Since AEW: All Access began airing on TBS immediately following Dynamite on Wednesday nights, fans have been given an insider-ish look into the backstage workings of Tony Khan's promotion, even if the events shown on the program are roughly six months old, as the first three episodes focus on the lead-up to Full Gear 2022.
On paper, this is a fun concept, as the sisters formerly known as The Bellas have pointed out first-hand how Total Divas and Total Bellas put them over in a way that even WWE wasn't looking to do at the time, but unfortunately, the show can have drawbacks too, as revisiting the AEW from six months ago can bring up old wounds that some thought had scabbed over months ago.
One of those performers who has found themselves revisiting past traumas, let alone dramas, through the show has been Thunder Rosa, whom Britt Baker has painted as her rival on All Access. Discussing her current in-ring status and how she's reacted to the show in an appearance on Busted Open Radio, “La Mera Mera” noted that All Access has been a “painful” experience for her, as it's brought up old feuds that she has tried hard to squash.
“I'm not cleared. I have not been cleared,” Rosa declared via Fightful. “There are more things that have happened in the past couple of weeks. I've gotten in the ring, and unfortunately, the pain is still there. It's very frustrating. I want to get in the ring and do what I do best, and that's wrestle. To get that opportunity again. I know there's been a lot of controversy in the last couple of weeks, and Thunder Rosa has been trending on Twitter, I don't use Twitter, but I get constant messages that I'm trending. It's weird. We have All Access which has stirred a lot of stuff that I tried to put aside because it's painful. I think listeners are tired of me ‘complaining.' I don't want to make this a complaint. I don't want to make this about me. I want to make this about focusing on the AEW women's division, which I'm very impressed with, especially the last couple of weeks. Our champion, Jamie Hayter is one of the hardest-hitting women in the world. Riho, Emi Sakura, we are seeing some different matchups, and they have been awesome. I feel it's taken a backseat because people are talking about this.”
You know, you really have to feel for Rosa at least a little bit, as she has largely been spoken about on All Access instead ofhaving a chance to address her own status. Granted, promotional material has shown that Rosa will be used as an on-screen character, and it's not like she's returned to AEW since, making it hard to advance a storyline that is roughly six months old. Still, after AEW has largely moved past her previous issues, with the AEW Women's World Championship vacated, and Toni Storm's interim status wiped off the record books, bringing that drama back into focus is a shame for Rosa, who can't really do much to defend herself.
Thunder Rosa reveals her desire to drop the belt last fall.
Later in her interview on Busted Open, Rosa let it be known that, because she couldn't wrestle, she was open to AEW stripping her title in order to give other wrestlers a chance to shine right away, but TK dashed that idea initially.
“First and foremost, I want to make sure people understand, at the beginning of this drama, everyone was speculating that I wasn't hurt. It was proven that I was hurt. There are MRIs, they talked to my doctor, I had multiple epidurals, and I'm still not cleared. I had another MRI last week and the pain is still there,” Rosa noted. “For me, personally, I wanted to drop the title the day that I couldn't wrestle because they told me I was going to be out four to six weeks. My boss [Tony Khan] made the decision and said, ‘you're going to be the champion and we're going to have an interim champion.' For me, as a competitor, I wanted to make it fair so my peers had an opportunity to defend the championship because it wasn't fair that I wasn't there, I wasn't going to be there, and I was going to hold the title. The problem comes, and this has been the question raised about me not showing up; I wasn't booked to go there. When I got the news that I wasn't going to keep the title, it caught me by surprise. ‘Today is the day, okay.' I wasn't able to go. I wasn't able to get in the ring and say, ‘Guys. Unfortunately we made the decision, here is the title, thank you for the opportunity to let me represent.' That opportunity wasn't given to me. That's pretty much it.”
Would AEW have been smart to just strip Rosa of her title when it became apparent she couldn't wrestle? Yes, but then again, if she was really only expected to be out for four-to-six weeks, it's a bit more understandable that Khan would like to wait, as Rosa was very hot at the time, and fans wanted to see her wrestle Storm to see who deserves the right to be called the champ. Even if Khan made things right in the end, as AEW: All Acess proves, the drama from that decision still lives on to this day is certainly there.
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