Tamyra Mensah-Stock is taking her talents from the wrestling mats into the world of the WWE as she signs with the world’s leading wrestling promotion.
Mensah-Stock most recently made history when she won gold in freestyle wrestling at the 2021 Tokyo Games. In doing so, Mensah-Stock became the first Black woman to achieve the feat. Since then, Mensah-Stock has added to her hardware, winning the 2022 world championship in Belgrade, Serbia, for her second consecutive world title.
Olympic gold medalist and world champion wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock signs with WWE, aiming to join the main roster next year.
According to Mensah-Stock, her 2022 win was one of the main reasons why she’s pursuing a career in the WWE, telling ESPN:
I didn’t want to end my career on that note. So I did another world championships, I wiped the floor with everybody, and I was like, ‘Man, this is not fun anymore. I need a change.’ Something in the back of my head that’s just been itching at me, a dream of mine for I don’t know how long. I just wanted to be in the WWE.
Mensah-Stock now hopes that she can make WWE’s main roster next year.
This isn’t the first time that a gold medalist has signed with the WWE. The most famous example is easily Kurt Angle. After a storied amateur career that saw him achieve the amateur grand slam – he’s one of four people to win the Junior Nationals, NCAA, World Championships, and the Olympics – Angle went on to become one of the most prolific wrestlers in the WWE. Angle was indicated into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and the WWE Hall of Fame a year later. The 54-year-old is now currently retired and now hosts his podcast, the Kurt Angle Show, where he interviews his fellow wrestlers.
Gable Steveson, another Tokyo gold medalist, previously signed with the WWE in 2021. However, after spending some time in the developmental program, Steveson returned to amateur wrestling as he aims to rejoin the Olympic team in time for the 2024 Paris Games.
Mensah-Stock’s imminent arrival in NXT is perfect timing. The WWE training ground doesn’t have a women’s champion at the moment after Indi Hartwell relinquished her title on May 2 following her being called up and drafted to the Monday Night RAW roster.
