"Now I have to win!" - AEW star responds after Bayley shares picture with her ahead of major title match
Bayley recently shared a throwback picture with an up-and-coming AEW star, which quickly grabbed the attention of the wrestling universe. Now, the performer in question, Billie Starkz, has herself responded to The Role Model's photo.
Starkz is one of AEW's most promising talents and is touted to become a big star in the coming years. The 19-year-old is all set to challenge Athena for the ROH Women's Championship this week. Their rivalry has been simmering for weeks and is now all set to culminate when they share the ring on ROH.
While it remains to be seen if Billie Starkz will be able to overcome the massive challenge ahead of her and win the gold, it's safe to say she'll put up a fight to remember. Ahead of the match, the support has been surging for her, and the latest to seemingly join the bandwagon is Bayley. The DAMAGE CTRL leader recently shared a picture of herself embracing a young Starkz at a WWE show.
Responding to the tweet, Billie Starkz thanked Bayley and mentioned that she needed to win. Check out her tweet below:
"Now I have to win! Thank you #ROHFinalBattle" tweeted Starkz.
AEW star Billie Starkz has been influenced by Bayley
Earlier this year, in an interview, Starkz opened up about being influenced by Bayley during her days in NXT. The AEW star added that she has fond memories of watching the black and gold brand from those days and mentioned she still went back and watched those matches from that era:
"I was very attracted to Bayley when I first started watching wrestling, especially her NXT era. I remember a lot of that. I was very attached to that part of wrestling. There's still like a part of me who will go back and watch the matches and be like, 'Oh, this is so nice.'"
Bayley is one of the most beloved wrestlers in NXT history, who also went on to have an incredible and fruitful career on the main roster.
Do you think Billie Starkz could defeat Athena for the ROH Women's Title? Sound off in the comments section below.