Jordynne Grace On WWE, Leaving TNA, Royal Rumble, Bodybuilding
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January 28, 2025
TLDR: Professional wrestler Jordynne Grace discusses her time in TNA, letting her contract expire, becoming the TNA Knockouts Champion, becoming a free agent, follow-up appearances on NXT, powerlifting records, and more.

In the latest episode of the INSIGHT podcast, host Chris Van Vliet catches up with professional wrestler Jordynne Grace to discuss her remarkable journey in the wrestling industry. Grace, known for her time in TNA and her recent surprise appearance at the WWE Royal Rumble, shares her experiences and thoughts on the evolving landscape of women’s wrestling, her fitness journey, and more.
Key Highlights
Leaving TNA and Embracing Change
- Contract Expiry: Jordynne opened up about letting her contract with TNA expire after a long tenure since 2018, highlighting her confidence in pursuing new opportunities.
- Surprise Royal Rumble Appearance: She discussed her unexpected participation in the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble, where she felt overwhelmed yet optimistic about how the crowd responded to her return.
Wrestling Transformation and Fitness Journey
- Body Transformation: Jordynne shared her transition from powerlifting to bodybuilding, explaining that heavy lifting impacted her joints during her wrestling career.
- Fitness Regimen: She emphasized her intense cardio routines, including using a Stairmaster, which she described as her favorite workout. Jordynne candidly admitted to balancing her intense training with indulgences like ice cream and cookies, showcasing her unique approach to nutrition.
Women's Wrestling Revolution
- Growth of Women’s Wrestling: Jordynne expressed appreciation for TNA's role in elevating women's wrestling, noting how the promotion allowed her to flourish in her career. Her perspective on the partnership between TNA and WWE was enlightening, as she sees it as a significant step for visibility and opportunity for all wrestlers involved.
- Goals and Aspirations: While reflecting on her future, Jordynne mentioned an aspiration to headline a pay-per-view event and to compete in a women’s Ultimate X match in WWE—an indication of her high ambitions.
Key Takeaways
- Balance is Key: Jordynne's emphasis on balancing fitness with indulgence serves as a reminder that self-care is unique for everyone.
- Openness to Opportunities: Her journey is a testament to the importance of being open to new opportunities, whether it’s letting a contract expire or stepping into a new wrestling promotion.
- Representation Matters: Her recognition of the evolving representation of women in wrestling indicates a broader shift towards inclusivity and recognition in the industry.
Conclusion
Jordynne Grace embodies the spirit of resilience and dedication in the wrestling world. Her journey not only highlights her achievements but also reflects the larger narrative of women in sports making their mark. As she looks ahead to the possibilities in 2025 and beyond, fans eagerly anticipate what comes next for this inspiring athlete.
"A winner is a dreamer who never gives up," a quote shared by Grace, perfectly encapsulates her mindset and journey within the industry.
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Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blee!
How are you my friends? Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Vliet. Happy Rumble Week. Should be a good one. I'm leaving for Indianapolis on Thursday. Hope to see you guys there. Hope to see you at the live show on Friday with special guest Carlito.
can't wait for that.
Jordan Grace had an incredible 2024. And it feels to me like 2025 is about to be a whole lot bigger for her. Great to have her back in the show. She's only been on once. And that was June 2020. So almost five years ago,
A lot has changed since then. She is an absolute powerhouse in the ring and has been absolutely crushing it. So a lot to catch up on with Jordan Grace on this one. Snap a screenshot. Let us know. You're listening. Tag us on social media so we can share it out as well. She's at Jordan Grace. I'm at Chris family. It's just our names. And let's dive right into this. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Jordan Grace.
I feel like every time I see you, you just get more and more fit. Like in better shape every single time. This is just luck. Three months ago, I was 30 pounds heavier. In a good way? No, in a not good way, because my eating is just so extreme. It's either really bad or it's just on point. And I'm very lucky right now. How dialed in is it usually? It's not usually dialed in at all, but sometimes I just go completely off the rails. I'm a big binge eater.
So, like, what's the go-to when you're just eating whatever? I eat sweets. I don't know if you interviewed Moose or not. He loves sweets, and so do I, and so we literally text each other like photos of what we're eating, like ice cream, cookies. I don't care about pizza or anything like that, but it's just like, I can eat three pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream in a day. No problem. What's the go-to flavor?
I like the fish food. Oh, that one's so good. Yeah, I wouldn't care. I'm all in it. Jimmy Fallon has one that has those in it. I haven't had the Jimmy Fallon tonight show one. The fish food and the half baked.
Well, how do you feel about like candy? Are those the type of sweets you're into? No, not candy. Just cookies and ice cream are like my main two things. What kind of cookies? Have you had it in some new cookies? Oh, yes. Destroy an entire like 12 packages. There's something wrong with me. I don't think people though could assume that you can be this fit while eating cookies and ice cream. Yeah, well, I punish myself by just going like and doing an hour of cardio after I do this stuff. So I think it just,
somehow balances itself out. I don't recommend it, by the way. Don't do what I do. Your workouts are just crazy intense. Yes. At least my cardio. I do a lot of cardio and I do a lot of bodybuilding style workouts. When did you make the shift from you were a power lifter, you were built like a power lifter, now you're a bodybuilder and built like a bodybuilder?
Yes. Powerlifting was just really hurting my body, like just lifting constant heavy weights all the time. Um, really messing with your joints. It turns out. So, and doing that on top of wrestling is just really difficult. So I just had to kind of mix that all together. So when did that shift happen? Man, I want to say like,
2021 probably like right after the pandemic happened, something like that. Yeah, I feel like you emerged after that era of like not a lot of stuff going on. People were like, look at her now. I did the powerlifting competitions and I won a couple of them. And then I think I just kind of decided, okay, I did it and that's enough. Yeah, but it's one thing to stop powerlifting. And then it's another thing to like look like completely jacked.
Well, I feel like I had to because I have to stand out somehow, right? Like this, this is like, this is like my messed up mentality about stuff. I feel like there's, there's, there was nothing like unique or special about me. Like I don't represent a community. I don't, I didn't look a certain type of way. I was just like, you know, I was just this, this, this chubby white girl and you didn't, you didn't like see anything when I walked in a room. But I feel like if someone has like,
big arms and they walk in the room, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if they're a four foot tall, you're going to be like, okay, they're dedicated. They do something. Yeah, like in real life, people must be looking at you like, what is this girl do for? Yes. And that's what happens all the time now. They just always ask me, and if I want to like Clark, can't myself, I just put on a shirt. Like a pun, Jack. And that's no problem. What do they call that? They call that the pump cover, right? Yeah, the pump cover.
And then people can't really tell, I'm just 5'2", walking around. But as soon as I take off the shirt or jacket, I think people immediately recognize some level of something, some kind of dedication, or they think you're somebody, they think you're a bodybuilder or something like that. So on a plane, are people always like, what do you do? Well, I've been covering up recently because it gets kind of bothersome because then people are like, oh, are you a bodybuilder? The easiest thing to say is yes, because if you say you're a wrestler,
then it's like all things are out the window. People have a million questions. So I just, I'm just having a bigger, 100% or Hulk Hogan. Like that, any of the old school wrestlers. So you just like, yeah, I'm a bodybuilder, which is not true. Yes. I mean, but people think you're like, you compete and they're like, oh, wins your next competition. I'm like, well, you have competed, right? I did compete one time and will likely never do it again. Why?
I just love, I love ice cream too much. It was the worst time in my life. Like, you got so shredded. I got so shredded. I was carrying around an electric skillet, like to all the, all of my shows. Like I was carrying around. I would go grocery shopping every time I landed, like I flew, would fly in early. So I could go grocery shopping and then go back to the hotel and then meal prep all of my stuff. Like it was just, it was a lot, man. And then after the shows, a lot of the time I would go and do cardio.
Like it would be like, it would be like midnight and people would be coming in the hotel and I would just be there doing cardio. Did you like the way you looked?
