WWE NXT Star Arianna Grace Opens Up About Joining The Industry That 'Stole' Her Dad

"WWE NXT's" resident beauty queen and daughter of WWE comedy icon Santino Marella, Arianna Grace, had an interesting path to the ring that initially started when Grace fell out of love with medical school. Grace recently appeared on fellow "NXT" talent Nikkita Lyon's "Lyons Den" podcast to talk about her journey to the ring, and spoke about becoming disillusioned with university. Grace said she got to a point in her life where she wasn't happy with what she was doing or who she was, and wanted to be able to look back on her life when she's older and be at peace with it. She explained that her dad told her she should give wrestling a try after she finished school.

"It was weird because I always thought of it as his thing," Grace explained. "I also kind of harbored a little bit of resentment toward the industry when I was little, because I felt very much like, 'Wrestling stole my dad' and 'I don't see my dad because he's wrestling. I hate wrestling.' When he mentioned that to me, wanting [me] to try it, I was like, 'Wow. I could take something that I felt caused me a lot of pain and turn it into something that gives me my life back.'"

Grace also spoke about growing up in Toronto, Canada and what her early years were like. She said she watched her parents "grow up and become professionals and adults," as her father didn't become a wrestler until she was 12 years old. Grace said she's proud of her parents, and that they have done "really good jobs."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Lyons Den" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.