AEW's Thunder Rosa Recalls Suffering From A Panic Attack After Getting Injured

Former AEW Women's Champion Thunder Rosa suffered a scary injury in August 2022 that caused her to have to relinquish her championship after being unable to defend the belt at All In that year. The serious back injury left her out of action for well over a year, with "La Mera Mera" not returning to the ring until the following December. Rosa sat down with Tim Hann Rivera on YouTube and talked about the injury, which caused her a lot of mental distress. She said she broke her back in the match, which she can't watch back, because it was so painful.

"When I was in the middle of the match, I was crying for real. I had a panic attack in the middle of the match," she admitted. "International f****** show. It was a disaster afterword because people came after me, rumors came out, like I was hiding from people. I wasn't hiding from people. I literally broke my back... The only thing I had, it was gone. The only thing that kept me sane was gone. I had to rediscover who I was as a woman. Who I was as a wrestler. It was a process that took me almost two years."

Rosa told Rivera that before the injury, wrestling was her life and her safe haven. The former champion has called her hiatus from AEW the worst year of her life, both physically and mentally. She admitted she was in such a bad state, she experienced suicidal thoughts. She noted in the months following her return that she'll likely require back surgery in the future. Rosa most recently challenged Mariah May for the Women's Championship in a Tijuana Street Fight loss at World's End.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Tim Hann Rivera and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.