Oh, my God. I've never looked better. I loved it. It's messed up. It's giving me body dysmorphia for the rest of my life because I know I will likely never look like that again unless I do that stuff and I don't want to do that stuff anymore. What's intense, right? It's too much for me. I don't know how professional bodybuilders do a year round. Yeah, I don't know how they do it, not just year round, but then year after year after year. And just it's insane to me. I don't think I'll ever do it again, but
You know, we don't know. Never say never. I'm sure there's a certain amount of discipline, a lot of discipline that you have right now to look the way that you look in the rent. Oh man, you know, I'm trying my best. I think that the biggest thing is I mess up a lot, but I keep going back and I keep trying. Like I keep- You mean with cookies? Is that what you mean? Yes, with cookies. Like messing up with your diet? Yeah, 100%. Like I cannot say no to a cookie. If you often make a cookie right now, I have a big paper this weekend and I'd probably be like, you know what?
We'll bring it in here if you want. No, please don't. But if you're eating, what is it, six meals a day? Yeah, like five, six. Okay. So I always talk about how if you eat six meals a day and that seven days a week, 42 meals in a week, if three of those aren't perfect, 39 of them are. Yes. But I think the big thing now is that if I mess up, I can just kind of reset and just go back to eating clean and
back in the day, like I would mess up and then just like be like, well, well, you know, fuck it. Just like a snowball going down the hill. It's like when the one cheat meal turns into like a cheat month. And yeah, so I'm trying to not to get away from that. So where are you at now? Do you feel good?
I feel, I feel pretty good now. I feel strong. Um, I would love like always, I would love to be leaner, like, and more jacked, but I know that there's, I just don't want to do like three hours of cardio a day and not eat the cookie. So the folks, the folks for use cardio, not lifting weights. Yeah. Pretty much like the cardio, what burning calories, um, like, how do I, how do I want to say this?
Lifting weights isn't as important to me anymore to build muscle because I feel like I have enough muscle now. I just have to maintain it so you don't have to do as much as a bodybuilder to just maintain the muscle. You just have to eat a ton of protein and lift three to four times a week and you don't have to go crazy. But it's cardio seven days a week. Yes, cardio seven days a week.
On my off days. What's your preferred method of cardio? I like, I love the Stairmaster. Oh, like a true bodybuilder. Yes, I love the Stairmaster. I have one at my house, the best investment I ever made in my life. Oh, wow. That's a big, that's a big investment. It's a big investment. And honestly, there's been so many things that I've regretted investing money in, and that is something I've never regretted. It's like, you could buy a treadmill on Craigslist for like a few hundred dollars. Stairmaster is a few thousands of dollars. Yes. The one I have now,
I paid it off now, but it was 10 grand. Oh my gosh. I got a nice stairmaster. I got like a commercial grade LA fitness stairmaster and it has something called overdrive mode and you can lift up the handles like a farmer's carry. Oh my gosh. You can do a farmer's carry more. You climb the stairs.
I thought I was going to use that feature a lot more than I do now, but I have used it a couple of times and it's really, really hard. Look, that's a great investment though, if you're doing it as much as you are. Yes, I use it every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. Now, is this only for you or do you allow John to use this as well? He hates a Stairmaster.
I don't think I've ever seen him on it a single time. We have a treadmill at the house too, so he's usually on it. He also does a lot of jujitsu, so that's mostly where his cardio comes from. Yeah, I'm sure he's getting tons of cardio in. Yes. So this means the Stairmaster is basically just yours then. Yeah, 100%. It's all my sweats on there. Never clean it. I was so pumped for you with the pop you got of the Royal Rumble last year.
I was pumped too because honestly I expected to come out there and no one was gonna know who I was. It was my first time being in WWE at all. So I didn't expect people to know who I was. I didn't know the crossover, what exactly it was between TNA and WWE. When did you start hearing there were conversations that like, oh, we might be able to work with WWE?
Um, I mean, the first I ever heard of it was when Scott called me literally the week before and asked if I wanted to do the rumble, like that was any question at all. But that was the first time I ever heard about it. And then after that, it just kind of snowballed from there. Were you like, are you serious? Yeah, I thought he was joking. I was like,
I had just got home from the tapings, actually, from the TNA tapings. And I was like, I just don't understand why you're calling to rip me. Like, you could do this over text. Like, I don't get it. And he was like, no, like, they want to use you for the rumble. And I was just like, it was mind-blowing.
Well, it was such a huge wave of momentum. Like the tapings you're talking about, it's hard to kill. Yeah, that was when I won the TNA Knockouts Championship. Right. And that's also when TNA came back. Yes. So there's this huge momentum of like TNA is back. I know. And now you're in the Royal Rumble. 2024 was just a whirlwind. And I think who actually pitched me and who saw the match with me in Trinity was TJ.
So he's actually the one day to do it. He was the one who actually like pitched me through a rumble. So it's pretty wild. So you get to the rumble that day, you get there in Tampa. What's the vibe like backstage? So I actually have to go there two days in advance because they do like, you know, the rehearsals and all that. And because it's a lot, it's a lot to put together rumble. I don't know if anybody else knows that, but it's, it's, it's chaotic. A lot of people in there. So I was there for actually like,
three days total. And then when I got to the venue, the day of, um, they have like a talent bus, but they wanted to like bring me separately. I guess to kind of try to keep the surprise, even though someone or someone at the PC leaked that I was there already. So everybody already knew, but I went like in their private car and I went and
I was so nervous. Like, oh my God, my stomach was hurting because I just don't want to mess anything up. I don't want to, I don't want to not shake somebody's hand. It's just like, it's so nerve-wracking being there when I know a lot of people there, but at the same time, there's so many people that you don't know it was important, right? You don't know who's like head of production or one of the top writers, like you just don't, you just don't know the stuff unless you've worked there for a long time. Yeah. So you don't want to miss a hand. And do you also not think like,
You don't know who knows you or who doesn't know. Yes. Oh, and also another thing that I hate is I'll shake somebody's hand and then maybe I'll forget that I shake their hand and then I'll go to shake their hand again and reach. Oh my God. It was mad earlier. Yeah. Yep. And that's the most embarrassing thing. I did that probably three times and I was like, well, I'm going to never work here again, I guess. What number did you enter at? Number five. So what are you feeling when you're in gorilla there?
And I just kind of disassociated a little bit. So I wouldn't shit myself. But are you not sitting there and like, look, you just look over a little bit and you're like, there's triple H on headset and.
Oh my gosh, I'm gonna go through this curtain here in a second. Yeah, I mean, I just, I didn't want to think about all that because I was already nervous enough as it is and I wanted to concentrate 100% on my performance. If there was any time to like make a statement and to seize an opportunity, that was gonna be it. So I knew like I had to nail it 100%, especially because I was representing TNA. And like, if I do badly, I feel like that reflects negatively on TNA. You were booked so strong though.
was and I had a really cool like elimination. Yeah, I think I had a cool elimination. But it's not like your music hit. You went out there and you were out there for two minutes. Yeah, I was there for like, I don't know, 13, 14 minutes. Yeah, some moments as well. Yeah, I had one with Ivy Nile, Trinity, which is so awesome. And then Bianca. So.
and some seeds here, I feel like. I know. It would be awesome to wrestle any of those women at WWW. It'd be so cool. Yes. Anything can happen now. The announcement just happened recently. There's a partnership with TNA and WWE. Yeah. Official press release and everything. Yeah. This is not just like a... This is official now, and it's out there. It's on paper. So let's do some fantasy booking, man.
What are the WWE matches, the WWE opponents that you want to see? I feel like obviously Bianca. Oh, are you talking about not for me? No, no, for you. Yes. Yeah, for you. We can do the other ones too. But I would love to wrestle Bianca. I'd love to wrestle Ivy. Rhea, I feel like, is kind of an obvious choice. And it's so funny, actually, my, I have a little sister and she doesn't really watch wrestling, but she does TikTok. She loves TikTok.
And I guess Rhea is like so popular on TikTok, right? So she knows Rhea from TikTok and she's obsessed with her. And so when she saw the photo of me in Rhea, like with our belts at the rumble, she called me and she was screaming. She doesn't care about me, but she's like, oh my God, I cannot believe you met her. And she was like, do you have her phone number? And I was like, yeah. And she was like, what is happening?
