WWE NXT Star Kelani Jordan On Unexpected Journey Toward Wrestling Career

Though she may not have seen a career in wrestling coming, Kelani Jordan has quickly found herself among a roster of rising superstars now making an impact on "WWE NXT" on a regular basis. Appearing on the latest episode of "Busted Open Radio," Jordan detailed how wrestling wasn't initially part of her plan but it quickly turned into a reality — thanks to some timely outreach.

"I didn't ever expect to get into wrestling in the first place," she said. "I watched it a little bit growing up, but then I did gymnastics in college and I got this message on Instagram and I thought, 'Why not try?'"

The opportunity to try out for WWE came so far out of nowhere for Jordan that she wasn't sure whether or not that message — from WWE's recruiting program — was even legitimate. But the former gymnastics standout at Michigan State attended the Nashville tryout over SummerSlam weekend in 2022, and the rest is history. 

Jordan made her debut on "NXT Level Up" in May of 2023, losing to Wendy Choo, but she attracted enough attention to quickly rise up the pecking order, becoming a regular on "NXT" a little less than a month later. Since then, Jordan's stock has continued to soar, recently qualifying for Saturday's Iron Survivor Challenge match at Deadline by defeating Kiana James. Jordan credits her WWE Performance Center training and the ability to build from the ground floor for her success to this point.

"I think it's awesome to have a brand where I'm homegrown," Jordan explained. "Learning this is completely new to me so it's cool to be able to come in when 'NXT' is on this rise."

If you use quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc.