Harley Cameron has steadily proven that she deserves to be in AEW following her feud with Mercedes Mone and her recent tag team title victory. However, the road to pro wrestling hasn't always been easy for Cameron.During an interview on "The Ariel Helwani Show," Cameron recalled being 25 when she moved to America with her then-partner, but was originally just happy with a career in theater. "I was in this relationship with him and I thought well, he wanted me to move, and I initially was like, 'Do I want to leave? I already got this great setup," she recalled, adding that she eventually made the move to take a chance, but didn't have a work visa at the time."I was like, maybe I'll be able to do Broadway because I was in theater in Australia, and I came over here and I saw an independent show like a wrestling show and from that moment I said, 'This is what I want to do,'" Cameron further recalled, expressing that even though her then-partner was already pursuing wrestling, she fell in love with the aspect of both theater and athletics found in pro wrestling.Buther foray into wrestling wasn't seamless, and it led to some tension in her relationship. "Initially he was kind of like, 'Why would you are you sure you want to do this?' Like, he was more worried, I guess, about my safety," she recalled. "I think he was very much maybe like, 'I don't think you can do it' 'cause like, you know, I'm a pretty small-framed gal!"
Not long after making her case to her then-partner, Harley Cameron stepped into pro wrestling with his support. Considering that she had never been in a wrestling ring since moving from Australia, she was introduced to a whole new world. "The first taste that I had was at Flatbacks Wrestling School in Orlando, and my first bump I instantly thought: ooh, can I do this?' Big wake up call!" Cameron said. She then added that her training took place three years before her AEW stint, but admitted that she's in shock at how fast her career has progressed.Cameron then recalled working at shows and with bands prior to her visa, adding that it was all unpaid for work, but something she's ultimately grateful for. "It is very lonely leaving your country and coming here, and I think that if I didn't do that, I don't know if that would have given me the drive to just, you know, progressively do other things," she added."I was fortunate that in Australia, I was good with my finances and savvy. I had savings, I had enough to survive and get me through," Cameron also noted, but admitted that there were still moments where she was struggling, especially in her search to find an agent. "I didn't know anyone and I didn't have the connections, and I think that there was definitely times where I was like, 'Well, this is all well and good that I'm performing and that I'm doing it, but I can't get paid. How much is this money going to last?"However, even after finding her passion for pro wrestling, Cameron still felt challenged by her future, as she went into an industry with no experience or name-recognition. "I'm very lucky it did work out and I persevered, because, you know, now I'm just living my dream!"If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Ariel Helwani Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