Think about this. If someone went into a coma like five years ago and they woke up now and saw that photo of you and they wouldn't believe it, right? Oh, they wouldn't believe it at all. But I'm just excited for what this means for TNA because it's more visibility for TNA, obviously. It's just the brand recognition in general being associated with WWE is so huge. It's a big, big deal. Well, the great thing about it is it goes both ways, right? So we get to see a lot of TNA talent in WWE and we get to see WWE talent in TNA.
Yeah. And I think for like the WWE wrestlers, especially for like the NIL talent, I think it's a great opportunity to kind of branch out and to kind of get a vibe of a different audience, right? TNA might be different than like the NXT audience that they're in front of normally. So I feel like it's really good in that sense. After you were in the Royal Rumble in 2024, were there conversations backstage of like, we want you to do more here in WWE?
I mean, not with me. The only time that I knew about these things was when they were already talked about within the two companies and send motion. So they were being booked.
by the bookers. Yeah, they're being booked by Ariel, who's like, you know, the head of Tina and then Sean, who's obviously Sean, and they just sort of just like, yeah, the heartbreak.
And I only was asked, I wasn't asked. I was basically told, we're like, oh, you're going to go do this for these, this amount of dates. And I was just like, I mean, obviously I'm not going to say no, but it was so cool. Cause you popped up and in the next year. Yes. And then that was like, that was like the big surprise, right? That was when they actually
It was not leaked at all for who the surprise point was going to be. They had me come at like 7 p.m. and snuck me into a room and pull like a do not enter sign on the door. It was it was wild. Oh, man. Yeah, they kept the surprise really, really well. Yeah, that rocks and didn't even know. What? Yeah.
That's pretty cool. So she told, because she had been asking, I guess, like, who's going to be, who's going to be? And no one would tell her. And then there were going to tell her right before we went out. And she was just like, you know what, I don't even care anymore. Just like, let me have a natural reaction out there. And so she went out to the ring, did a promo, and then that was our natural reaction. There are so few legit surprises in wrestling anymore, especially on the level where the talent doesn't
Yeah, I mean, I'm happy to be one of them. And I'm happy that I was able to keep the secret myself because it's a hard secret to keep. Masha was just on NXT this last week. And honestly, keeping a secret for your friend is actually maybe harder because you're like, oh, man, I'm so excited for this person. Like. Well, the rumble's right around the corner now. I know. Wouldn't it be so cool? I would. I would just love to see as many TNA knockouts in the rumble as possible. Well, is Jordan Grace going to be in the rumble? I don't know. I haven't been told anything about it, but
I was told the week before last time. Who knows? Well, that's right around where we're at now. So your phone could be ringing during this interview. Who knows? I mean, it's on D&D. So hopefully I don't miss a call. We'll end this interview and you'll have 17 missed calls. Oh my God. Oh, geez, we got to go. But what do you think 2025 looks like for you? Where are you going to be? What do you want to do?
It's so it's a crazy like crossroads for me right now because I honestly have no idea what's gonna happen. Obviously, like, I feel like more people know they've
People think they know what I'm gonna do more than I actually know what I'm gonna do. And I think all doors are open. Like, my contract is, when it's gonna air? It's gonna air the week before the rumble. So like the 26th, somewhere around there. So if I say like, my contract is up to 19th, that I already have. The contract is already up, yes. Okay, so I'll be saying my contract. Sorry, this airs on the 28th. It is January 28th to know that we're filming this before.
Of course. Yeah. But it's January 28th. Today, as people are listening and watching it. Okay. Watching that.
As people are watching this right now, my contract is already expired. And maybe I don't know think you already actually know where I am. But as of right now, I have no idea. I could stay in TNA. I could go anywhere else. You might see me in CML. I have no idea. It all depends. And there's a million different factors. I have six dogs. I don't want to leave home where I'm at right now. It's really hard to find a house anywhere for six dogs. I don't know if you knew that or not. It's very difficult.
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Why did you get to the point where you were okay with letting your contract expire? I've been at teenage for a very long time since 2018 and I've never let my contract expire before. I've always just resigned and I don't know if it was just the uncertainty of not knowing what was going to happen next or I was just scared that no one was going to want me but
i feel like now i'm more confident i had an amazing twenty twenty four and i think it's time i've done so much in tina i've done pretty much all there is to do and i feel like if there was ever a time to move forward it will be right now i think that people see the reaction you got the rumble then the reaction you got in nxt the matches you had in nxt and i think fans are already kind of writing this story for you.
Yes, I think they're writing the story for me too. And it's so awesome that even though I may go to WWE or be in WWE, that I'm still going to have that TNA connection because they're partnered up, which I absolutely love.
Well, there's always going to be those stories that can be told there or, you know, like training is a perfect example. Yeah. Trinity is a perfect example. I feel like with this partnership, I would love to see AJ come back like AJ Styles. That would be so awesome. Um, I feel like maybe I could even come back at some point, like, and I really want to see a world's collide pay-per-view. Like that's what I hope this is going to all lead to. I hope this partnership leads to a world's collide. It's just how much world am I going to be in? I mean, you kind of could dip your toe in both worlds. I know I'm a double agent.
It's what an interesting and exciting time. I know. Anything could happen, right? Yeah. Opportunities for everyone. There's so much going on, so much excitement, so many surprises that could happen. It's just, it's crazy. When do you feel like you really started to level up? Good question.
I feel like probably after I won the knockouts title for the second time. So I won the knockouts title for the second time in 2022 in Queen of the Mountain Match. And then after that, I think there weren't a lot of women around that time to kind of
They're the flag and I had a lot of opportunities to show what I could do. And I feel like from then, it just kind of exploded for me. Like, 2023 was awesome. I really thought in 2023, like, it can't get better than this. This is like the best year ever. And then 2024 happened. So, not going to win. Hopefully 2025 is the same way.
Is the rumble the biggest crowd you've ever performed in front of? Yes. Before that, it was the first ever all in. And I can't remember exactly what that was, but I want to say it was amazing. I think so. I think 13,000. So the rumble is definitely the biggest one.
How did, and I were jumping all over the place with time here, but how did you being part of the first all-in not turn into something else with maybe Ring of Honor, where John was? I honestly think it was just timing. Almost immediately after that happened, Scott messaged me on Twitter, and basically offered me a contract. I just signed there pretty much immediately, so I didn't even get a chance to talk to Ring of Honor anybody.
I just felt like with the momentum that was building there, and AEW was announced a few months after that, that there were perhaps a few opportunities for you there. Yeah, I just, I don't, I think I'd never got to have those conversations just because I just immediately was just like, yeah, I'll go to TNA, let's do it. Yeah, well, you're one of the... It worked out. Absolutely. And you're also one of the many people who believed in Scott to Moore. Yeah, he was awesome. He was during my time there, and when he was there, he was the best to me.
And then he left. Yes. And then and then he left. Not willingly, but he did leave. And I think it was just like it was just as a shop to everyone. But the good thing is, I think everything's going to work out. I feel like Scott's going to land somewhere and he's going to help a company very, very much. OK. I mean, I don't know it 100%, but I just have a feeling. Do you think if Scott was still in TNA, you might still be in TNA?
Well, when he left, I was very emotional when he left, like a lot of other people because it was just so out of the blue. We found out on a Zoom call, it was just like, it was very corporate. I feel like, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but at the time, I was just like, you know what? I only really signed here because
I had faith in Scott that he was going to do good things for me and good things for the company. He's the one that kind of said motion the whole the whole rebirth of TNA. And I told them I wanted my contract to be like cut basically. So it was supposed to be until October of this year. And I was like, I want to get out in January of this year and.
I mean, kudos to them. They, they heard me and they, they let me. So I'm very lucky for that. But I think probably I'd still, I still be here. But it's amazing that they allowed you to do whatever you wanted to do them. It's amazing. And I also think it's a testament to like them as a company hearing a talent say, I'm not happy. I want this. So I just feel lucky in that regard. So 2024 was as big as it was for you.
How could this year possibly top that? I don't know. Anything could happen, right? I mean...
Who knows? If I could be a part of the world's cloud pay-per-view, that'd be awesome. That would definitely make my year. The world's cloud pay-per-view that you just created a few minutes ago? Yeah, I didn't create it. I feel like it's been in everybody's head. Sean has actually mentioned it before. I asked Sean about it and he was like, oh, I love that. So, you know, it's not off the table. That'd be amazing. It would be amazing. Did you have to talk to Scott Steiner to get a siren of the Stardew entrance theme? No, I didn't ask permission.
