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Exclusive: The Multi-Talented Harley Cameron Is Primed For A Breakout Year In AEW

AEW's Harley Cameron has all the talent in the world and could be primed for a breakout year in 2025.

Rick Ucchino

Harley Cameron could be 2025's breakout performer
Harley Cameron could be 2025's breakout performer / Lee South - All Elite Wrestling

The story of Harley Cameron may sound a bit cliché. A small town girl who left home with nothing but the clothes on her back and dreams of doing something big with her life, but the journey that has her on the cusp of breaking out as a major star in the professional wrestling industry is no typical rags to riches narrative.

Cameron, born Danielle Glanville, grew up in the tiny town of Alstonville, New South Wales in northern Australia. A one main road town with a pharmacy, butcher shop and not much else other than some farmland by the local high school.

Glanville was one of nine children, but with a fairly sizeable age gap amongst her brothers and sisters, Danielle spent much of her childhood bonding with her two younger siblings. It was during that time she that she was first introduced to the wonderful world of wrestling.

“My little brother and I used to watch it," Cameron told The Takedown on SI. "I still have all the memories in the world of him and I watching. He was a huge Undertaker fan. Like, just obsessed. We used to play fight and stuff and then… you grow up.”

Cameron's family moved to Queensland on the Gold Coast when she was 13-years-old and as she got into high school, she naturally developed other interests and ended up falling out of touch with WWE.

What she didn't lose was her passion for performance. Cameron became an accomplished singer and dancer. Her athletic background, which began as a youth soccer player, parlayed into bikini and bodybuilding competitions as she grew older.

Somewhere along the line she learned how to throw her voice and became a ventriloquist.

As one would expect, a multi-talented individual like Harley Cameron found herself going to school for... journalism? Yep. She earned her college degree and was ready to head off into the news business. Except career paths, as many of you probably know, don't always work out as intended.

“I ended up in finance. I don’t know how, but on the side I always did music. So, I was always in a band and was always performing.” 

Keeping her toes dipped into the entertainment world ended up changing the course of her entire life as she found herself auditioning one day to be a cabaret dancer, "I got the role and just completely never looked back. So, it's funny. I had a very odd series of careers at the beginning.”

It wasn't until Cameron's husband at the time, Daniel Vidot a.k.a Xyon Quinn, was approached to join WWE that she found herself achieving her dream of moving to America. Quinn was required to relocate to Florida in 2018 to begin his own wrestling journey. Cameron's, however, would not start right away.

“I was heavily invested in my music, 'cause I'd been doing theater for a long time at this point. I originally moved [to America] thinking maybe I’d do Broadway or something of that nature. And then we ended up in Orlando and I was like, okay, this isn't the place where that happens.”

It was in Orlando that Cameron rediscovered her passion for professional wrestling. She would attend all of the events on the NXT coconut house show loop across central Florida and watch countless hours of live programming. 

Harley soon became enamored with the business and developed the desire to put her journalism background to good use. She explored the idea of becoming a backstage correspondent, but quickly realized that standing on the sidelines was not going to scratch her pro wrestling itch. She wanted in on the action. 

There was just one small hiccup. Cameron didn’t have a green card. She wouldn’t legally be able to work in the United States for quite some time. A few years in fact. 

It would be difficult to get any career off the ground under those circumstances, but through extreme good fortune, Cameron found herself at Flatbacks Wrestling School in 2021 where she began to learn from industry vets Tyler Breeze and Shawn Spears.

“The wrestling was not easy for me to pick up. And God, they'll tell you that (laughs). I was so scared of everything. I definitely had my doubts as to whether I could do it or not, because it was just so much more physically challenging than I expected. Even though I used to do competitive bodybuilding for years.”

It was because of that body building experience that Cameron knew she had the necessary discipline to be a professional wrestler. She could diet for three years straight, while training four times a week, and never fall off the wagon. 

It was an entirely different story when it came down to mastering the in-ring maneuvers.

“It was so much harder than dancing, soccer, bodybuilding and everything. And I just thought, I don't know if I'm cut out for this.”

