Vickie Guerrero On Which AEW Wrestlers Impress Her, How AEW's Promos Differ From WWE's

After nearly a decade with WWE as a manager, on-screen authority figure and occasional wrestler, Vickie Guerrero made her first appearance in AEW late last year. She was a guest commentator during AEW Dark and that spun into a full-time role as Nyla Rose's manager in July 2020.

When Vickie left WWE in 2016, it was to start a new career in medical administration but the bright lights of pro wrestling pulled her back in. She discussed what it's been like being a part of AEW when she joined Busted Open.

"I never thought I was going to back into a wrestling promotion and to be part of the AEW family has been so much fun, stress-free, and I'm just loving that I'm able to be creative with my character and to work with Nyla Rose has been a lot of fun. She's so creative and funny and has a great attitude and everything just kind of growing together," said Vickie. "We're molding, collaborating and so, I'm really excited what these next few months are going to bring to contain with Nyla and I. So, I'm ready to start causing trouble again."

Vickie made her on-screen debut in WWE when she aligned with her husband, Eddie Guerrero, in a storyline that involved Rey Mysterio and an 8-year-old Dominik Mysterio. Vickie honestly discussed her early performances on-screen and who helped her backstage.

"I sucked when I first started by myself. I mean, to be thrown into promos and they brought me in because they saw I can do the backstage vignettes with Eddie and I could memorize lines and the camera never scared me, so to speak. But to come in, in a different capacity as my own, without Eddie being next to me because that was my big helper. Eddie was in the same shot with me and to be on my own, it was a lot of learning and a lot of humbling myself because I didn't want to insult the business because I loved it," stated Vickie.

"But at the same time, I wanted to learn so much and I remember one of the first promos I did ? and I know I ate s–t so bad and Dusty Rhodes is backstage in Gorilla ? I came back and he put his arm around me and said, 'Sweetheart, you suck'. He goes, 'We have a lot of work to do' and I opened my heart and I listened and he was so great to mentor me and tell me just how it was and I didn't want to be fed, 'Oh, you're fine'. I wanted to know what was wrong, so I can correct it and by the grace of God, I'm here, 16 years later and I'm very humbled and grateful."

In some form or fashion, Vickie has been associated with the wrestling business for 30 years which is a reason why AEW brought her into the fold. She was asked which AEW talent impress her so far.

"Oh my gosh, I have some favorites. The Lucha Bros ? I watch them perform ? the stuff they do is just phenomenal and the acrobatics and that brings my love back to the wrestling, because it's a little bit of home that's come with me to AEW. And to watch them, it just shows a lot of respect for what they have in the business and Santana and Ortiz, we talk about Eddie all the time. So, when people talk about Eddie, it really makes me feel like I'm a part of AEW's family and they welcomed me.

"Those are the few talents and you have the girls. There's Ivelisse and Diamante, we're working with Thunder Rosa from NWA and to see those girls, I'm so proud of everyone because for this month, we're able to say, 'Yeah, here we are' and the Hispanics are making history and we'll continue to do that."

What drew Vickie to AEW as opposed to going back to WWE was the different environment and creativity that AEW provides. She talked about the difference in promos between the two promotions and why having fun with your job is so important.

"The entertainment in AEW is so fun because they're allowing the superstars to collaborate their own creativity. And to hear them, on the other side [WWE], it was either, 'Here's a script. This is what you're going to do and see you when the show starts.' You don't have a say in that and it's very different over there," revealed Vickie.

"But when I came to AEW, I did my first promo and Kenny [Omega] and Cody were like? I go, 'What do you want me to do? What do you want me to say' and they're like, 'Well I don't know, you're Vickie Guerrero.' And I was like, 'What?!' I'm like, 'This is amazing!' I just got so excited because it was true. It was like, 'Go do you and get your story over and let's have fun'. It's just been a blast and the schedule we have is so wonderful. Tony Khan is so cool and he's a fan too and he gets all excited when we're talking about stories and that's the fun of it.

"Again, you got to have fun before you work, because if you're going to work and it's not fun, then you're not going to get any enjoyment out of it."
Vickie's main role with AEW is to be the manager of Nyla Rose who is one of three women to hold the AEW Women's Championship. The two have been working together for a couple of months now and Vickie discussed what it's like being in Rose's corner.

"I feel very protected, I just must say. She's a beast and literally, her confidence and what she brings to the ring is going to be a lot of fun to get entangled with some of the roster. Right now, we worked a lot on AEW with some of the girls that aren't signed. It's just a lot of fun because we get to experiment a little bit and see how we're going to flow in the ring and she can do a promo and I do the promos and she's like, 'Let me wrestle, you do the promos.' I'm like, 'That's what I'm here for!' We just have a lot of fun and we just have a lot of backstage content that we're working on and she's going to be great," said Vickie.

"Now, there's going to be a day where she's going to turn on me and the s–t's going to hit the fan, but you know what? That's the nature of my character, but I think we're going to just tear it up and have fun and we even have a t-shirt together. I'm already on cloud nine there. I never had a t-shirt. There was? had my picture on it, so it's been a pretty cool and it's been a good experience."

Vickie recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the debut of her podcast which is appropriately titled "Excuse Me!" She talked about who she interviews on the podcast what she most enjoys about it.

"Oh gosh, yell at professionals! I mean, I look to you guys and how you do your content and interviews. I started this podcast in 2019 and I not only want to do wresters, but I wanted to do celebrities and just different groups of people. There's politicians and dance groups and musicians," stated Vickie.

"So, I wanted it to be a diverse podcast where I kind of welcome everybody in. But my main focus is wrestling and I don't interview WWE wrestlers anymore because they got butt hurt about me being on AEW, but life goes on! There's a lot of content. I'm getting ready to get some people from New Japan Pro Wrestling on my show and I'm really excited. It's just a great time for me to extend my love for the business and to have a show. I'm looking to get bigger and bigger. It takes a lot of work, but I'm willing to work at it and I'm having a blast at it."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Busted Open with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Mehdy Labriny contributed to this article.