Um, but it's not the exact same siren. So I think I kind of got away with it for that. Um, yeah, I didn't, I didn't ask permission. So sorry Scott. No, I don't say that. Uh, but I did wear the chain mail one time when I did the, the triple, I did a triple that match with him, PD and me and I wore the chain mail.
Well, yeah, I mean, like when you look at the way that Scott was presented, you look at the way that you're presented, there's a lot of similarities. Yeah, I mean, I wish I had as big muscles as he did in his prime, like his were crazy. Could you imagine? I can't imagine. He did the freaks and the beaks. That would be really cool. And people are always asking me to cut the, you know, the Steiner math promo. Yeah.
It cannot be recreated by anyone in history. Like, I can't do it. I don't even think that he knows all the words. No, there's, there's no way. Like he just, he just did it and it's never going to be redone the way he did it. So people are always like linking you two guys up, like you and Scott Steiner.
Yeah, he was one of my favorites in TNA, and he would just say the craziest things, and he was just like a typical Jimbo. And I loved that about him. He was super jagged. He'd say the craziest stuff. And he just went out there, and he kicked people's asses, and I wanted to be the same way.
Everyone talks about the Scott Steiner math promo. Yeah. There's so many other underrated Scott Steiner. There's so many other underrated ones, but I think that one was just so off the walls, like bizarre and people, it just like made people like even random people who don't even watch wrestling know about that promo. Three, three, three. The other one that always pops up is he's fat.
Oh, I love him. He's the best. He flies out of the Atlanta airport too. So I pass him sometimes. What was it like when you met him the first time? When I met him the first time, I mean, it was just like he, I don't think he knew who I was to be honest. So he's very low key. He's super low key. I don't think he does the internet like that at all. So, I mean, he's just like kind of someone's kind of someone's cute old grandpa now. He got the grandpa glasses going on.
always wearing a baseball cap. Yeah. He's so low key when you meet him. He's just like, yeah. And he just looked, he's just, he's a super chill guy. I've been trying to get him on the show for like five years. Good luck. And he's just like, yeah, I'm good. Yeah. What do you mean? Please? He's like, I don't need to do that. He doesn't need to do that. It's like, I've told stories about the math problem. He doesn't need to do anything. He knows, he knows everybody already knows them.
But the siren is at the start of your entrance theme. That's the decision, right? It is a decision. And I don't know what led me to make that decision, to be honest. Honestly, I think when I had the guy who made the music, he just kind of had this idea for the music. And he knew that I liked Scott Steiner. And I think that's kind of where it came from. But it's work since then. I love it. If someone's never seen a Jordan Grace match,
What do you think they need to start with? Who's the opponent with the match?
Okay. Um, I, I would say, Bound for Glory 2022, uh, me versus Majus language for the TNA knockouts world title. Like that was up until like recently that was the best night I've ever had. Um, I, I loved that match. We beat the shit out of each other and honestly we've done it a few times since then and I've topped that match, I think, but that was the match where I feel like I probably, I probably felt like I reached my peak at that point.
So you set up until recently, what's the new match then? We've, me and Masha have wrestled a few times since then. We had another match at this past match for Glory, where she won the knockouts title. I think we, we did a great job. And then we also had a two out of three falls match, which I actually liked more. Um, and I want to say that was in November. And I loved that match too. We had Deanna Paraz on the show a few months ago, and she said,
She was talking about how- I miss wrestling her. She was talking about how great your 30 minute Iron Woman match was. That was in 2020. Yeah, that was in 2020. Yeah, in front of nobody. That was an awesome match. I just, I don't think I had gone through my transformation yet. So that's why I would say I don't think people should start with that match. But if they want to go back and dive into the history of Jordan Grace, like I would start there so they can kind of see how I transformed over the years. She said nobody hits harder than you.
Yeah, she told me that she, she told me this recently. I'm understanding that within the past year that that night she like went back to her tower and she started crying to Steve cause I hit her so hard. Which spot is it? I don't know. I mean, I honestly have no idea. Like she was, she was hitting me hard too. So I feel like I was hitting her back the same way.
Who hits, who's hit you the hardest? Masha has knocked me out before, like legit. Like she's hit me with a, um, a back fist and she's knocked me out. So definitely her. But you woke up right away. Yes. Oh, and you know, something else about Masha is for the longest time. Thank God that she finally listened to me. She didn't wear a kick pads. And I don't know if you've seen her wrestle. She throws kicks constantly.
So anytime she would kick me, it wouldn't make a great sound because when you kick someone in real life, like it doesn't really make a sound, but it hurts so bad. So in wrestling, you want the strikes to make a sound and it's okay if they're like stiff, but you don't want them to hurt. So every time that bony like front of her leg would hit me in the chest or hit me in the face, like it'd be so painful and people didn't know how painful it was because there was no sound.
What about when you wrestle, like you wrestled bully Ray and Tiana? Yes, yeah. Did he hit hard? No, he does not hit hard at all. But also if he doesn't, he doesn't like, he didn't do any strikes to me. He just did slams. So he didn't slam me super hard. He actually complained about how I hit him. Come on. He was complaining to me about how I hit him. Come on. That's what I said. I was like, come on, get out of here. You beat bully. I did beat bully, which was wild. That probably like was one of
What was that, 2023? Yeah, that was 2023. That was why I say that that year was so awesome. That was one of the moments that made that you're so cool was that I got to win, be the first ever knock out to win the card shot gala. And I also got to be blurry on top of it.
Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah, that's pretty cool. What was the conversations with him about that match and like making making you look strong in it? So his main issue during that match was that I wouldn't be able to hit my finisher on him. He was so like concerned about me being able to to do my finisher. But luckily, I think it was that maybe the year before I wrestled someone Maxi and Taylor and she's also she's also very big. I want to say like,
She's not as big as Belia's, but she's way taller than me and she's much bigger than I am. And I showed him a video of me hitting the finisher on her and he was like, okay. And then this is so, there's so much, there's so many layers to it. Literally like right before we're about to go out, Tommy Dreamer found out that I was gonna do my finish on Bubba. He was like, Bubba, don't do it. Like there's no way like, cause Bubba was a big chain. He was like, man, you're gonna, it's gonna hurt so bad. Like take off the chain. He was freaking out and I was like, just, it's gonna be fine. Like let me do this.
And so we did it. But does it get in your head? No, you're in the match and you're like, everybody's thinking I shouldn't do this. I knew 100% that I could do it. And it fueled me to do it better, to be honest, because I was like, man, I cannot believe they're doubting me. After everything I've done, they're going to doubt me for this. And so I hit it and I went to the back and Tommy was like, I was wrong.
What about when you wrestled Matt Cardona? Oh, man. So I was his first ever intergendered singles match and it was awesome. I literally just signed my high school yearbook, Take Care, Spike Your Hair. That's great. I know how lame was that, but like it was, it was a dream. I took your advice, by the way. Yeah.
You got to get them a little more. Yeah. Well, that was like 2001 version of me. The headband too. Oh, yeah. That bad. But that was, it was awesome. He was, we have such amazing chemistry together. Honestly, like we, we really, we beat the show out of each other too. We did a, the first ever digital media, digital media match and we used keyboards. We used like mouth, like the mouses. I think I used a DVD player at one point. Like we were just, we were going all in.
Oh, and we did, uh, you know, the thumbtack thing they usually do with a double thumbtacks out. We did that. What we do with cell phones. I went on eBay and I spent, I spent $300 and I bought a bulk case of old.
cell phones, like Nokia's like the razors, all those. I don't know why people, I don't know why they had them, but they bought it. I bought them and then we use them in that match. How many were in that bulk purchase? I think it was like 200. 200 of them? Yeah, we ended up selling some of them. We like signed them and sold them. 200 for $300? Yeah, it was a crazy one. That seems amazing. I feel like I should go buy some and it's just to have them.
I have some, you can have. I still have some memorabilia. That's like crazy nostalgic. It was awesome. Everybody remembers their first Nokia phone. Yeah. And like, it's like the flip-raisers. Oh, razors, yeah. Like the blueberries, the blackberries. Yeah. But there was a blueberry, right? I don't want to say there was like an off brand of the blackberry.
