A year or so ago, we were lucky to talk with Jordynne Grace. At that time, she made her debut with Impact Wrestling just a few months before. She was happy to be a part of the roster, looking forward to wrestling each and every Knockout. She also quickly became a serious contender for the Knockouts title. The first time at Rebellion was not the good one, but that didn’t stop Jordynne from making an impact in the ring, match after match.
At 23, being a powerlifter and a wrestler for 10 years, Jordynne Grace was given the time to show who she was as a woman and an athlete, which led her to this match in Mexico where she defeated Taya Valkyrie, ending her longest-ever reign when becoming Impact Knockouts Champion. Like we already stated, Jordynne Grace is epitomising what women’s wrestling has become, strong, fearless, and unique.
The day after she won the Knockouts Champion on TV, Jordynne Grace was the guest of a special media call to talk about her win and everything it represents to her.
On becoming the Knockouts Champion
“The match, to me, was really exciting. I know a lot of people are talking about how they didn’t hear any kind of reaction from the crowd, but when I was there, it was a tremendous reaction. It was actually way more than I ever expected I was going to get, and that’s why I kind of got emotional. It’s really been just a dream come true. I’ve been wrestling for 10 years now, and I think this is a culmination of all my hard work.”
When she was given the belt by the referee – “I got really emotional there. It was really cool to be able to soak at that moment and to think about how far I’ve come since the very beginning. I kind of just thinking about my childhood and how much I sacrifice, and that kind of got to me a little bit.”
On Taya as an opponent and the Champion she was
“Taya is an amazing wrestler, and I think, at the end of the day, she did deserve that title because she would just do anything she could to keep it, but at the end of the day, her tricks kind of ran out there. I sure hope to have a Knockouts reign at least as long as hers, but I think, at the end of the day, if I’m taking on anybody that comes to my way, there’s bound to be someone better than me out there.
On her future challengers
“I’ll take on any challenger that wants to challenge me for the title. I’m not going to be like Taya. Anybody that wants a chance for the title, whether it be in the Knockouts locker room or otherwise, I’ll take on anybody.”
“I think Tenille Dashwood would be the biggest threat to the title. I think because she is well known. She has been competing for some time. Tenille hasn’t won the Knockouts title before. I think she will want to fight for it more than anyone else. Hopefully, she will be able to recover shortly and returning soon.”
On what will change for her now being Knockouts Champion
“I think I’m going to have to dedicate a lot more time to just Impact in general. I know that having a title is kind of like a spotlight is put on you. I know that I’m going to have to fly out earlier, do media stuff, and things like that, which I’m totally cool with, but I think that I’ll just have more time to dedicate.”
On the Knockouts being the flagship of Impact Wrestling for many years now
“I think that is kind of one of the big reasons that I find Impact Wrestling in the first place. They put so much attention, and they dedicate so much time and effort into their women’s division. I had the opportunity to sign with a lot of other different companies a couple of years ago or a year and a half ago. I decided to stick with Impact Wrestling because I knew that I would be special there as opposed to kind of just being a small fish in a big pond in another place.”
On the people on Impact Wrestling who have helped her the most since her debut
“We’re going to talk about people that aren’t recognized nearly enough. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but Jimmy Jacobs has such an insane mind for wrestling. We actually filmed six weeks of TV over this weekend (in Las Vegas in mid-February) and we usually only do four. He was kind of running around like a madman, and I am amazed that he got everything that needed to get done. I don’t know how you can do so much in such a short amount of time and still make everything come across as well as he does. Gail Kim’s one of the agents for the women and she’s incredible, Gail is one of the main reasons I have the Knockouts title in the first place. After every match, she gave me just amazing advice, each and every time. She’s one of the reasons I am where I am, and I think, with her coaching and her mentorship, I’ve developed so much as a wrestler in terms of just showing emotion in the ring and doing certain things in the ring that I might not have done before.”
On the evolution of women’s wrestling
“I’m actually from Texas. Just in Texas, the wrestling took forever to evolve. When I first started, there was in most places one women’s match in the card, but the way that women were treated, especially where I’m originally from, was just horrible. When I first started wrestling, I was treated kind of that same way. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve kind of grown my name a little bit or because women are more respected in general, but when the #MeToo movement happened, everything in wrestling kind of changed with the women. That movement affected everything wrestling included, and you saw just a Jurassic change on how we were all treated.”
On her favourite match of her career
“I can’t even remember half of the matches I’ve had, just what happened last year. I had a match at Pro Wrestling EVE in London against Laura Di Matteo, and it was the culmination of kind of a back and forth feud between us. I had actually missed a bunch of opportunities to have a match with her because of Impact Wrestling dates, and we actually finally had a match. It was really good, it was our first time wrestling a singles match, and it was way better than I could have ever expected it to be.”
On wrestling being a performance to her
“Wrestling is not a sport, wrestling is performance art. Obviously, we have predetermined outcomes, and typically it’s supposed to be. In sports, there is no predetermined outcome. I’m sure this is going to be used as some kind of clickbait or whatever, but wrestling is not a sport, it’s performance art, and I’m sorry if that makes anybody upset. People who like wrestling are very sensitive in that way. They don’t want to see it as something like a fantasy, even though that’s kind of what it is. Wrestling is portrayed as a sport sometimes, but a lot of the time, wrestling is funny or just absolutely ridiculous. I don’t know how people can come out and try to defend the fact that it’s a sport when we have things like Joey Ryan in wrestling or even The Undertaker. I just don’t see how that correlates.”
Follow Jordynne Grace on Twitter @JordynneGrace.
IMPACT Wrestling is airing on Tuesday at 8/7c on AXS TV in the USA. The show is available to view in the UK from 2 am Wednesdays on the IMPACT Plus app and airs at 9 pm Wednesdays on Fight Network UK (Sky 192/Freesat 161), (circa) 11 pm Fridays on 5Star and repeated on Fight Network UK at 9 pm on Sundays.
All pics, screencaps, and videos courtesy of Impact Wrestling