Summary

Megan Bayne says the first extended tour of Japan was the defining stretch of her wrestling career.

With Bayne currently in the middle of her first championship reign in AEW, she reflected on spending six straight months in Japan early in her run and said the experience changed how she viewed herself as a performer. Bayne also pointed to AEW's working relationships with companies such as Stardom as something she values, calling the women there some of the most driven and talented in the world.

Quote from Megan Bayne

"I think that going to Japan was the biggest turning point in my career, because when I went there for the first time, it was for six straight months. Recently, I’ve done some back and forth, like there for a few days, back in America for a few days, but my first tour was six straight months in Japan, every single show. And that’s why I feel so fortunate to be in AEW as well, because we are able to have these working relationships with other companies, like Stardom, and I think they have some of the most driven and talented women in the world."

Bayne later went on to say:

"So, being alongside them, in those six months I didn’t feel myself changing and developing the way that I did, but when I came back to the States I was just an entirely different wrestler; you just have no choice but to step up, because that’s the environment that you’re around. So I feel like my biggest development definitely happened there, and I was able to roll that back over into then it felt like my career was really starting and I was becoming a major player in this game."

How Japan shaped Megan Bayne's AEW rise

Bayne's comments give more context to the version of her fans are seeing now in AEW. A six-month run of working every show in Japan helped sharpen the style and confidence she says turned her into a different wrestler once she came back to the United States.

That also fits with the dominant presentation Bayne has carried into her current AEW run. Her recent comments about Divine Dominion's lineup change showed how much her current spot matters, and this latest interview frames Japan as the period that set that rise in motion.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.