I feel like I need to we have all the world's information in our pocket. I need a blueberry phone. I swear to God. Let's see. And everyone listening say, of course, there was a blueberry phone. Let's see. I don't know. I think we're just getting a lot of a blueberry touch screen phone. Looks like it's just blackberries.
Oh, no, no, here we are. There it is. It's a blueberry. I told you, people who lived in poverty know about the blueberry. So you're slamming people on blueberries and blackberries.
I did not know that was a thing. That doesn't even seem real. Chris didn't grow up in poverty. I didn't have a cell phone for a long time. Speaking of which, Chris, can you pronounce your last name for me? Van Vliet. Okay. This is what I recently learned. Uh-oh. Was that for the past five years, I've been pronouncing your name incorrectly and no one has corrected me. I haven't also spelled it in my phone wrong.
I haven't, I pronounced it Chris Van Valette. It's not the worst I've heard. And that's how it's spelled in my name. That's fine. That's fine. V-I-L-E-T. I've heard a lot of different versions of it. Who finally corrected you?
Um, and who was it? I want to say, I want to say, ironically, it was, it was most who corrected me. Oh, and he's like, it's actually Van Vliet. Yeah. He's like, who? I've heard all like growing up, people are like, uh, oh, it's Van Vliet, Van Vliet. I remember on the announcements in elementary school, like I've had a really good basketball game in sixth grade and they congratulated Chris Van Violet.
I was like, come on. Like, I should know this struggle because people have mispronounced my first name all the time. Like, you're Jordan. No, my, my, my wrestling name, because I have spelled it so strangely. Yeah. Why'd you spell it? I don't know why. I have no idea. I was literally 12 years old. Like I made this name as when I was doing e-fitting. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I made this name when I was doing e-fitting. And it's so, it's so funny, actually, because
I hated this name for the longest time when I was wrestling. And I was like, it's okay, though, because eventually, like, if I go to WWE, they'll change my name. So this is a placeholder for now. Yeah. And then the ironic. I will not change your name now. Ironically, I'm not getting my name changed. Which is great.
Look what you built. Yeah. So it's just funny how that worked out. So if you listen to the audio version of any of my podcasts, I say my name at the start of every episode, every episode, and we're at episode 700 and something now. I skip the interest, which is totally fine. I get it. They also sing it in my podcast theme, Van Vliet, Downstate Douglas Anderson, you know, the same band that does Cody's theme. Yeah. Well, I know. I know now. So I'll pronounce it. Yeah. It's inside with Chris Van Vliet.
I was like, they're pronouncing wrong at me. Yeah, you guys got it wrong. Look, every time they mention me on busted open, they say my name wrong. I feel like that's just a gimmick. They pronounce it like it's filet. Yes, like I'm a filet mignon, which is fun. Maybe I am the finest of the stakes. I don't know.
the finest of the podcast podcasters. Perhaps you said it, not me. But thank you for correcting that after six years or. Of course. Yeah, of course. I had to let you know too. Thank you. Thank you for being honest about it. At least I would say. I thought it was a funny scenario. It is. So we've figured that out now. That is. Yes, we're good to go. I think I've known you now for six years, six or seven years.
Jeez. I got you. That's okay. I'm going to fix it on my phone too. You don't have to. So it's spelled wrong too. It's spelled V-I-L-E-T. Oh, okay. A lot of people are like, you're from Canada. It must be French. I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with me. That's okay. People will say your name wrong? Yeah, I could spell J-O-R-D-Y-N-N-E. So a lot of people will say Jordine. Jordine. Jordine, yep. That one doesn't make sense. Some people say Jordine, which is...
It's funny, actually at a, at a TNA event, there was a guest announcer and they pronounced my name, Jordy and Grace. They announced you wrong? Oh. Oh, that's all. No, I think I had the knock out title at the time. So I was just like, you know what, whatever is wild.
Did you crush a watermelon with your thoughts? I did not do that. I haven't done it yet. I have many requests for it though. Honestly, I don't think I could do it. I don't think I could do it. Watermelons are really hard to crush and you got to practice. I feel like I could do it if I practiced it a bunch of times and then I could do it on camera. Bobby Lashley crushed a watermelon, like squeezed a watermelon. He's a freak of nature. There's a big difference between me and him. He's insane. He said that he hadn't practiced.
nephew or God, someone's like, I bet you can do this. It's a trend on TikTok. And he's like, well, I guess I'll try. I'm just squeezed it. Must be nice to be that confident. And that Jack. Yeah, I would be like, I'm not even going to try. I don't want to embarrass myself. So are you saying these are just pretty muscles, then? They're not like, you know, it's super strong. I'm in bodybuilding popcorn muscles. Like they're there for show.
No, I feel like I definitely like, I have a lot of strength to me, but I'm not as strong as I was when I was doing powerlifting. What were your personal bests? Like for deadlift, like 505, like it ended up being that everything. Bench was, I want to say it was like 275 for bench.
Um, and then for squat, it was like close to 500. Oh my God. And I cannot do anything close to that now. And I don't even want to try it. So you're lifting lighter now? I'm lifting much lighter. I'm just, I'm just getting like a pump and I just want to, I want to feel, I want to feel the burn essentially like you don't feel the burn when you're powerlifting. You just feel your back and giving out. You feel those, you feel those 10 minute breaks in between sets.
You feel your elbow is about to explode. If a power lifter is on the squat rack, you're like, well, I guess I'm not doing that. Oh, yeah. It's just like they're just eating a full meal like in between sets. 100%. If you live in Atlanta, have you done one of those workouts with DDP yet?
No, I haven't. Um, one of his, uh, like people who work for him reached out to me about it, but I just haven't done it yet. Um, he's a good friend of mine. I've done his, I've done his gauntlet a few times now. I'd love to do it. It sounds awesome. I did cold plunging for the first time like recently in the past few months and it's up so bad. That's the point. I don't know how people do. I do it every day. Yeah. You did it today. Yeah. I did it this morning. Oh my God. I don't know how y'all do this. Like it's the best cause when I come out of that, you're like,
I really want to start doing it every day. It's just it's it's going to be difficult. You might like his power cuff workouts. Oh, yeah. I've heard about that. Like super lightweight. Yeah. Pump is way more intense. Yeah, I definitely want to try. Like you're doing like insanely low weight, like 10 pound bicep curl, but like 20 reps. Oh, that's good. But like it's blood restricted flow. Like so the blood's just going to that one area.
Yeah, no pressure on your joints. I mean, I definitely love to do it. I just have to get with him. He only lives about 30 minutes away from me like his whole his whole thing. So yeah, he's like just north of the city there. And you guys need to make this out. Connect you guys. I'd love to see this happen. The whole gauntlet. I don't know. It's not just cold plunge. It's cold plunge that he puts you on a bike with an oxygen mask on and pleats your oxygen and then it gives you full oxygen. Jesus.
And then it gets you on the mat and you're doing DDPY. Yeah, I do like, I've done that a few times. I do like that. It's a hell of a stretch. Then it's an hour cuff workout. Oh, it's. I think I had there was an app, right? Yes. DDPY app. So I had like, I had subscribed to that for a few months. I did it. One of my favorite things that you do is the stalling vertical suplex with the flex. Yeah. That's one of my favorite things I do too. I think it looks awesome. I think I did that actually at the rumble. Yeah. So that's funny. I was just like, I got to get this in here.
Um, but yeah. How do you think of it? What do I think about it? How do you think of like, how do you come up with it? I think I saw someone else do it. I saw someone else do it. Yeah.
Well, that's the thing, right? In wrestling, it's not stealing. It's drooling inspiration. What is it? Great art of steel? What's the whole quote? I forget. But I definitely drew some inspiration from that. It was a long time ago. I saw this as an indie wrestler who did it. And I was just like, that's crazy. I'm doing it. Are there certain people you know you can't do it with? There's a lot of people I know I can't do it. I only do it.
Like, with girls, I know can balance. Like, because it has- Oh, that's part of it. I'm posting up. Yes, 100%. Because if they're like, you know, swaying back and forth, I can't hold them up real long. And definitely not long enough to flex. But what a statement it makes. Yes, I agree. Like, not only can I get this person up, but this is so easy. Yep. I'm a flex while doing it. That's what it is. That's what's all about.
