The prohibited portal is open. This past Tuesday on WWE NXT, TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace was revealed to be NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez’s next challenger and will compete for the developmental brand’s top women’s prize at NXT Battleground. Grace is somewhat familiar to the WWE audience, having competed in the Women’s Royal Rumble this past January, but her NXT arrival is all the more unprecedented. Rather than have a couple minutes of attention in a 30-woman battle royal already packed with surprises, Grace is getting a full spotlight in a top-billed match on a WWE premium live event while maintaining and promoting her status as a TNA titleholder.
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Considering the magnitude of just being associated with the WWE platform, crossover stars’ success when making one-off appearances tend to be fairly controlled. While Grace was one of the biggest talking points of the entire WWE Royal Rumble event, she did not register a single elimination.
Jordynne Grace’s Surprising WWE NXT Betting Odds
Could TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace do the unthinkable? Oddsmakers seem to think it’s a legitimate possibility.
Per BetOnline, Grace is just a +250 underdog going into her NXT Women’s Championship match against titleholder Roxanne Perez, who is a -400 favorite. While this still paints Grace as unlikely to leave the UFC Apex with WWE gold, the margin she sits at is historically a toss up.
This past April, Sami Zayn was a +225 underdog going into his WWE Intercontinental Championship clash with then-champion Gunther, a -350 favorite. As WWE WrestleMania 40 Night 2 played out, Zayn upset Gunther to capture the gold and bring an end to The Ring General’s record-shattering reign.
“They’ve been talking for, I want to say, a couple of months. They were just trying to figure out the right timing,” Grace said about how her latest WWE appearance materialized. “Maybe three weeks ago, they had talked about wanting to use me. Then it snowballed from there. I didn’t know that I was doing the NXT appearances at first. Originally, they had asked if I would be available for Battleground. ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ then it snowballed to, ‘We want to re-introduce her.’”
Grace’s appearance is reportedly only the first crossover between WWE and TNA. Recent rumblings have indicated that there will be NXT representation on future TNA events. It’s worth noting that Grace is scheduled to host an open challenge for her TNA Knockouts Championship at TNA Against All Odds on Thursday, June 14th, which many have speculated to be answered by an NXT talent.
NXT Battleground goes down on Sunday, June 9th.
