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Delmi Exo isn’t afraid to step outside of her comfort zone when it comes to match stipulations.
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard recently spoke with Delmi Exo* about her current run in Major League Wrestling. “The God Queen” recently competed at MLW’s Pit Fighters special in a Taekwondo Rules match against MLW Featherweight Champion Janai Kai.
The pair have been feuding over the title in recent months, with the match stipulation clearly favoring Kai’s background. Exo noted that she doesn’t have MMA experience, but she’s also not afraid to try something challenging.
Delmi Exo on her Taekwondo Rules Match
“I am someone who doesn’t back down from any kind of challenge. So, when it got presented to us to do a Taekwondo Rules Match, I was kind of like, ‘Oh! That would be like cool and interesting.’ That would be different. And I think the idea visually really stood out to me. [I said,] ‘Let’s do it.’ Personally, I have zero mixed martial arts background,” Delmi Exo explained. “I was joking around with production, ‘Hey, when we do Tale of the Tapes, can we make sure that we include that I was a Senior Cheer Captain?’ Because my background is more with dance and theatre coming into wrestling. So I don’t have any sort of fight background.”
Exo noted how you see more competitors adding combat sports to their wheelhouse. She might lack MMA training, but felt her cardio and conditioning aided her in the bout. Exo said her diet also prevented her from feeling sluggish, but learning how to pace the match was a challenge.
“And being in there, you definitely could tell — I didn’t get blown up, but after you get out of the scramble bits, your brain is still in that high-adrenaline state. Where you are not thinking like, ‘All right, let me whip them off and then throw up a boot.’ You don’t have that same thought process,” she said. “In my head I was like, ‘Ooh I could like, just exploder suplex can catch her leg if I want to. And then you get the moment.’
“And you are finally getting offense in, and then you are on top. You are like, ‘I don’t have time. I gotta maintain…’ It was kind of hard. As a team, we were all trying to decide like what lines should we have from Taekwondo and what lines we should have from pro wrestling,” Exo said. “We didn’t want to offend the audience’s intelligence with what we were doing. So, I think it came out really well and really respectful for the sport of Taekwondo.”
Delmi Exo on her path to gold
The Women’s Featherweight Championship has a short history in MLW, fans have also seen several notable reigns since it was introduced.
Exo ended Taya Valkyrie’s impressive 328-day reign, holding it for 191 days herself. Janai Kai ended that reign and has now approached 350 days as champion. Delmi Exo reflected the dynamic of ending a great title reign while now trying to end another by regaining the belt. Exo was sad her reign ended, but chasing Kai made her step her own game.
“It is pretty much a bummer. Having had such a huge impact of where I took the title from and then losing it to Janai. I will say it does feel more justified having Janai still being the champion,” Delmi Exo noted. “Because she is that high level of a competitor. She’s been able to defend her title against women like, Hyper Misao and show why she is the Women’s Champion.
“If anything it made me have to elevate who I am as a wrestler even more,” she continued. “Not giving up on myself and constantly pushing myself to get become a better athlete and become a better performer that much more and stay on her toes. She has it now. But someone at some point is going to take it from her. And I hope it’s me. And I’m gonna be fighting to make it me. Getting any number one contender spot I can get. Getting any title opportunity I can get.”
Delmi Exo on being a part of a tag team with her sister and getting back together
“The focus is on singles for now. I kind of like the idea that we’re the Hardyz. And the Hatrdyz were always the Hardyz whether they were singles or not. They could go out there on their own things. But you always knew that they were brothers. So, I like having us do our own thing right now. Especially since, she’s coming back from an injury. She’s on a roll right now with reidentifying herself and refining herself as a competitor in this new era of wrestling. She missed almost four years from the ring. So, that’s something that she’s like going to have to go out on this journey on her own and then, when no one expects it, that’s when Sea Stars will appear.”
Watch our full interview with Delmi Exo below:
*This interview was conducted ahead of MLW Slaughterhouse, which was originally scheduled to take place on October 4 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The event was canceled due to Hurricane Helene’s impact on the Tampa Bay region.