Oh, I love it. I love it. What's next for John? Good question. I don't think that either of us know, actually. His contract was up yesterday. Actually, so I just think he has a few conversations to have and probably by the time this interview comes out, everybody will know what's going on with him too. Who do you think is objectively in better shape? You or your husband?
Oh, 100% him. He does jiu jitsu multiple times a week. I don't know if you've seen him wrestle, but he wrestles much faster and better than I do. So it's just like, it's insane how amazing he is. But he can do pretty much anything. He's also a lot more flexible than I am because he takes the time to stretch. And I don't do that. I'm so impressed by his traps just go right. Like he's not. It's so impressive.
He has no necks. That's why, like, if you ever seem to take a German suplex, like he'll never hurt himself like. It's just, you can't break what's not there. His delts just go right into his traps. That's traps go like into his ears. I don't know. I don't know how he did it. I'm trying. I'm trying to get like him. I mean, you're pretty damn close. Look at the size of these traps, ladies and gentlemen. That's why we're this, this shirt right here. I had to show them off. Look, my God, that's crazy.
Do you have any shirts that have sleeves? Um, yes. I actually specifically cut the sleeves off of this one for this interview though. Wow. Yeah, I thought you were going to wear a sleeve of the shirt too. Nobody wants to know. I thought we were going to arm wrestle. It was going to be a whole thing. I don't want to. Everybody knows how that's going to go. No, I have a, I've had a permanent farmer's tan for like 10 years. Really? Oh, it's, see? That's not too bad. It's not bad because it's January, but it's in the summer. You do live in LA.
It's not good. I don't like to go outside very much, so I'll never have a chance, probably. I don't do any time you see me any kind of tan. It's fake because I have a history of skin cancer in my family.
So I'll never do the tanning beds. I don't like to spend like a ton of time in the sun, just because I'm weary. I think we should all be that way. So if people ever comment and say like, my spray tan is bad, I'll be like, well, I'd rather have a bad spray tan than skin cancer. It's always funny, like hugging someone backstage at a show and all your smell is like spray tan. Yes, spray tan or what's that? What's this stuff called? The heat stuff, the hot stuff, hot stuff. I think a little thing is called hot stuff.
Do you know what that is? Like, icy, cold? Like, oh. No, it's stuff you put on your muscle, and it makes you red, and it's supposed to give you a pump. And the problem with wrestling people who use this stuff is that when it gets in your eyes, because they sweat it off, it burns your eyes. So I've wrestled someone before, and I've actually had to take my contacts out, like, mid-match, because when it gets in your contacts, like, the contacts garbage, first of all, and it just will, like, stay there.
How bad is your vision, though? Oh, I'm very close to being legally blind. LASIK was the best thing I ever did. Oh, I'm scared. I'm scared of LASIK. I understand, and that makes sense. A laser close to, like, in your eye. In your eye, yes. But I went to this place in Miami where the rock had his LASIK done.
And like they've on the wall, they've all the people they've done it to. And it was like Ryan Tannehill, who was the quarterback for the dolphins and like the big show had it done there. And Rock had it done there like 20 something years ago. I'd rather be legally blind than actually blind.
Fair enough. But now there wasn't any chance that I could be actually blind, like I'm just gonna say no. But now I can see everything. I have better than 2020 vision. I can see everything too. And I've come by seven. Yeah, I just put a little piece of plastic in my day. Yeah. I love it though. But I also love the way I look with glasses on. Well, you can wear glasses.
The only thing I think about sometimes when I'm in a certain like altered state is I'm like, what kind of state would that be? Is I think like, I'm never going to see the world on my own. I'm always going to be looking through something to see the world. That's deep.
Wow. And in a zombie apocalypse, I'm just, I should just give up immediately. That is deep. Cause you're always seeing the world through a lens. Yep. That's what I'm saying. So I don't, maybe I'm not even actually seeing what I'm saying. Man.
Now we're going down a real. I know. Let's let's go back to wrestling. You know, that thing of like, what if the way that I see green is actually like your blue or exactly? And that's what you got to think about. So what if you're a LASIK actually like makes you see things differently?
Did you imagine? I don't know, I can see everything now. Best. And my prescription wasn't that bad. I was like a minus two and a half. Okay, that's not bad. But I got up, the surgery was like, not even surgery, surgery and quotations. It was like seven minutes or something.
Like from the time you walked into the room to the time you left. And then I wouldn't trust it. I'd be like, that was too fast. Like six seconds on one eye, like eight seconds on the other. Bring me back in. Y'all did something wrong. But I sat up and he's like, look at the clock. And it was like across the room. And he's like, tell me what time it is. And I'm like, what? That's wild. I can see it. Technology is crazy.
It is a crazy wild thing. Do you think about what your goals are in wrestling? I just think my- You've done a lot. Yeah, I just think I've honestly done so much more than I ever thought I was going to do.
And now I just want to be able to wrestle as long as possible and not have to have a real job ever again. Like I don't ever want to have to work like a nine to five or drive a bus. Like I just want to be a wrestler for as long as possible and just do wrestling be involved in wrestling in some kind of way and make a living from it as long as possible. That's my goal. What was the last job that you had? I was.
I've had a lot of jobs, but I was like a legal, like a court transcriptionist, like a court reporter, but I would do it. I would do it virtually. So I want to say I did it until 2021. You must have heard some crazy cases. It wasn't saying I would type like family court cases. There was a bunch of criminal cases that I would type.
And you have to actually sign like an NDA before you take jobs like this, obviously, because you can Google like the cases I would type and they were in the news. And it was just, it was wild. It's like crazy murder stuff. Like the family court cases were actually one of my favorite to type because it's so petty. It's almost like Jerry Springer, like there was one. And I also, the cases I typed right of the DC area.
And it's a very like affluent area. And it was amazing. Like I remember this guy, he was like a billionaire and he ended up having to pay his wife alimony of like, I want to say it was like $100,000 a month. And she kept going back and saying like it wasn't enough. And it was so good. I loved it.
So you were a quartz denographer. How do you have their shortcuts on the keyboard? How do you keep up? No, there's no shortcuts. You just have to be a super fast tiper and I had a foot pedal. So you start and stop the audio and you can rewind the audio. Oh, so you're not doing it live? No. They send you, I guess maybe it's just cheaper to just send it off to someone. But it was better for me that way because when I actually traveled everywhere, I would take it. I would take it on the plane. I took it to Japan and I did it in Japan. It was a great job for what it was. So how fast can you type?
Um, when I did, I haven't typed like that in a very long time. You're just typing with your thumbs now. I could almost type like a 150 words a minute. Oh my God. It was pretty good. Yeah. That's like the speed at which people talk, isn't it? Yeah. I think so. So I was just like, I would go. Because you see the people in court that are the stenographers and they're like, like almost like there's phrases or something. Yeah, there's, there was no nothing like that. Um,
I'm gonna say the only thing that you would have the shortcuts for were for the names of the people. So you would just type in the lawyer's name and then the witness and stuff like that. So you've been wrestling full time now for four years, if that was 2021. That's great. The interesting thing about setting goals is once you achieve them, now you have to set new goals. Yeah, I don't know what my big goal would be.
because I'm also kind of afraid that if I said it and I don't achieve it, I'm gonna be very upset. So I just kind of like, I kind of like to leave it open. But I also think that when you say it. Okay, what do you think Michael should be? Give me a goal. I feel like you should do it.
So look, what I was saying was I think when you put a goal out into the world, you're number one, speaking it out into the universe, right? And now the universe has a way to like, if you want to get into that woo-woo stuff, the universe has a way of going, oh, that's what you want. All right, we can work towards that. It also holds you accountable to that. So people will go, hey, remember that thing you said on Chris's show? That was your goal. Like, and I believe in you and I want you to accomplish this.
I bet when you started, it was just like, I want to wrestle a match. Then it probably went to, I want to win a title somewhere. Then it probably went to, I want to wrestle on TV. Now I want to win a title on TV. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. Right. So it just keeps growing and building and building. I want to headline a pay-per-view one day. Oh my gosh, I did that.
