At the ROH Death Before Dishonor 2024 event, Red Velvet saw off her competition, Billie Starkz, clinching the ROH Women’s TV Championship.
Afterwards, in a media event, Velvet expressed her gratitude to several notable names in the wrestling world including AEW President Tony Khan, Bryan Danielson, and Queen Aminata. Her expressions of thanks were in response to the support she received during her journey back to the wrestling ring following a severe injury that nearly led to her exit from wrestling.
Due to a knee injury Velvet faced, she was put on the sidelines for nine months, but she came back stronger.
“Certain people have played a pivotal role in my journey and my return to wrestling, such as Queen Aminata. She was the key person who helped in igniting the spark within me. I’ve been surrounded by many supportive individuals. Bryan Danielson deserves continuous thanks. Him investing in me and believing in my potential was a crucial part of my comeback. Then, there’s Tony Khan, among numerous others. The list could go on and on. My injury led to much soul-searching. At 32 years now, I’ve begun to understand myself better as a woman. As I reflect on my journey, it brings me joy to see how I’ve grown with AEW, carving out my identity here. I owe a debt of gratitude to AEW. I’ve reached where I am today because of Tony Khan and AEW. I had deep realizations about myself, grew as a woman, and felt ready to allow the world to see that. No longer do I fear while showing my vulnerability. It might seem that I’m at the top now, but I had hit rock bottom once. And that took a lot of soul-searching.“