Scorpio Sky Didn’t Want Paige VanZant To Be Viewed As ‘AEW’s Version Of Ronda Rousey’

Paige VanZant made her in-ring debut at AEW Double or Nothing, teaming with Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page and defeating Sammy Guevara, Tay Conti, & Frankie Kazarian. 

A former MMA fighter who also competes in Bareknuckle boxing, VanZant only had a few months of training after signing with AEW in March. 

Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Scorpio Sky shared the comments he made to VanZant after the match. 

“I thought she was really good. I told her after the match that ‘most people train for six months to a year, minimum, before they have their first match and they have their first match in front of maybe 20 to 40 people. You trained for two or three months and had your first match on pay-per-view, No pressure.’ Under the circumstances, she did really well. She trained with Gangrel and she worked really hard. I know after the ladder match on Dynamite, she flew back to Florida and went straight to the gym and was training. She took it seriously and really wanted to do well. I really wanted her to do well. She came and kicked ass. She was so good. Michinoku drivers. She didn’t get to show the Impaler, she has a really nice Impaler that we didn’t get in there. She’s going to have other matches. She can do this. She can do this if she sticks with it. She has a lot of other things going on, she’s still fighting and that sort of thing. If she really wanted to be a professional wrestler full-time, she could be really good at this because she’s a great athlete, she’s a badass, she learns quickly, she works hard, and she has natural charisma. I was really proud of her and happy for her,” he said.

Coming from the UFC, VanZant would naturally draw comparisons to Ronda Rousey, who transitioned from the world of MMA to WWE in 2018 and returned in 2022. 

Sky wanted to make sure VanZant stood out on her own and was different from Rousey. 

“I knew there was going to be comparisons to Ronda. It was important to me, for the say that I had, to do things that would make her seem different. I didn’t want it to look like, ‘this is their version of Ronda.’ I wanted her to stand out. ‘This isn’t our version of Ronda, this is Paige VanZant.’ She did a great job of showing her individuality in her appearance and the way she carried herself. She was herself out there. She has a big fanbase and a lot of people like her. There’s a lot more that can be done with her,” he said.

Fans can check out VanZant’s comments on her in-ring debut by clicking here. 

Sky is headed for a showdown with Dante Martin, who stepped up to challenge him for the AEW TNT Championship following the mixed trios bout at AEW Double or Nothing. Sky believes the match will happen on Friday’s AEW Rampage. 

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.