Where Harley really excelled early on in her training was during promo class. With her extensive entertainment background, Cameron took to that side of the pro wrestling industry like a duck to water and would consistently earn top marks from her trainers.

“One of the quotes [Breeze and Spears] would always say is, 'If you can cut a promo, if you look the part and if you can work in the ring, you can become a star,’” Cameron recalled. “And they said to me, you can cut a promo and you look the part. If you can learn the wrestling, you could actually really make it in this business.”

Cameron's in-ring skills began to sharpen rather quickly. Something she attributes to her strong work ethic. The woman who was once too scared to even take a front bump is now bravely battling Thunder Rosa on her bread and butter hardcore battleground and matching Mina Shirakawa's fast-paced Japanese style step-for-step.

The match with Shirakawa on the November 16 edition of AEW Collision was particularly impressive. In just her 49th career bout, Cameron attacked the RevPro Women's Champion with zero fear or hesitation.

“Every day I'm [at AEW], I train. Before TV, I get to the ring early and train. I'll fly home, I'll get off the plane and I'll go to Flatbacks. I’ll go to the AEW ring on a Monday. I do every seminar I can in the world. And I think that I just got comfortable, because I'm always in the ring. And that's the only life I have is in that ring.”

While she continues to develop her grappling ability, it's her many talents outside of the ring that have wrestling fans starting to take notice. In particular her natural comedic chops and sensational singing ability.

Cameron never intended to showcase her voice in AEW, but it was only inevitable given that it was her music background that landed her on Tony Khan’s radar in the first place.

“One of the main reasons they kind of knew about me in AEW was a fun project with Claudio [Castagnoli], Adam [Cole], [Xavier] Woods and Breeze.”

Cameron had a major hand in writing, producing and performing “Da Party”, a music video for the guys’ gaming channel by the same name. That video is what Harley believes really set things in motion for her to join All Elite Wrestling.

“They kind of were like, ‘Oh, who's this girl?' when they were considering the role for QTV. When I started we didn't really touch on me singing, but then they were like, ‘Hey, maybe you can write the theme for the song and then sing it as we come out.’ And that was really fun to do.”

When she signed her full-time contract with AEW back in 2023, Cameron felt as though it was a very unique opportunity. And one that she doesn't take lightly.

She credits AEW CEO Tony Khan for really taking a chance on her. Someone who was extremely talented, but very inexperienced in between the ropes.

“You get hired in our company when you've established yourself as a wrestler, and I feel that wasn't the case for me," Cameron said. “I owe Tony my career. He's allowing me to do things and he's showcasing me and I just am very thankful for him. He's the greatest boss ever.”

There is nothing that Cameron is afraid to tackle head on. Nothing that comes to mind that she wouldn't be willing to try on screen. Her love of performance and pro wrestling knows no bounds and Harley is just scratching the surface of what she brings to the table in AEW.

“I think that I haven't showcased my full capabilities yet and I'm excited for that down the road, because I feel like we've only gotten the tip of the iceberg. The strongest things that I have up my sleeve are still to come.”

Right now Cameron's biggest goal as she heads into 2025 is to keep improving, to keep growing and to help the company any way that she can.

If that means she gets the opportunity to perform in front of her hometown fans at AEW Grand Slam on February 15 in Brisbane, Queensland, then she'll be there with a smile on her face and pride in her heart. And happily make someone feel the wrath of Harley Cameron.

“It's been seven years since I left and it's nice to know that I left with a bag of clothes and no idea what the hell was gonna happen, but I just knew I could do something if I worked hard. It's a very special full circle moment to go back and be a part of this company and actually say all the sacrifice is worth it. Because Australia to America is a dream come true.”

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Published |Modified
Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino has been covering professional wrestling since 2019, but his broadcast career has spanned over 15 years. He can be heard every weekday morning on 700WLW radio in Cincinnati, OH. You can also read his work over on SI's Cincinnati Reds Talk. Follow Rick on X and Instagram: @RickUcchino

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