Despite spending the majority of her career in Japan before eventually signing with AEW in 2025, Thekla is very proud to be Austrian. The current AEW Women’s World Champion was born and raised in the Austrian capital of Vienna, and is the only performer from Austria on the All Elite Wrestling roster, but she isn’t the only well known wrestler from Vienna currently working today. The other notable name from European country is, of course, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER, and during a recent interview on “The Sal Licata Show,” Thekla was asked if her success in AEW makes her the greatest Austrian wrestler working today.
“That’s a tight race,” Thekla said. “I’m going to say I usually do put myself on the number one spot, but I’m glad–I mean I’m glad he’s a guy, I’m a girl you know? We don’t have to actually race for that spot, but I think he can do s*** that I can’t do and vice versa. Let’s put it that way.” Like GUNTHER, Thekla wrestled in her home country when she started out, as well as making the trip across the border to Germany. However, she quickly established her name on an international scale when she first made the trip to Japan, eventually getting her breakthrough while working for Ice Ribbon until 2021.
GUNTHER also took the long trip to Japan during his pre-WWE days, wrestling for the likes of ZERO1-MAX and Big Japan Pro Wrestling as he idolized the Japanese legends of the past when putting together his own in-ring style. However, he primarily stayed in Europe during his time on the independent scene before signing with WWE in 2018.
Please credit “The Sal Licata Show” when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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