Bea Priestley Reveals That AEW Offered Piper Niven a Contract in 2018

During a recent interview with That Sweet Pop, wrestler and former WWE Superstar Bea Priestley recalled initially signing with AEW back in 2018. Priestley revealed that current WWE Superstar Piper Niven was also offered a contract with AEW, but she had already signed with NXT UK at the time. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Bea Priestley on Piper Niven being offered a contract: “I got picked up with AEW because there was a British tour over Christmas in 2018. I think it was called Fight Forever. I don’t think the company exists anymore. They had me on it, Piper was on it, and Cody and Brandi were on it. So was Kip Sabian. Basically, I had a match with brandi and Cody [Rhodes] loved it. Brandi [Rhodes] was really happy. Piper, the same thing, had a match with Brandi and they were really happy. They basically offer me, Kip, and Piper a contract. Piper had already signed with NXT UK. She couldn’t do it, but Kip was like, ‘Yes, I want to move to America.’ I was like, ‘I still want to do Japan.’ [AEW] hadn’t started at that point and I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t want to jump, no pun intended, all in, to something where I’m not technically sure what I’m getting into. They were like, ‘Do you want a part-time deal? You can still work full-time STARDOM.’ I was like, ‘Perfect.'”

On opting to sign with AEW: “It was per match appearance until Kenny (Omega), who has always been a good mentor for me. I think he’s always liked how dedicated I am to Japan and that I mix the Joshi and Western style a little bit. Kenny sat me down. Christopher Daniels tried to talk to me about signing full-time with AEW. This was September-October 2019, and I explained, ‘I don’t mean any disrespect.’ I was champion in STARDOM at the time as well. ‘I want to dedicate a lot of my time in STARDOM. I don’t want to up and go because you guys are after me and offered me a contract.’ [Daniels] was like, ‘Okay.’ A week later, Kenny talked to me and was like, ‘You can still work full-time STARDOM. We also want you full-time here. We’re not going to (conflict with) STARDOM dates, STARDOM can come first. We just want to have you when it fits your STARDOM schedule.’ Essentially, what I was already doing, but getting paid on a contract basis and not a per match one, which was great because COVID happened and I was still getting income for a few months.”

Priestley was released from AEW in August 2020 due to travel restrictions as a result of the pandemic. She signed with WWE the following year, later debuting as Blair Davenport.