Impact Wrestling News: Kiera Hogan recalls her WWE tryout in 2015

What's the story?

In an exclusive interview with Fightful, Impact Wrestling star Kiera Hogan has opened up about her trial with WWE in 2015.

In case you didn't know...

Well, women's wrestling is hotter than ever right now, and not just in WWE.

At just 23 years of age, Kiera Hogan is part of a vast group of young ladies who are setting the world of women's wrestling alight. The flame-haired knockout mainly plies her craft in Impact Wrestling, but don't overlook the fact that Hogan is also the reigning Women Superstars Uncensored Spirit Champion.

Hogan has been wrestling since 2015 when she started out in Atlanta, soon defeating Owen Knight to become the WWA4 Intergender Champion. Hogan became a big name in the indie scene in Georgia, competing for promotions such as Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment and the All-Star Wrestling Network, before turning her attention to OMEGA in North Carolina.

Hogan soon caught the eye across the United States and worked for huge promotions such as Booker T's Reality of Wrestling in Houston and Shine Wrestling in Florida - capturing the WSU Spirit Championship at the WSU 10th Anniversary Show in Vorhees, New Jersey in early 2017.

Kiera Hogan has made quite the "impact" this year

Since August 2017, the Girl on Fire has been signed to Impact Wrestling, debuting in February of this year where she made an explosive impression, defeating Impact Knockouts Champion Laurel Van Ness in a non-title match.

Although Hogan has since challenged Van Ness unsuccessfully for the title and more recently lost against Taya Valkyrie, Hogan is burning very bright in the world of Impact and looks to have a huge future ahead of her.

The heart of the matter

Speaking in a recent exclusive interview with Fightful.com about her so far short, but super impressive in-ring career, Kiera Hogan recalled one of her first tastes of wrestling - her WWE tryout in 2015.

"Oh man, it was terrible. I tried to hard to condition myself for it. My manager at Twin Peaks actually had done a tryout before and she was telling me about it. Nothing could prepare me for what they have for you. It's very strategic."

The Impact Knockout went on to speak about just how challenging the tryout was.

"It feels very military. Very set up, very hard to condition. It's was definitely an experience. Just all three days, it was crazy to even be at the Performance Center that early in my career. I think I was five or six matches (in). It was an overwhelming, crazy experience."

While Hogan didn't end up signing with WWE, she looks back on the experience fondly - recalling the feedback she received from WWE and NXT's trainers.

"I got some good feedback. They wanted to see if you were going to quit, if you were going to say 'I can't anymore.' Who was going to be the first one to stop? I just tried to push myself, so I got really good feedback."

The fiesty Georgian did recall she got a load of praise for her gimmick and her name - which, while there's no relation to the Hulkster, really is Hogan.

They liked my fire gimmick, and thought it was cute, especially for me. They liked that my name was Hogan, and I said 'I'm a Hogan, just with a little bit of fire.' They seemed to really like me, but I haven't heard anything in a couple of years.

You can read the entire interview here.

What's next?

Well, at only 23 years old, A LOT!

Hogan is, pardon the pun, on fire right now - especially for a wrestler with just three years of experience under her belt. I'm sure we'll see a lot more of the Girl on Fire - both on Impact and in the indies.

Author's take

This was an awesome interview and it's always great to hear about wrestlers' earlier experiences, especially at WWE's tryouts. I can't wait to see what Hogan does next as she never fails to impress me - both with her character and her in-ring work.