British wrestler Sadie Gibbs has spoken publicly about her release from AEW in an interview with Chris Van Vliet.
Gibbs was released alongside Jimmy Havoc and Bea Priestley in August. Tweeting confirmation of the news at the time, Gibbs noted on Twitter “I completely understand the reasons behind the release. I’m grateful for the time I had, I just wish I had more time to showcase my character”.
Sadie Gibbs was signed by AEW in May 2019 and made her debut at All Out in the Casino Battle Royale. She made her final appearance just five months later – almost a year ago to the day – teaming with Allie to defeat Big Swole and (former Retribution member and current NXT star) Mercedes Martinez on AEW Dark.
Prior to her release, Gibbs had intended to move permanently to Atlanta in the US so she could attend the Nightmare Factory training school, until the global pandemic put paid to those plans:
“I would be training there and just be around more, to be implemented into things. I just wanted to give 100% and dedicate to the promotion. Obviously, things changed, but that was the plan. Before that, I was being flown in for the shows.”
Gibbs only wrestled three times for AEW in total, but she still made headlines after an altercation with Bea Priestley following the Casino Battle Royale, which apparently got so heated that Matt Jackson had to break them up before the situation got out of hand.
Sadie described the lack of matches as “a little disappointing”, noting that she was having matches every week in Japan but that in AEW she was not given the opportunity to fully showcase her skills.
In discussing her release, Gibbs expressed that she understood why it had to be done given she was unable to travel to the shows, but was sure to point out that AEW did retain the services of other UK wrestlers:
“They kept a couple from the UK, I noticed. Anthony Ogogo is still with them. It’s a bit bittersweet. It’s a hard one to swallow, but I guess they had to cut their costs and the situation is what it is. I probably won’t get to fly over there until March at the earliest.”
Despite that, Gibbs says the way her release was handled was “nicely done” and that AEW officials made sure to point out the decision had nothing to do with talent, but purely on the global situation, noting that AEW said they would reach out to her “when the world is settled and normal”.
ITRWrestling.com would like to thank Fightful for providing the transcription of the interview.