TNA Knockouts Champion, and current “WWE NXT” star, Kelani Jordan has had a very successful start in WWE’s developmental brand since signing with the company via its Next In Line (NIL) program back in August 2022. Jordan was first a gymnast at Michigan State, and while she never initially aspired to become a WWE star, she watched wrestling growing up with her four older brothers. The former Women’s North American Champion spoke on “Busted Open Radio” about her start in WWE and how the company first reached out to her.
“They reached out to me on Instagram about the SummerSlam ’22 tryout,” Jordan explained. “I remember, I told my mom, ‘There’s no way this is real. How is this real? They messaged me?’ And I remember my mom told me, ‘You should do it, you should do it!’ And so me, I did watch wrestling with my brothers, so I was like, ‘What? This can’t be real.’ So, that’s kind of how they presented to me, like ‘Come to a tryout. Try this. You can get a chance to change your life.’ But I already knew what wrestling was and what WWE was. I just literally never thought it would be me.”
Jordan got her first big victory in “NXT” when she ascended a ladder to pull down the Women’s North American Championship at Battleground 2024 and become the inaugural champion. She became TNA Knockouts Champion at Victory Road, through WWE and TNA’s partnership, after former champion Ash by Elegance had to vacate the gold. After capturing TNA gold, Director of Authority Santino Marella named Jordan captain of Team TNA to take on the women of “NXT” led by Jacy Jayne.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
