With a new year comes new goals for TNA Wrestling star Mara Sade, formerly known to fans as Jakara Jackson. Sitting at the top of her list is capturing the TNA Knockouts Championship, currently held by Lei Ying Lee.
“2026, I got my eyes on the prize,” Sade recently told “Gabby AF.” “Just the way that Lei Ying Lee is doing her thing right now, I love seeing it too. Being in TNA, I feel like people are able to just dive in head first, really show people what’s good, they have the freedom to do them, and show people what it is that they’re here to do.
“Just the way that [Lee] obtained the title was a beautiful moment. I’m waiting for my moment as well and it’s going to come in 2026,” Sade continued. “I just have nothing but great feels about what’s to come. Especially with this new TV deal, I feel like there’s so many more opportunities now. The Knockouts division is really like we out here. I’m so grateful to be adding to that, but it’s only time that your girl steps into that picture, because I ain’t here to play.”
Sade became an official member of the TNA roster in July 2025, just weeks after being released from WWE. In her in-ring debut as a full-time Knockout, she found success in teaming with The IInspiration (Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee) against The Elegance Brand on “TNA iMPACT.” Through WWE’s partnership with TNA, she competed in a TNA ring on three previous occasions, including a four-way Knockouts Tag Team Championship match at TNA Rebellion 2025. Like Sade, reigning Knockouts Champion Lei Ying Lee is a former WWE star, having made her respective jump to TNA in September 2024.
Sade Opens Up About TNA Experience Thus Far
So far, Sade’s TNA run has been nothing but positive, with the promotion’s welcoming nature as a standout quality for her. Of the current roster, Sade identified TNA veteran Alisha Edwards as the first person who greeted her.
“The energy has just been awesome there from the jump,” she said. “I just love the fact that I feel like I have my hands on the reins when it comes to me, Mara Sade, and what I put out there. I feel heard. I feel like the sky is the limit here and I can put more into what this is that I’m doing. Just being able to do more, beyond the independents and do other promotions, it’s helping me grow, for real. It’s making me see just the things I do want to improve upon. Just helping me see this business in a different lens basically.”
Inside and outside of the ring, Sade considers herself an artistic person, and thanks to TNA, she is able to dive into her craft, or wrestling “art,” even more. In recent weeks, Sade’s on-screen work has pitted her against former TNA World Tag Team Champion Ryan Nemeth.
The two met face-to-face on last week’s “Thursday Night iMPACT,” where Nemeth claimed that Sade might have a crush on him. Instead, Sade clocked him in the face. Nemeth previously defeated Sade in a singles match at TNA Genesis.
“I just believe that one door closing most certainly opened up literally thousands more,” she added about her transition from WWE to TNA. “It makes me fall in love more because there’s just so much more to this art.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Gabby AF” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
