that she’s not looking that far ahead quite yet, she knows a rematch with Love would be quite explosive.
“I know that I should tell you that I have this plan for defeating Angelina Love if I do beat Mandy, but I have been so fixated and concerned with actually putting Mandy’s shoulders to the ground that I have not thought that far ahead,” said McKay.”I honestly haven’t. Whenever Angelina and I meet again, I think it’s safe to say that it will be cataclysmic, scary and hopefully catastrophic, but for her, not for me.”
Check out our full interview with Quinn McKay at the top of this post.
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