Sienna Discusses Her Abrupt Departure From Impact Wrestling
"Sienna" Allysin Kay recently joined the Wrestling Epicenter's Interactive Wrestling Radio to discuss her career threatening health scare that sidelined her for eight months, her Impact Wrestling departure and more. You can listen or download the interview by clicking here, they sent us these highlights:
Her current health after the sidelining lung blood clots:
"I feel good. In a way, I think it was a blessing in disguise. A lot of wrestlers will say that after an injury – Not during, of course! During, it is not so fun. But, after you come back, it is like, "Ok, I'm a little recuperated from some nagging injuries here and there. Finally got some time to rest even though we didn't want to rest". I definitely came back with a bang. After that, I'm feeling pretty good!"
The extent of her health scare:
"At the January tapings for Impact, maybe towards the end of the tapings, I was experiencing what I thought was maybe a dislocated rib. I was having really sharp pains and it got to the point where I could barely take a full inhale. So, I ended up going to the hospital. They told me I had blood clots in my lungs. Long story short, they believe it is due to a medication I was taking. Obviously, I'm not taking that medication anymore! (laughs) That is what they believed it was caused by. I had to take a full 6 month recovery of taking blood thinners and that is why I was not able to wrestle. Physically, I was able to start working out again a month or two after that. But, because I was on blood thinners, I couldn't take the risk of getting in the ring and getting hit in the head or something because the risk of internal bleeding was the most dangerous."
The backstage changes and atmosphere while at Impact:
"I definitely saw a lot of changes. There were a lot of changes happening when I got there in 2016. I guess it was just normal to me because I didn't know anything different. People that have been there forever like Gail (Kim) and Abyss, they've seen it all. They've been there from the beginning, pretty much, so for them, it was probably drastic. For me, I walked in the middle of things changing. It felt like every other taping, things were changing, certain people were worried about things, whatever. But, I was just like going along for the ride, you know? I was just like, "This is where my contract is. I just want to have fun. I want to do things that other programs aren't doing right now." Basically, I just wanted the mic! (laughs) Give me the mic, let me roll with it, and it will be good!"
Her seemingly abrupt departure from Impact while injured:
"I did leave Impact on good terms. I did give them notice when I knew I was going to be doing the (WWE) Mae Young Classic. My contract had expired. It expired in April and this is like June or July that we're talking. To be honest, I don't know if they knew my contract had expired. A lot of people who signed when I did signed two year deals. I negotiated mine down to a one year deal. There were so many management changes, I don't know if they even knew that mine was not a two year deal without me bringing it up. A lot of people, when their contracts are expiring, bring it up. When it was expiring, I was injured. I didn't know what I was doing so I kind of rode it out. I was like, 'Let me determine if I can even wrestle anymore.' That was a huge thing. I had to do a lot of testing to determine if I could even wrestle again or are they going to tell me that this is a genetic disorder and I'll have to be on blood thinners for life. That was a possibility. So, I wasn't worried about contracts at the time. I was worried about, 'Am I ever going to be able to wrestle again?'
"When I got that worked out and I was about to be cleared, WWE reached out to me. My contract with Impact was expired and they hadn't really reached out to me with any ideas. So, I decided I'm going to take what I can and take this crazy journey as far as I can. This is a new thing. It is exciting. I wanted to try something new."