I just feel like things have happened for me that I didn't even know that I wanted to happen. Like I never would have even thought to have it be a goal to be a TNA Knockout, the TNA Knockout's champion, wrestling at the Royal Rumble. So I kind of feel like I've gone this far without setting a specific goal. And if I want more crazy things to happen, I don't want to set a specific goal. Was the goal when you were a kid and this was just a dream? Was the goal to be in WWE?
It was just to be a wrestler in general. I just wanted to wrestle. I think, yeah, when I was a kid, but I also wanted to be a diva. I wanted to like... That's the era you were watching. The era I was watching, so I wanted to be like one of the models. I wanted to be like one of the model wrestlers.
And I think since then, obviously things have changed so much. I started watching TNA. I want to say like a few years before I actually started wrestling and the variation like WWE and TNA at the time was huge. Obviously, I saw like women like awesome Kong and I was like, hey, maybe I could be like that.
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What TNA has done for women's wrestling, I don't think it can really be measured. Like, I think people always go, man, they knocked out a division so good. Yeah, absolutely. And it has been for a long time. It's been for a very long time. But they put a huge focus on women's wrestling there. It can't be understated. It really can't be. I think that's also probably one of the reasons why I just immediately was like, yeah, I'm going to go to TNA was because I just knew that
out of all the companies, like, even in 2018, like, Tina was pushing that woman to the forefront.
especially in 2018 with what WWE was doing with women's wrestling at that time, there wasn't, I mean, then we're getting like two minute matches. Yeah, and now look at it, like it's so much, but like, I feel like NXT is almost, it's about the women. Like there's- Yeah, that's a good point. There's the storylines for the women are just so intriguing. Like look at the roster they have, Julia, Stephanie, like they have just such amazing women there.
Yeah. And it's, I mean, now women are main eventing WrestleMania. Women have their own royal rumble. Yeah. And there's 40 participants I think this year, right? Is that right? I think that's correct. I don't know. We have all the world's information in our pocket. I thought it was just 30 to go.
Look, there's a lot of misinformation on the internet. I don't know why I said that. There is a lot of misinformation. Um, and I also see the, the fake accounts always tweeting the fake like wrestling reports. Sometimes they get me, man. Sometimes they get me. It's hard. And then I go to the account and it says, Oh, something parody. And I'm like, unless it's K fape news, which always has hilarious stuff. I'm like, ah, they got me.
I think it's just 30. I think they learned their lesson from the greatest Royal Rumble. Okay, you're right. I think it's just 30. It was a fake, it was a fake report. And for you to be one of those... Fulled again. For you to be one of those 30. I don't know. Knock on wood. There's a lot of wood here. Speak it into existence. I think we just did. I mean, I'll speak it into existence for you. Okay, I appreciate that. Maybe one day you work at WrestleMania. Maybe one day. That's a pretty big goal.
That's a pretty big goal. I want my mom to be there.
Like, I feel like my mom is there for all my big moments in wrestling. She was there for the rumble. She drove from Texas to Florida for that. Wow. I know, so cool. That's pretty cool. I'm very lucky. Yeah, that's always so cool when you can do something that means so much to you. And then also you can tell that it means so much to your loved ones. She texted me the other day just randomly and she was like, you're the only person I've ever known who is doing what they dream of doing as a kid. And I was like,
She's awesome. And the amazing thing about that is when you set a lofty goal when you're a kid of, I'm going to be a pro wrestler. Everyone goes, okay. It's like, what are you really going to do? And, you know, we're sitting here in Hollywood right now as we record this. This is a town of dreamers and doers. There's a heck of a lot more dreamers than there are doers here. A lot of people move here with the idea of, I'm going to be an actor model, whatever it happens to be. And then it just never ends up panning out. You set a goal and you did everything to achieve that goal.
Yeah, I just, I think it's, it's not just hard work because I feel like a lot of people put in the hard work and sometimes it doesn't work out for those people. I think it's also just, it's a, it's a little bit of luck. It's like just rapport with people. I think there's a lot more to it than hard work, but I do feel very blessed and lucky that I've met people long way of help me achieve this dream.
I think it's also seeing an opportunity and capitalizing on it. Yes, 100%. You have to make the most of every single opportunity you have. No matter how big or small you see it, you don't know who's watching you. Right. And maybe it just looks like a tiny little thing. But if I do that, it could turn into this, that turns into this, that turns into this. And I had no idea, even in 2018 at that
in that battle royal when I was the only woman in there. That was a big opportunity, but there was only a few spots that I had to make the most of. And I feel like I did that, and I had no idea Scott was watching. So I feel very blessed that I've been able to make the most of every single opportunity that I've ever had. And you just keep doing it. I'm trying to keep doing it for the rest of my career. And also, it's ironic that you were saying you didn't have a look before. You were just a girl that wrestled.
Now, as soon as your music hits and as soon as someone sees you, they go, oh man, like I've never- I mean business. Yes. And they can tell that from the second that you come out. Yep. And that's, that's what I always wanted to be. And you are. It's crazy. It's crazy. Hey, you got a heck of your last year. I can just tell that 2025 is going to be bigger for you. I hope so, Chris. I hope it's big for you too. I think it's going to be big. Thank you. I don't know how I can talk to you. You interviewed Batista.
And I, I marked out so hard when I saw it. I was like, oh my God, I'm so jealous. Yeah. I was like, maybe I should be a podcaster so I could talk to Batista. He's the best. I've interviewed him a few times, but that one in particular, I haven't even met him before. Oh, well, he's the sweetest, nicest man.
It was so funny. We sat down for the interview and he'd had a whole day of press that day for his movie, The Killer's Game. It's the one that Drew McIntyre said. Yeah. So I sat down, we were talking, we did an interview for whatever was 40 minutes and he's like, do you mind if I eat something before we do this interview? Because he'd had a whole morning of just- Him just asking- Oh my God. Do you mind if I eat something?
Dude, of course, like, whatever you want to do. He's like, oh, thank you so much. And someone came in with like a bunch of bananas. And he's like, oh, do you want one? I feel bad just eating a banana in front of you. Do you want one? I'm like, yeah, I mean, sure, I'm not going to say no to a banana from De Batista. And y'all weren't recording it.
Actually, I think you've recorded that, right? Yeah, Zeus recorded that. Why hasn't it been released to the general public? Well, it is now. Here you go. So we're sitting there eating bananas, just, you know, talking about like, hey, yeah, you've been like catching up. And then we finished our bananas and we like someone like grabbed our trash. That's incredible content. I don't know why this hasn't been posted somewhere. Well, we just made a clip out of it right now because of you. So thank you, Jordan.
But, and then we started the conversation. And there was definitely a part of me who's eating a banana with Dave Batista going, man, if the like 17 year old version of me could see this, they wouldn't believe it. Bananas with Batista. But yeah, it was a wild year for me as well. Somehow this year will be better. Yeah, it'll be better. It'll be awesome. You're going to knock it out of the park. Oh my God, please.
Be speaking into existence. I don't want to say it myself. I just love that you want it all. Yeah, I definitely want it all. I want to take this as far as it can go.
I'm excited for you. I want to make everyone proud. I want to show the world that the TNA can create some amazing stuff. You're doing it. I mean, when people think about TNA now, you're one of the names that immediately comes to their head. I feel like, obviously, there's like the TNA OG, which is like, you know, Gale Camwalsam Kong, but I feel like a TNA OG in the sense like,
in the sense that they created me. I was nothing before DNA. And now I am, I am. So it's just really, it's really awesome to feel like that. This is going to be a tough one. But give me your DNA Mount Rushmore.
of. Do you want to do men and knockouts? I feel like you have to. Okay. I feel like it's very difficult. Fair enough. Yeah. Well, just say AJ Styles, because of course you can be on that. Yes, he's just like AJ Styles. I want to say Samoa Joe.
It's so tough. I really want to say, I really want to say amazing red because I feel like he was such, just like, I feel like he's so underrated. He was such an amazing like innovator at the time. He represented like guys like you didn't normally see being represented. Yeah, early 20 days, he was doing stuff that people had never seen before. Yes, exactly. Okay. Just one spot left. I know this is so difficult. Oh, I'm thinking in the past though, like I should really be, I should be like adding someone from the present.
