Willow Nightingale recognizes the importance of her role in AEW
Later tonight, the women of AEW will make history as they compete in their first-ever Blood and Guts match on AEW Dynamite, with Willow Nightingale amongst the stacked lineup. Since officially signing with the company in 2022, Nightingale has enjoyed a reign as the AEW TBS, CMLL, and NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion. Along the way, she has also taken on the added responsibilities of being an AEW wrestler, such as representing the company and her personal communities.
During an interview with Cameron Hawkins of Uncrowned, Nightingale opened up about her position in All Elite Wrestling as well as the challenges that have come along with it.
“I can go out there and if somebody says, ‘Willow Nightingale, I don’t like her.’ That’s fine,” Nightingale said. “But the comments that I do have a problem with are when people attack a whole group of people because of my own shortcomings.
“When people are like, ‘Oh, she botched [a move] because fat people are lazy and they shouldn’t be in a ring.’ And so, OK, personally, you’re attacking my body. Whatever, that’s fine. But there are a bunch of athletes — not just women — athletes in bigger bodies, softer bodies, whatever, who work really hard. And so I feel like every time I’m letting them down.
Willow takes a lot of issues to heart
“Even talking about race lately, I felt a little weird because there’s some people who feel like I’m not Black enough or I don’t speak up for Black people enough,” she continued. “Mixed race, Black people, people of color, whatever it is. … That is one of the things that really I take to heart.
“There reached a point in my career where I almost was driving myself crazy because every time somebody would say something bad about me, I felt like I was letting down so many people. And I had to shake it off and be like, ‘Listen, you’re just one person representing, but you’re not the only one, and you’re just one person.'”
Nightingale Doesn’t Take Her Position Lightly
In the present day, Nightingale says she worries about the entire women’s locker room, even those she may not be on the best of terms with behind the scenes. The reason? Every member is working toward the same goal — making AEW as good as it can be.
“We’ve all got, I don’t want to say a chip on our shoulder, but we all realize that being put in a position like this is not something to take lightly,” Nightingale added.
Outside of Blood and Guts, Nightingale is also involved in the ongoing tournament to crown the inaugural AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions. She and Harley Cameron defeated Mercedes Moné and Athena in the opening around. Looking ahead, they will face Julia Hart and Skye Blue in the semi-finals.
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