Former TBS Champion Julia Hart kicked off her 2025 with a return to the ring, overcoming Jamie Hayter on the New Year’s Day episode of Dynamite.
The match was Hart’s first appearance since coming back from a shoulder injury, a setback which kept her out of the ring for more than half of 2024 and required surgery.
Now a couple of weeks removed from that appearance, Hart has looked back on what it was like to make that return. She noted in a recent interview with Bleacher Report that while there were some nerves near the start of the match, eventually the injury wasn’t even a worry for her.
“It kind of felt like I was right back in the groove and I didn’t think about my shoulder much,” Hart told Bleacher Report. “I was scared of that first bump but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.”
While Hart spent more than six months out of action, she told Sports Illustrated that by September she had already felt “100 percent.” However, she believed it was important to use some extra time to recover before stepping back into the ring.
“I wasn’t back to full strength, but mobility-wise, I was pretty good,” said Hart, discussing her status by September. “I think it was better that I took more time just to relax and to make sure I was 1,000 percent instead of just hopping back in right away in September. I would have only been three months out. I’m lucky that I’m young and I fixed it now, instead of down the line. I just worked really hard to get that strength back up and to have mobility. It paid off and I’m glad I took more time than I needed.”
Hart isn’t booked for this week’s Dynamite, but that doesn’t mean she won’t appear. There is most notably a first-ever AEW women’s Casino Gauntlet Match scheduled for Wednesday night, with anyone from the roster getting the opportunity to earn a shot at champion Mariah May.
