After spending over a year sidelined by a severe back injury, Jamie Hayter says she is finally beginning to feel like herself again. The former AEW Women’s World Champion, who missed fifteen months of action, opened up in a recent interview about the physical and emotional toll of her recovery, and how she has grown through it.

“It was an incredibly difficult time,” Hayter said of the injury that kept her out from May 2023 to August 2024. “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. The only thing I could do for long periods of time was sit on my stomach.”

Hayter suffered two herniated discs but initially continued to wrestle before the severity of her condition forced her to step away. “When I got hurt, I didn’t know what it was. I was still training and wrestling at first. After a while, I couldn’t stand up straight. I was in excruciating pain. I couldn’t even get out of bed for PT.”

Though wrestling remained on her mind, Hayter was forced to put herself first during recovery. “Wrestling would always be on the back of my mind, but I needed to focus on my every day and focus on me. I was going to need surgery, but then the pain massively subsided. Weirdly, I’m now glad it happened. Personally, on the inside, I feel a million times better.”

She also admitted that the mental impact of the injury lingered long after her return. “The injury, it rattled my whole world,” Hayter continued. “I truly didn’t know how long I was going to be out or if I could even come back to wrestling. Even after I came back, I didn’t feel right. I don’t mean physically. It’s just the injury spooked me, it affected my confidence. I’ve been back for eight months, and now I’m finally starting to feel like myself again. When I’m in the ring, I know who I am again.”

Alongside regaining her in-ring identity, Hayter has also debuted a new look, heavily influenced by psychedelic rock and counterculture music.

“I know it was jarring at first because I looked so different–but this is me,” she said. “I’m bringing myself more into my wrestling. My favorite band is The Doors. When I was hurt, listening to their music would cheer me up and get me pumped. I’m really into 60s, 70s psychedelic rock. I love Kate Bush. Music makes me feel good. This is like a new album in my career. I like the whole counterculture movement, and I draw a lot of inspiration from that. We’ll see if it’s everyone’s cup of tea.”

Hayter is set to make her AEW pay-per-view return on May 25 at Double or Nothing, where she will face Mercedes Moné in the finals of the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. It marks her first PPV bout since losing the AEW Women’s World Championship to Toni Storm in a brief three-minute match at last year’s Double or Nothing.