Jordynne Grace reflects on her WWE Royal Rumble stint.
Two years after Mickie James entered the WWE Women’s Royal Rumble as TNA Knockouts Champion, Jordynne Grace did the same. On this occasion, though, Grace’s participation came as a major surprise, as it was previously unannounced. During a recent interview with Gigantic Pop, Grace explained how her 2024 Royal Rumble appearance came together with the help of former TNA President Scott D’Amore and WWE producer TJ Wilson.
“We had just got home from a set of TNA tapings. Scott [D’Amore] called me, and he was like ‘Oh, what are you doing this next weekend?’ I was like ‘Nothing, why? What’s going on?’ because I thought he was going to ask me to do an independent show or a signing or something like that. He was like ‘How would you feel about being in the Royal Rumble?’ Honestly I thought he was f*cking with me,” Grace said. “I was just like ‘Yeah, that would be great.’ He was like ‘I know, seriously.’ That’s just kind of how it happened, the week before.:
“Recently, I found this out. I found out that TJ Wilson was actually the one who put my name in the hat during a creative meeting. I don’t think I’ve said that during an interview before because I just recently like within the past month found it out. He had watched my match with Trinity at Hard To Kill. I think they were all like discussing who to bring in because I don’t think they had any big surprises. He pitched me. I haven’t got to thank him in person, so if you ever listen to this, thank you TJ.”
Following a career-ending spinal cord injury, TJ Wilson transitioned to a backstage producer role for WWE. Since then, Wilson has namely dedicated himself to putting together matches for the company’s women’s division, including the 2024 Women’s Royal Rumble.
Grace emerged as the fifth entrant in the Royal Rumble match, notably coming face-to-face with the woman she defeated to win the Knockouts Championship — Trinity (aka Naomi). Grace’s Royal Rumble tenure spanned nearly 20 minutes before Bianca Belair eliminated her.
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