Often found in and amongst the shadows, IMPACT Wrestling’s very own ‘demon assassin stepped out of the darkness and into the light, in an open interview. The veteran performer discussed everything from her battle with havok to a potential cross-over with AEW.
Part of the famed stable, Decay, the group has a strong emphasis on family. Although, in the recent past, the faction has been dealing with an estranged member in Havok. Rosemary and Decay have been trying to lure Havok back to the undead wasteland: “We’ve been, we’ve been pursuing her for weeks now, trying to get her to leave the humans behind and come back into the family.”
The Knockout title challenger was quick to emphasise she has no qualms about battling Havok: “She belongs with family. So the best way to deal with her of course, is the only way you can deal with family. I was to kick their ass until they listen.”
Family is something that is of utmost importance to Rosemary and Decay. With their desire to bring Havok back into the fold, Rosemary reiterated just how important family values are to Decay: “There’s a very real side of us, which we do have our own wants and needs. Of course. Now the number one thing is, we are an agent of the shadow. So if the shadow says go, the shadow points, the shadow said, bring Havok back into the fold.”
“It’s about time, this should have been done ages ago. We have been actively pursuing her. She is a bit resistant, but from our own point of view, Havok and Rosemary, we are tied for eternity while she does hail from the same land that we do, from a different region of, but in our manifestation, in this realm, the first time we fought in human body in this earth realm? 2015.”
Rosemary is set to square off against Virtuosa, a foe that she does certainly have respect for as an opponent: “We’ll give credit where credit is due. She is an incredible warrior and definitely has very smart plays, and plays cerebral games as well. She’s not simply just a brute force and is very good at maneuvering.”
Although, she did express some concern for her foe on who she is choosing to trust: “She does seem to be losing control of her minions. However you want to be careful with that. We did warn about the dangers that Susan (Su Yang) presents. If nobody’s going to listen to us and she’s the one of the most dangerous creatures in this realm and the next, and that’s their problem.”
Outside of her upcoming battles, Rosemary is also delighted at the opportunity to be in the hunt for the Knockouts Championship, with the hope that it can help lure in interest for Decay: “Do you want to talk about the titles? It does land in our laps rather unexpectedly, but we’re not going to turn down such a lucrative event. If we could pick up a little gold, that does sort of add to the persuasive efforts ‘look, there’s prizes here, come.’
The title challenger is not looking to shy away from battle either, she in fact welcomes the challenge and relishing the prospect of the high stakes contest for the gold.
“We’re going into this battle straight. We’re going in honest, and we’re going in open because what the demon truly wants, what we truly value is that pure instinctual battle. That brings out all the aggression and everything. After all, when it is all said and done, when the bodies are left lying and all that’s left is you breathless energyless, you know exactly who you are.”
“You feel more alive, even closer to death. You feel more alive than ever. That’s what we want. We want to do this alone. This is us proving ourselves on the battlefield. One-on-one hand to hand in the most pure form of combat.”
With Rosemary clearly looking for a war, it remains to be seen how the match-up will play out. However, the Decay member is ready for whatever comes – she wants to leave it all on table: “There are no restrictions once the battle is started, because once they’re out there, you do what it takes to win. We’re not worried about these rules. We’re not concerned about disqualifications. No, no bring everything you have, throw it all at us because we will throw it all at you.”
One thing that seems to be clear about Rosemary is that she is looking at the immediate future and beyond. With crossover potential being quite the hot topic between IMPACT and AEW, the longtime IMPACT performer welcomes all challengers under whatever banner.
Although, there seems to be no certainty of a continuing crossover – Rosemary remains optimistic, particularly in regards to a potential clash with AEW’s Bunny: “Honestly, dear, We have no idea. That’s an anomaly that we have not looked into yet. It’s intriguing, but we can tell you that is not our bunny. Our bunny is dead and there is no bringing her back, her soul crossed into oblivion. This one, this is a parallel. This is an alternate dimension. This is a different reality. We talked about infinite different timelines. There are infinite different parallels as well. She’s something from a different timeline, which is an anomaly that we don’t know about. Does she work for the shadow? She may be an enemy and not an ally.”
Alongside the talk of a potential crossover, Rosemary also welcomed the idea of a champion vs champion clash, if the opportunity provided itself: “We’ve never turned down a battle in our life. If anyone wants to step foot, if anyone wants to dare cross any sort of lines or step through any sort of doors or help, if you’re just looking for a good fight, we’re your demons.”
Having been around the business for a considerable length of time, Rosemary has certainly seen it all and achieved a lot. As part of that, she has travelled the world over throughout her career – however, she remains particularly fond of the UK crowds.
“The first time, the, one of the very first moments of our, of our time at impact wrestling came on a UK tour and the first time Decay as a full unit, rather than, one appearing here, one appearing there. The first time we came up as a full unit, with Abyss, Crazzy Steve and I, was in the UK,” she recalls.
“The crowd in the UK, they were singing our theme back to us, they already knew. And to step out there and to have all the hivelings serenading you with this dark theme, We were home.”
“So the second the world opens up again and we could come perform and explore in the UK. Again, we will be there because there’s a few rituals we would like to try out at Stonehenge. If it’s not too much trouble.”
Outside the ring, Rosemary still very much sticks by her horror roots – even discussing her desire to be a horror actor, had she not been a wrestler: There’s so many opportunities. You are such a jumpy lot. Perhaps doing horror films or something along those lines, but our profession as an assassin and as a professional wrestler is working out well, maybe a mercenary, a gun for hire.”
With her clash for the Knockout title looming, it seems that there is still plenty to come from Decay’s Rosemary – whether be a crossover clash with Bunny from AEW or a return to the undead realm, she remains to be one of the brightest stars for IMPACT.
Interview: Anthony Neylon / Article: Hasan Karim
