As long as I write on Impact Wrestling, I have repeated way too many times this company would be nothing without their 3 cornerstones. Eddie Edwards, the heart and soul of Impact Wrestling; Moose, one of the most versatile wrestlers in the business today; and Rosemary, the Hive Queen, the Messenger of the Shadows. For nearly 6 years, she has put her body and soul on the line to spread her demonic message. And we have loved it.

A few months ago, she found back an old friend from the Shadows, Crazzy Steve, with whom she was part of Decay. Together, they reloaded the faction, including the powerful Havok and the unique Black Taurus. With Havok, they wrestled their way to the IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Championship, making them some of the very few Knockouts to have held both Knockouts Championships.

On January 6, 2022, at Hard To Kill, Rosemary will take part in a match she has wanted to happen for years, a Women’s Ultimate-X Match. Alongside Jordynne Grace, Rachael Ellering, Chelsea Green, Tasha Steelz, and Lady Frost, she will try to climb her way to the #1 contendership for the Knockouts title.

More than 2 years after our last interview, SteelChair Mag had the absolute pleasure to talk to Rosemary last week. She told us about the Ultimate-X Match at Hard To Kill, being one of the cornerstones of Impact Wrestling, this new version of Decay compared to the original one, her prides, the evolution of Knockouts on Impact Wrestling over the last 6 years, and what the future may hold for her. And it was a pleasure, as always…

This Was Way Back In 2018
When @WeAreRosemary first Suggested To Be In A Knockouts Ultimate X Match,

4 Years Later Its Finally Happening!

Here's The Link For The Full
Interview https://t.co/hc9qMxXevh#IMPACT #HardToKill pic.twitter.com/6M0Yx6rsyW

— A Glimpse Into My Mind  (@MiseryEater101) December 11, 2021

One of your dreams has come true. A few years ago, you wanted an Ultimate-X match for women and you got it, which is amazing because that’s another evolution in women’s wrestling. What are your thoughts on it, being able to have this match for women?

“It’s another milestone to finally be able to get it after so many years of wishing it and to manifest it into reality. For a moment, we actually went, “oh dear, now we’ve got to climb.” (Laughs) We’ve been struggling for what we want, we didn’t think about it, but now it’s just another task, another adventure, with the Ultimate-X cables set just above grounds. But we are always ready, we are ready for the chaos and violence that that particular match brings and we can’t wait to bring the Knockouts division into the Ultimate-X era.”

What are your thoughts on the other participants in the match and is there one that you target more than another?

“Absolutely all the participants in the match are from various backgrounds, there’s a lot of different styles in the Knockouts division. One, in particular, we know quite well is Chelsea Green, that girl is crazy, and that’s coming from us, so you know that’s real. That one’s the one to watch out for because she will throw her body, she will take risks, and she will do what it takes to get that victory. She’s the one to look out for, and she’s the one we’ll be looking to neutralize.”

Would you have wanted Havok to be a part of it too?

“Obviously, in this sort of match, it’s all for one, it’s all for the individuals. If Havok was in, the Ultimate-X ultimately would come to the fact that we would potentially have to face off against each other if one of us were to be the winner. With Decay, we are such a close-knit tight family unit that we would never want to put some sort of animosity into the world. We all fight for the Shadow, we all fight for the one cause, the family. To have us both in this when we could be using Havok for another purpose, for a frontal assault on someone somewhere else, this is our war, and Havok will have hers.”

The family was reformed this year, with this new version of Decay. Steve is still there, but Havok and Black Taurus are now in. Who had the idea to reload Decay?

“Is Taurus not exciting? Just because humans can’t understand him doesn’t mean he’s not incredibly intelligent.
The Shadow, of course, it was time for the death dealers to come back to the forefront once more. Steve was there, we were there, of course, darling Abyss was elsewhere, but he is always a death dealer. If he was to return to the team, we would welcome him back because once you’re family, you’re always family, but it was time to add two new bodies. Black Taurus, what an extension and what an absolute power to add to Decay! And then Havok, someone we’ve known for so many years, we knew she would fit in perfectly if she would just accept the darkness.”

This little faction has fantastic energy. I’m sure Taurus will be X-Division Champion one day. What are your thoughts on this Decay compared to the first version? Steve and you were young wrestlers coming to Impact Wrestling, we were in 2016, you and Stevie were with Abyss who had been there for a while. Do you feel comfortable now in this version of Decay?