This is hard. It is hard. This is too difficult. Um, you know what? I'm going to, I'm going to go crazy and I know that there's going to be so many people. I don't agree with this, but he has brought so much attention to T&A lately that I'm going to say Joe Henry. Yeah. I'm going to say Joe Henry. I know he hasn't been in there for a long time, but I feel like
He has just like, he's exploded and he's represented Tina so well in like everything he's done. And what's great about Joe Henry is it has gone outside of wrestling. Exactly, yeah. I feel like people who have never seen wrestling before, like they know Joe Henry and they know Tina because of Joe Henry. And they know the song. Yeah.
people are going to be really mad at this marriage more. I feel it in my heart. I'm sorry guys. But when you see a Joe Henry sign in the NHL playoffs, or who was the NFL player that was saying at a training camp. Yeah. And I, I can't remember who it was, but yeah, I just feel like,
You know, who else is going to be mad at me for saying this is a lot of wrestling. All right. Now, how about knockouts? Knockouts, I feel like, um, is a little bit easier for like Gil cam, obviously. Um, awesome con, of course. Oh God, I'm going to offend someone. Like I just feel like I am. Um,
I really want to say Mickey, but I also feel like she has so much Debbie to be in her. Sure. I can understand. It's almost like it's almost mixed a little bit. Yeah. Can I count the beautiful people as like? Just one single. Yeah. OK, sure. You make the rules. I count the beautiful people as one. And just because I loved how she wrestled and I think that she also is someone who doesn't get enough name recognition is Amada.
At the, like I saw her wrestling match and I've never seen a woman at the time do the things that she was doing. Well, a lot of your friends are going to text you after they hear this episode and go, what the hell, Jordan? I know. I'm sorry. I know people are going to be in the comments like, she fucking paid Joe Henry over, however. Yeah. How did you not have Kurt Angle on there? Oh my God. Oh, stop. How did you not have Christian Cage on there? Look, it's hard guys. Okay.
thing to be mad. I had to pick someone true. It's your own personal list. It can be whoever you want it to be.
But it's so good to see you. Congrats on everything. Thank you, congrats. Congrats to you and Craig, congrats on your baby. Oh, thank you. Got two of them now. I don't know how you're doing it. I don't either. Rest in peace. My wife is superwoman. That's how we're doing it. She's the best. Yeah. I will end this with the question that I ask at the end of every interview. We haven't done this actually with you. This is going to be great. I'm scared. Gratitude is such a big part of my life.
So I had never interviewed with that. So what are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? Oh man, this is a good one. My family, my mom, my husband, my six dogs, my two cats. Six dogs. Six dogs. What are their names? Oh my God. Barry, Bernie, Burt, Booby, Blue and Piper. Poor Piper.
She was a foster. So Piper already had a name. Piper already had a name. And I don't believe in changing names. I feel like that's weird enough. Yeah, they're used to adopting a kid. They're used to answering the Piper. Booby? Like Booby Miles, Friday Night Lights.
No, I didn't even know. So we'll go off on another tangent. I love tangents. This dog, my husband had some tacos delivered to the house and opened the door and this straight dog was just eating the tacos. And we were like, what the fuck? And so we eventually got into like coming to the house. And he was like really messed up. He was like so skinny and like just fleas everywhere. But we ended up
like calling him Ooby, like Uber Eats. But then we had the four other dogs at the time, whose names were B. So we're like, dang, we really got to call him something with a B and we're like about Booby. And so now his name is Booby. That is a real name. OK, I did it. It's not just like, but we do spell it B-O-O-B-Y. So yeah, maybe. Sure.
Yeah, in the Friday Night Lights movie. Yeah. Okay. I've never seen. Booie Miles is the main character. 41. Okay. Yeah. A little bit on me. I got a few. What are you? How old are you? 28. Yeah, your age begins with a two. I've never seen this movie. Do you know the movie I'm talking about? No. Oh, it's one of the greatest sports films of all time. No, I've never seen it. Oh, man, Billy Bob Thornton, Tim McGraw's in it. It's probably Tim McGraw's greatest performance. That's great. I didn't even know Tim McGraw was in any movie. Oh, it's.
It's really good. Okay. Let me talk about my grateful things. That was number one. Or was that two? Was that family and dogs or is that? No, they're, they're part of family. Okay. Good. Um, no, the thing is just professional wrestling as a whole, which I know it feels like a cop out, but TNA has just been incredible to me in every single way. Um, and last but not least, I would just say I love how grateful you are for TNA in the career that they've allowed you to have.
They've been incredible throughout everything. I've just had the, I could not ask for anything more from TNA. They've given me so many opportunities. I've made history so many times with them. I love representing them. Like everything that TNA has done for wrestling over the years, like the X division, the ultimate X match, that's like their love letter to professional wrestling. Like I just- That's one of my favorite matches. Yeah, I love everything about it.
You know what, is a goal of mine is, okay, I'll just make this goal right now, is to compete in a women's ultimate X match in WWE. Whoa. Yeah. Okay, that's my goal. A lot of it. So if that ever happens, fingers crossed. Yes. And the last one. The last one, I just want to say like,
just my health. Like, I'm lucky that I've never been, man, knock on what big time like seriously injured at all. Like, I've never had anything broken from wrestling. I've never had anything. I'm gonna say this and I'm gonna get hurt this weekend. I just, I just know it. But yeah, I just, I've been very lucky in that regard. I've never had like, um,
A sprain or a strain that's kept me out for too long. I'm very, very blessed in that sense. Wow. Yeah. Especially with... And I feel like not a lot of people can say that. No, not at all. I'm gonna regret saying it. I feel like I feel it in my... Do you feel fanged up at all?
Um, like really the only thing I've promised with is like my flexibility, but that's where they don't work. I could definitely, I could stretch more. Yeah. And then, um, no, like I don't feel banged up at all. Like I feel, I feel great to be honest. And you look like a million bucks. And I've been wrestling for 14 years. So that's, it's really a blessing in and of itself. 14 years. How do you start wrestling? You've wrestled half your life. Yeah. How do you start wrestling at 14? Because Texas doesn't have an athletic commission.
And you could do whatever you want. Anything goes in Texas. You don't know, since you don't know Friday Night Lights, which also became a TV show, you don't know Clear Eyes Full Hearts. No. Oh my gosh, it's a Texas thing. Clear Eyes Full Hearts, and then they would go, can't lose. I can't believe you're 41. I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't guess that. Thank you. Yeah. It's very kind of you. Yeah, it would be. I would guess you're 40 and a half.
Thank you. Uh, Texas forever. Texas forever. Yeah. Everything's bigger and better in Texas. I was just there a few days ago. Just their interview in the hardies for a teenage Genesis. They're the best. Congrats to you on a hell of a year. Can't wait to see what you got in store for this year. Thank you very much. And good to finally catch up with you. Yeah. Good to finally catch you on camera. We've caught up off camera. Have me at Hollywood. It's my first time here. Oh, welcome. Yeah. Good to see you. Hollywood hunk. He's like, he lives not too far from it. I'm talking about me.
Look at the flex, my goodness. You know, I really appreciate Jordan's honesty about mispronouncing my last name. I always know you're a real one if you listen to the Ask See The The Episodes, right? I always say you're a real one if you listen to those, because I get, if you want to listen to an interview with a guest, totally get it, but you're a real one if you just want to listen to us hang out for.
an hour on an Ask CVV episode. But another way I can tell if you're a real one is if you listen to the podcast and you don't just watch on YouTube because I say Van Fleet at the start of every episode. Heck, it's in the lyrics to the theme song for the show by Downstate Van Fleet.
I'm just saying, I appreciate you for being here. I appreciate you listening all the way until the end here. And I can't wait to see where Jordan Grace appears next and when that will be. She was in the Royal Rumble last year. And in just a few days, I feel like
There's a good chance we could see her in the rumble again. This time though, not as a TNA star. This could be as a WWE superstar. We'll have to see what happens Saturday in Indianapolis. Snap a screenshot. Let us know you're listening in tag as she's at Jordan Grace. I'm at Chris Van Fleet and we'll wrap it up with this quote from Nelson Mandela. A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.
Be great and be grateful my friends. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. We've got Dan Howson joining us on Thursday, a very, very rare out of character interview with Dan Howson that you will not want to miss. We'll see you right back here on Thursday for that one.
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