After making history at the Tokyo Olympics, Tamyra Mensah-Stock is hanging up her amateur wrestling shoes to join WWE.
WWE has signed Olympic wrestling gold medalist Mensah-Stock to a contract. During the Tokyo Games in 2021, Mensah-Stock became the first Black woman to win freestyle gold.
In 2021, Mensah-Stock, 30, talked publicly about joining WWE, but she remained in amateur wrestling, winning the 2022 world championship in Belgrade, Serbia.
As a result of finishing third in the 2021 world championships, Mensah-Stock continued on.
“I didn’t want to end my career on that note,” said Mensah-Stock “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.”
Grace Hollars/USA Today Sports Tamyra Mensah-Stock has considered a career in WWE for years.
It is her goal to make WWE’s main roster within one year. Mensah-Stock reported Monday to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
“I love watching the athletes just in the ring, just going what they do best,” Mensah-Stock said. “I just see their personalities just shine through the television, and I see their strength. Just everything about them resembles me, and I’ve just wanted to be a part of that.”
Despite briefly considering mixed martial arts, Mensah-Stock wasn’t sure what weight class she would be natural in and didn’t necessarily think it would be a good fit for her.
“I don’t like the idea of potentially getting submitted and an arm broken or aggressiveness like that,” she said. “I really just don’t want to make weight anymore, let’s just be honest.”
Gable Steveson, another Tokyo gold medalist, has been with WWE since 2021 and is part of their developmental program. He recently returned to amateur wrestling and is expected to try to make the Olympic team again in 2024 in Paris.
