Willow Nightingale Offers Her Thoughts On Rampage Street Fight And Resulting Backlash

The January 13 edition of "AEW Rampage" was headlined by a bloody street fight that saw Ruby Soho and Willow Nightingale triumph over Tay Melo and Anna Jay. The bout drew some controversy on social media due to the amount of blood Soho displayed, in addition to a table bump that didn't go quite as planned when Jay missed the table and landed on her back. Nightingale recently appeared on "The Sessions" and explained to Renee Paquette how she felt after what unfolded.

"Very emotional," Nightingale said. "The toughest part for me is that I like to uphold my work and what I do in a wrestling ring to a certain standard. That includes the way I execute moves, the safety of my opponents, and generally if I feel like it clicked — how it flowed, did it feel right. At the end of the match, I definitely knew that it was something very special." Nightingale thought Soho looked like a "badass," however she was concerned for Jay's safety after the table spot. After walking through the curtain, she immediately checked on Jay and put her safety above everything else.

Nightingale explained that all four of them were excited for the opportunity to work a deathmatch-style street fight after Melo and Jay had done one on "Rampage" a year prior. However, there were limits on how grotesque they could be. "For us, it was one person from each team was allowed to bleed," Nightingale explained. "We all wanted to get our hands dirty and do crazy stuff, but it was, 'We can't go overboard.' 'Okay, understood.' We didn't have to worry about it because Ruby bled enough for everybody." When all was said and done, Nightingale didn't understand the double standard as women in wrestling all take bumps, bleed, and are exposed to the same risks as men.