London’s Mariah May is one of pro wrestling’s fastest rising stars, and while she is currently signed to AEW, is winning prestigious trophies, and could even claim the world title in London’s Wembley Stadium in just a few days, this 26-year-old has spent the last 5 years working towards those goals. Here, ‘The Glamour’ explains to M&F why nothing is left to chance.
As a girl with two older brothers, May had an early introduction to pro wrestling when the siblings would watch the bodyslamming action on television, and like countless kids before them, would use the sofa cushions as makeshift crash mats in order to practice the moves. Unlike her brothers, however, May’s passion to learn those moves properly, and perform them in front of excited crowds has taken her all over the world. “My brother’s kind of went on to do other things, but I’ve always loved wrestling,” she tells M&F.
While May made her debut in 2019, she had already proved herself a team player by taking on other roles such as ring announcer, showing a willingness to ‘pay her dues’ in order to work her way up the ranks. Less than 4 months after her debut, she wrestled her first match for the established ‘Progress Wrestling’ promotion. But with Mariah May making a name for herself so quickly, was she concerned about doing too much, too soon? “I was actually going (to the Progress show) as crew, to help out,” explains the opportunist, who took head of the time-tested tradition of always bringing your ring gear to an event even if you are not booked on the card. “I’ve always said that I would rather fail than not try at all,” she explains.
Of course, making a name for herself is one thing, but financing the mission to become a megastar on the mat is another task entirely. “I’ve done a lot of different things,” shares the gorgeous grappler. “I used to work in accounts, I used to be a secretary, I used to sell plumbing parts, I used to model.” With payoffs for rookie wrestlers on independent shows barely covering gas, May has never been afraid of working hard to reach her goals.
Mariah May places missions and plans ahead of hopes and dreams
“Dreams are sweet. It’s nice to have dreams when you are a child, but I’m not a child,” explains the star. “I’m about to wrestle for the world title at Wembley Stadium, and that’s not a coincidence, that’s not lucky, that’s not a meteoric rise (like) you’ve never seen before for no reason. It’s because I scheme, I plan, and I figure out what I’m going to do, why I’m going to do it.”
Indeed, May had already picked up a wealth of experience in countries including the U.S. and Japan and picking up multiple titles before signing with All Elite Wrestling in 2023. She started out with AEW as a supporter and “understudy” to Toni Storm but has since stepped out of her mentor’s shadow, brutally attacking women’s champ Storm in the storyline, and also winning the Owen Hart Foundation tournament to boot.
As a fan of the late, legendary Hart brother, May also added some “callbacks’ to her move set, including his iconic missile dropkick, in order to lift the heralded trophy. Incredibly, Mariah May’s earlier opportunity to debut with Progress Wrestling came as a result of Toni Storm being unable to appear as scheduled. Thus, these two warrior’s careers were intertwined long before their partnership and subsequent rivalry in AEW, but now May is hoping to topple Toni and become the bigger star. “I think I’ve been overshadowing her for the past eight months, but this is absolutely the final curtain call for Toni Storm, so to speak,” says the motivated challenger to the AEW Women’s Championship.
Another important issue that separates wannabe pro wrestlers from main event talent is fitness. Fortunately, May understands this, and has even uploaded her fitness routines to YouTube. “The gym has always been a constant thing for me,” she explains. “I was severely underweight when I left high-school, secondary school. So, I was 18 … and a big thing for me was figuring out nutrition, and reading, and teaching myself.”
As a wrestler, May has gained weight by concentrating on quality proteins and healthy fats in order to build muscle and recover from the rigors of the road. Getting to grips with longevity, May also says that she asks herself how she can use a portion of her gym session towards staying injury free. “How can I protect myself? So, If I have an hour in the gym, maybe some of my time is best spent stretching,” she explains.
Mariah May’s success is an inspirational story for anyone with a goal to accomplish
“I think if you really want something, I don’t like to make excuses, because there are so many examples of people who have been successful in their field, and when you look into how they got there, and you watch interviews, and read up on it, it’s because of just purely hard work,” notes May. “That’s how you’re gonna become successful, because you might see me and think, like; ‘Oh, she gets to wrestle at Wembley, but you haven’t seen every failure, and believe me the list is extremely long, before I got there, and all the heartache, and all the tears, all of that before I got here, but it’s because I knew what I wanted, and I wasn’t going to stop working hard. And, with that does come rejection, and does come failure, but you will get there — you just have to work hard.”
ALL In takes place at London’s Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 25
