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Since signing to AEW in April 2020, Anna Jay has been a prominent up-and-coming talent within the promotion. She has spent the bulk of her professional wrestling career in AEW. During this time, fans have witnessed her evolution. From being recruited to join The Dark Order early on, to turning heel and going to the Jericho Appreciation Society, Jay has done a lot in her AEW career. She had challenged for championships and been involved in some great matches. Unfortunately, Jay was off of AEW television for some time due to a back injury sustained on the January 11, 2023, edition of Rampage. However, she has since returned to action at the first stop of the AEW House Rules Tour.
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Anna Jay Was Injured During A Powerbomb Gone Wrong
Prior to Jay’s injury, she and her tag team partner, Tay Melo, were involved in a feud with Ruby Soho and Willow Nightingale. TayJay have been a team ever since 2020, when both were paired together in the Deadly Draw Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament. Numerous times, Melo and Jay were able to outsmart and defeat Soho and Nightingale. To end the feud, these two teams went to war in a street fight on Rampage. This was familiar territory for TayJay, who had defeated The Bunny and Penelope Ford over a year earlier in the same style match. However, this match unfortunately resulted in an injury that kept Jay out of action for a while.
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Jay was injured when Nightingale delivered a powerbomb to her off the stage ramp. It was intended for Jay to go through tables off the side of the stage, but this did not happen. Unfortunately, Jay took a scary bump that resulted with her hitting the floor instead. In an update on Twitter, she stated that what happened resulted in some dislocated ribs. She was not seen on television for weeks afterward.
Anna Jay Returned To The Ring At The AEW House Rules Tour
Fortunately, however, Jay has since made her return back to the ring. On the first stop of the AEW House Rules Tour in Troy, Ohio, Jay had her first match back in the company since being injured. She faced off against Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. However, Jay did not come out victorious in her return.
This was not the first major injury of Jay’s career while in AEW. Previously, she had suffered a shoulder injury back in February 2021. This injury was serious, with Jay not being back in the ring until September of that same year. This most recent injury saw her recover and be back in the ring in a much shorter amount of time.
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Anna Jay Has Had A Lot Of Success In A Short Amount Of Time In AEW
Since debuting, Jay has been presented as one of the future stars of the promotion. Initially debuting with a gimmick which saw her called “The Star of the Show”, Jay was then recruited by Mr. Brodie Lee into The Dark Order. She was a member of the faction from 2020 until 2022. After being a face for most of her career, Jay turned heel and joined the Jericho Appreciation Society. She did so after being approached by Melo, who confronted Jay after her string of back luck. Then, Jay went on to cost Eddie Kingston his Barbed Wire Everywhere match against Chris Jericho by lowering the cage in which the JAS were in.
Throughout her time in AEW, fans have seen Jay evolve and grow as a competitor. She came into the promotion relatively unknown and has since become a big name in the AEW women’s division. She has faced champions such as TBS Champion Jade Cargill and former AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida. She also faced other major names in the division, like Jamie Hayter, Baker, Soho, Serena Deeb, and more. In addition, she and Melo have also been a successful pairing, as has been seen in their tag team matches. This includes their high profile street fights, in which their match against Ford and The Bunny won them an AEW Dynamite Award for “Biggest WTF Moment.”
Injuries are an unfortunate aspect of professional wrestling. However, it is good to see that Jay has recovered in relatively quick fashion and is already back to active competition in AEW. As a member of the JAS and a former member of The Dark Order, Jay has a prominent name in AEW. In addition, at only 24 years old, she still has a long career ahead of her in professional wrestling. With so much left for her to do and to accomplish, Jay will certainly continue to be a key part of the AEW women’s division in the future
