24 Months With Mariah May
WITH A year in the wrestling industry under her belt, Mariah May was looking forward to a 2020 full of excitement, matches and travelling to different global promotions.
Then the pandemic hit and those plans were quickly halted.
For the 22-year-old, who only began her professional wrestling career in 2019, it was a big blow – as it would be for anyone who was just finding their feet after a year of hard work.
“To have it stripped away was really hard,” Mariah told Grapple Theory.
“It’s been tough for everyone but as someone who had only done a year of shows and just getting a reputation, having to fill in those gaps and learn, I was doing so many shows and growing as a performer…
“I had a lot of experiences lined up, starting to get some international bookings, but now I don’t know how it’s going to be. I finally beat Nina Samuels, I was on a huge high, getting into the next phase of my career and it just put me back in my career.”
That match with Nina Samuels, a number one contender’s match at SWW, was Mariah’s last before lockdown started.
Nina was also her opponent in her very first match way back in 2019.
For the London-born wrestler it was the first both her first match and the beginning of her first real ‘rivalry’ since entering the ring.
Mariah May faces Nina Samuels in her first ever match. February 2nd, 2019
“To have Nina for my first match was awesome,” she said.
“She’s so talented, but now I’ve learned more and can appreciate that match a lot more. Before my first match I’d trained for a year but you’re never really prepared for that experience. Nina was my first match, tenth match and then my final match before lockdown which would’ve been around 40 matches in.”
“I could feel my growth in the ring, I wasn’t shaky or too reliant on her in that last match. Sometimes you don’t get a lot of time to tell stories but for me it was like a revenge angle.
“I lost my first match and then she cheated to beat me again but then in our last match I won and we were able to do a bit more. She was able to trust me more.”
Mariah will be hoping for plenty more storylines and rivalries upon her in ring return which, at the time of writing is slated to be at Liverpool’s TNT Extreme Wrestling in June.
And she is so eager to shine at the popular BritWres promotion, that Mariah has been spending her free time watching wrestling, studying the art and making sure she is as ready as possible when the time comes.
‘The Glamour’ can’t wait to return to the ring
Mariah enrolled in wrestling school at 18, straight after leaving school - there was never anything else in her mind.
But it wasn’t an easy journey to get into the ring for ‘The Glamour’.
After nailing her exams and getting A*s across the board Mariah was met with resistance to her dreams of wrestling, not from her family but her teachers.
“I always wanted to go into wrestling but at school, for my teachers, it was like ‘girl…’.
“I was pretty academic, I did really well in my exams, got all A*s, but the drama it caused at my school when I said I wasn’t going to Uni was crazy.
“I applied and got into all my Unis but my heart was always in wrestling. I had the tools and work ethic and ambition.
“I did acting and track and field, I was built for wrestling.
“I was willing to sacrifice going to University for my dream, which was achievable.
“But it’s important to have a back-up, which is why it was important for me to ace my exams.
“I always wanted it but it took a lot to convince other people that it was what I was meant to be doing.
“When my family came to see my first match that’s when they understood all the work and all the time I was away and that it was worth it.”
And her focus on academics proved useful when lockdown hit.
While her YouTube and Twitch careers have been thriving, Mariah has been able to make some extra income by doing bookkeeping for local businesses.
And Mariah stressed that no matter what your dreams are it’s always important to have a fall-back option – you never know when you’re going to need it.
Fortunately for Mariah, her YouTube and Twitch accounts are also able to provide her with part of her income.
When she started training at 18, Mariah was extremely aware of how important a social media presence was going to be if she wanted to build herself as an in-ring talent.
Now Mariah’s social accounts are thriving, but she had to work hard to get them to that level.
She said: “I wanted to get started with wrestling and so I wanted to build a profile for myself.
“I started trying to build my Instagram, the great thing about social media is that you don’t need to know anyone but it can open doors for you. I’ve had so much access to different opportunities just because people know me from my social media platforms.
“I was doing fashion modelling at the time and was getting a couple of opportunities, but it was my friends who suggested I started posting about wrestling.
“I started doing that and it blew up, I ended up working with WWE Shop to model their merchandise, I got loads of wrestling followers.
Mariah May Bay Bay
“And that’s when I figured out that sharing my life and my journey would give people that look into what I do. So I film my training and my matches and my entire journey.
“I try to make everything I post suit my character, make sure my workout gear matches and do those little things to connect me to my character.
“If I ever turn heel or go a bit dark I’ll have to try and figure out how to shake things up a bit.
“I’d probably take to my social platforms in that character, but right now I’m fine.”
And with around 100k followers across her social platforms, Mariah left us with one crucial piece of advice.
“My best advice would be not to argue with your broadband connector on your social media accounts, haha”
It’s been a rollercoaster two years for Mariah May, but when speaking to her one thing becomes clear: ‘The Glamour’ is not going to let anything stand in her way when it comes to her achieving the dreams she’s had since school.
You can follow Mariah on Twitter and Instagram @MariahMayx