“For Taurus, we agree with you, it’s inevitable. We feel good but in a different way. When we were first there, we and Steve were a bit more inexperienced, and we definitely took a lot more mentoring from Abyss. He had been there in the trenches for so many years, and he taught us so much, including the art of the Monsters Ball, in particular, something we’ve become quite fond of, and any sort of weapons used in matches. Abyss was definitely a mentor, and a monster to us in that first run. Now in the second run, we, Steve, Taurus, and Havok, are all so much more suited and ready to branch out and explore more without a mentor figure, but we do still reach out to him from time to time to get advice. We are more ready to break out and be independent, but at the same time, a close-knit group.”

Do you realize that you are now the one who is in a position of mentoring and advising because you’ve been there for nearly six years because you’ve always been there and you’re now in a very great position? You love the company, you were telling me two years ago it was your family of mystery, is it still?

“It is clearly a family of mystery, but there’s obviously no knowing what the future holds. We chose Impact Wrestling as our realm of choice for a reason that was because we could get the battles that we crave, people will come to us for battles, and it’s still happening that way. Impact Wrestling has started to become a place where people are starting to trickle in again and starting to dip their toes in, starting to find a new world to play, coming back even, in the case of Chelsea. As we mentioned before, there are people who know that there is competition here, especially in the Knockouts division, and we’re still here and you still have to cut through us. So, if you want to be part of the Knockouts, good luck. (Laughs)”

When you look back at the last 6 years, what do you think about the evolution of the Knockouts on the company?

“There’s a wonderful mixture right now of people who are fresh in their careers, people who have gone elsewhere and come back, people who have perhaps not succeeded somewhere and found great success in Impact Wrestling. A perfect example of that is Deonna Purrazzo, look at what she’s done since being freed from another realm and being brought over to Impact Wrestling, she has really just been running with all that raw emotion inside her. Chelsea Green has been elsewhere too. You’ve got people like Jordynne grace who have started to come up and coming through Impact Wrestling really at the start of their television careers. We’ve been here for six years now, as you said. You’ve got Lady Frost in this Ultimate-X who’s just absolutely fresh and brings in an unknown element. We don’t really know what to expect from her as we’ve never crossed her before, so we’ll be sniffing that one out.”

It was made official on TV that Gail Kim is now a part of the management. As a woman, we can only be happy about that, to have women who are executives in the company?

“Absolutely, 100% Gail Kim is a major influence on aspiring and former Knockouts everywhere. To have her in control, it’s a good thing for Scott D’Amore, we don’t have to harass him backstage anymore. He had enough of us, so now we’ll go harass Gail, but she does know how to handle us just a little bit better.”

The last time we talked, you were definitely proud of allowing people who are coming to the shows to show their difference, to help people be different and accept the darker part of themselves. Would you say that it’s the biggest pride of Rosemary, of us?

“Absolutely. Recently, we were on an independent show, and there was a young child there who was so taken with the look and the actions of the demon and everything to do with Decay that, by the end of the show, he had his little mask pulled up and his head over, so that he was in a dark disguise. He was doing demon poses with us, and that is the children of the hive, that is what we encourage to let out your inner darkness, especially the children, they take to it so much easier. When we see humans with faces painted in the audience, coming in and displaying their Decay t-shirts, their pledge to the shadow and the darkness, just the alternative of what they are and just embracing it, that is so exciting because, in this world of humans, not a single one of you is the same as the other and sometimes it’s the darkness that needs to be let out and accepted.”

What can we expect from you in 2022? Of course, the year will start with Hard To Kill and the Ultimate-X match, but do you still target the belts?

“We target everything at all times, always looking to see what’s happening, what’s going on where, who’s fighting with whom, who we could use against each other at all times. When we’re starting this year, this 2022 in the human reckoning, starting that with Hard to Kill and Ultimate-X, where do we go from there? You can only go up, you can only get more chaotic, more violent, and more extreme. We want it all, we want more Monsters Balls, we want to play with all the weapons. Perhaps we’ll have to bring some to this Ultimate-X, it is no-DQ after all…”

The Knockouts have probably all the matches the men have, maybe except the King of the Mountain.

“We are just going to say Queen over there. The Queen of the Mountain definitely might be the last one. And Stephanie darling, stay weird, will you?”

Follow Rosemary on @WeAreRosemary

Hard To Kill will air live on January 8, 2022, at 8 PM EST (1 AM GMT) on PPV and on Fite TV.
IMPACT Wrestling is airing on Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV in the USA and around the world on IMPACT Wrestling’s new YouTube membership Impact Insiders.

All pics and screencaps courtesy of Impact Wrestling, Fight Network, Dan the JOBR, and AXS TV