Hayter back in AEW.
It’s been one week since Jamie Hayter made her return to All Elite Wrestling at All In. Hayter had been away from the company since May 2023.
She spoke about her return for the first time when Renee Paquette invited her onto the Close Up show on YouTube.
Well, I definitely had a couple of panic attacks (before my return at All In). I was so nervous but so happy to be back. I didn’t think anything could be better than home. Nothing beats home, does it? Nothing so, it was a great moment. My family was in the crowd as well. They haven’t seen me do anything wrestling-related in the U.K. since 2017 in front of maybe 20 people? In a little community center in Southampton so… they did (flip out when they heard the crowd reaction for me). Yeah, my mum said her arthritis hurt after. She was clapping away. It was an exciting day. Yeah, it was really fun.
Hayter shared that there were moments when she thought she would not be able to return to the ring. She said it was not always the injury that was holding her back, but she began to question if she wanted to come back at all.
Her mindset began to change when the pain from the injury went away bit-by-bit. Hayter felt alive again when she was able to get back in a ring.
Absolutely (there were moments when I thought I would not be able to come back) and that sometimes, it wasn’t necessarily the injury. It was, I don’t know if I want to. It got to a point where I was like, I don’t know if I even wanna do it again. I don’t know why. It’s just the pain and you know, everything that had happened, I just really wasn’t sure. It’s almost like I had to find myself again, find my purpose and find my passion to do it again.
I think when the pain from my injury kind of subsided a little bit. That’s when I could see the light a little bit more. I was in pain constantly. It was not a fun injury. I was bedbound for months. I couldn’t do anything. All I had was I could watch stuff on my phone and lay in bed and read some books and things like that but, when the pain subsided, I could start moving again and I think for me personally, being physical, that’s my enjoyment. That’s what I do best. So, getting back into a gym, the first time I got back into a ring, that was — I felt alive again. The first time I hit my body on the mat again, it felt good. Painful, but felt good. It was honestly just being back in the ring because I couldn’t visualize myself in it. I watched AEW at home and I just couldn’t imagine myself doing it. I couldn’t imagine myself being in front of however many people. It was a really weird space to be in but I think when the cogs start turning again and things start falling into place and you just kind of get into that mindset where you’re like, ‘You know what? Wait, I can, and I want to.’
The specific details of Hayter’s injury is that she had two herniated discs. It was to the point it affected her day-to-day life. She’s glad she did not have to undergo surgery.
So, I completely herniated two discs in my back. I wasn’t even aware of the injury until it was really bad. Until I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t even stand-up straight. My body was at an angle. I just couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t laugh, I couldn’t sneeze, I couldn’t cough, I couldn’t stand in the shower, I couldn’t lay down on my back. I couldn’t do really anything, and I thought it was like sciatica at first and I kept going to the gym, I kept wrestling. I did a f*cking skydive on my birthday because I felt really good that day. I was like, oh! I really wanna do it so I’m gonna do it and then, you know, after that I was like, maybe I shouldn’t have done that. Because I wasn’t aware of the significance of the injury until, yeah, I just couldn’t walk. I just had to call it. I was like, ‘I can’t do this. I’m in too much pain 24/7.’ It’d wake me up in the middle of the night. Awful, awful. Wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy honestly.
Do you know what? It wasn’t too bad (getting information from doctor about how serious my injury was). I was happy because I was not in the know for so long and I just really wanted to know what it was and I wanted to get on the road to recovery. It was a bad place to be in. The recovery was hard but, it was really good to know what it was so now, if it happens again, I kind of know what to look out for. I know the signs and things like that. I’m just glad I didn’t have to have a surgery or anything. Just physical therapy, lots of back injections and then we’re good to go baby.
Hayter’s first match back was a win over Harley Cameron on Dynamite. The next installment of Dynamite is taking place on 9/4 and POST Wrestling will have a review of that show up on the site after it concludes.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit AEW Close Up w/ Renee Paquette with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
