Jordynne Grace made a surprise one-off WWE appearance when the TNA Knockouts Champion appeared on Saturday at the Royal Rumble in Tampa, FL by competing in the Women’s Royal Rumble match as the #5 entrant.
The moment
Grace had a strong performance in the bout and even shared the ring with Naomi, who dropped the Knockouts Title to her at the Hard to Kill pay-per-view event earlier this month, before she was eliminated. Grace is still under TNA contract.
Pwinsider reported more details about the appearance, noting WWE reached out to TNA about her being in the match. One source in WWE thinks it was a Triple H idea.
Internal reaction
The agreement between the two sides came together quickly as WWE wanted to surprise everyone with an “outside the box idea.” WWE previously did this a few years ago with Mickie James, who also was able to walk out with the Knockouts Title. Although it hasn’t been said whether there are any definitive future plans for her, it was said that Grace blew a lot of people in WWE away with her performance in the ring.
Fightful Select also noted that stars in the Women’s Royal Rumble Match knew Grace would be in the match by Thursday when she was at rehearsals. Grace had to do her physical and blood work on Monday. Those they spoke with in WWE noted both TNA and Grace were easy to deal with during the process.
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