AEW's Penelope Ford Explains How Wrestling Became A 'Passion'

AEW star Penelope Ford has recalled her journey to becoming a wrestling fan and then a pro wrestler. 

She said on the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast that she didn't know much about wrestling, aside from knowing about The Rock and Hulk Hogan.

"I had zero idea that wrestling was even a thing. My friend was obsessed with the 'Total Divas' and anything wrestling, and we worked together and our manager overheard her talking and she's like, 'My sister, her boyfriend is an independent wrestler,' and got her to like meet and she went to some of his shows. And then one day she was like, 'Do you want to go to a show with me?' I was like, 'Okay,'" she said.

Ford was introduced to the most violent form of pro wrestling, with the first match she witnessed being a death match. She completely forgot about wrestling before a friend asked her to come with her for a wrestling tryout. The AEW star also took part in it and the wrestling bug bit her, as she quit cheerleading to pursue her new passion: pro wrestling.

"So people were like going through barb wire, there's blood everywhere, I'm like, 'This is so fuc**ng cool.' And then I saw AR Fox and he was doing all these flips and stuff, and I was like, 'Oh, I could do this,'" recalled Ford. "And then 800 squats later, I was like, 'Well there's no way that I'm not going to go and see what this is like, and then I got in the ring and I loved it. I was like, This is a way to release my anger,' because I was an angry person, maybe sometimes still very much so an angry human, and I quit cheerleading for wrestling."

She added that the first All In show in 2018 changed her perspective on wrestling thanks to the reaction she received, which made her want to do it more.

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