WWE NXT Star Kelani Jordan Discusses Her Wrestling Journey & Lessons She's Learning

Last month, Kelani Jordan made history as the first ever WWE NXT Women's North American Champion. In looking back on her own personal history, though, Jordan never expected herself to work in the professional wrestling industry in the first place. During a recent interview with "Busted Open Radio," Jordan opened up about her unique path to WWE, which began with a message from WWE's recruiting program on Instagram.

"I have four brothers and I watched wrestling a lot when I was younger," Jordan said. "I will say, when I got to about middle school, high school, I didn't watch the product as much because I was so focused on getting a scholarship, trying to just pursue gymnastics and be the best that I can be at that. But now that I was able to get offered to go to the SummerSlam tryout in 2022 and be able to come down to the Performance Center, I went back ... I'm going back and studying, doing the history classes, so that way I can make up for the time that I lost, and also to go back to learn about things that happened before I was even born."

As Jordan continues to conduct her research of the professional wrestling business, she finds herself particularly influenced by the likes of WWE Hall of Famers RVD and Rey Mysterio, the former of which inspired her split-legged moonsault finisher. From a selling standpoint, Jordan noted that she largely focuses on the previous work of her current "NXT" boss, Shawn Michaels.

"I'm still learning how to do different levels of selling depending on who I'm in the ring with," Jordan said. "If it's someone bigger, [I learn] how to sell differently than someone if they're smaller or the same size as me."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.