TNA has invaded WWE. This past weekend at NXT Battleground, TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace stepped through the prohibited portal to challenge NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez for her prize. This built upon Grace’s first WWE appearance, which came as a participant in the Women’s Royal Rumble this past January. Grace working with WWE while under TNA contract has sparked rumors that the two companies could further establish a working relationship, and reports have surfaced that more crossovers between them are expected. Those crossovers continued at NXT Battleground itself in the late stages of Grace’s clash with Perez.
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Emerging from the crowd was NXT star Tatum Paxley. Paxley snatched Grace’s TNA Knockouts Championship from the ringside area and was about to take it backstage when she was halted by a familiar face: Ash By Elegance. The former Dana Brooke tussled with Paxley over the championship before Grace laid them both out and returned to the ring.
Speaking to ComicBook, Ash revealed how her NXT Battleground cameo came to be.
“My gosh, it was seriously last minute. I was going about my week and I had an appearance on Saturday in Jacksonville. I get a call, I think it was late Thursday, even maybe early Friday morning, and they’re like, ‘Hey, are you available this weekend? We’d love to have you come back and do something with TNA and NXT,’” Ash recalled. “I was like, ‘What?! Oh yeah, count me in!’ They booked my flight from Jacksonville over to Vegas.”
Ash embraced the secrecy from there, hiding herself in the backstage area prior to her on-screen appearance.
“I kept everything on the DL. I was hiding. I had my hat, I had my hoodie, I had my sunglasses,” Ash continued. “Nobody knew who I was. I made that sneak appearance, sneak attack, and here I am. I took a red eye back to Miami this morning and am enjoying about a day and a half vacation with my family and then I’m back on the road for some TNA action in Chicago. I’m booked and busy, baby.”
Ash’s cameo appeared to even take the NXT announce team by surprise. NXT play-by-play commentator Vic Joseph initially referred to Ash as her WWE ring name, Dana Brooke, before correcting himself to say Ash By Elegance. There was some speculation on whether this was a mistake or a pivot, as former TNA stars like Naomi has had her TNA history referenced with their WWE ring name rather than using her TNA ring name of Trinity.
“To be honest with you, I think it’s a slip,” Ash said when asked if Joseph’s call was a slip or if there was debate as to how she would be referred on WWE TV. “And by everybody too, because it’s been 12 years of Dana Brooke. Ash By Elegance is truly, genuinely me. It’s funny though, because I did trend worldwide with both Ash By Elegance and Dana Brooke.”
Ash is expected to appear at TNA Against All Odds this Friday, June 14th, potentially getting involved in Grace’s open challenge for the TNA Knockouts Championship.
