The announcement was worthy of the gold medal Tamyra Mensah-Stock held in her hand.
The Tokyo Olympics women’s 68 kg wrestling champion walked away from competitive wrestling Wednesday, announcing her retirement in an interview with ESPN.
However, Mensah-Stock will still be wrestling — this time with ropes surrounding her, as the two-time world champion is joining World Wrestling Entertainment.
Mensah-Stock signed with the company and will start Monday in the developmental program, NXT. This will be her first time doing show wrestling, she said, but plans on debuting on RAW and Smackdown within a year. Mensah-Stock is already living near WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
‘I feel like I have done everything that I can in Olympic wrestling,’ she said.
After Tokyo, where she became the first Black female gold medalist in wrestling, Mensah-Stock took bronze in the subsequent world championships before climbing the mountaintop again and winning the 2022 world title.
‘I was like, ‘Man this is not fun anymore. I need a change,” Mensah-Stock said. ‘It’s been an honor representing the country. Traveling the world with my team has been incredible.’
Mensah-Stock called being in the WWE ‘a dream of mine’ and wants to model her career after Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
‘I just see their personalities shine through the television. I see their strength. Everything about them resembles me. I just want to be a part of that.’
Mensah-Stock said she won’t miss having to weigh a certain amount. If Mensah-Stock can progress to WWE events, she certainly has the personality that would fuel storylines against other female wrestlers.
‘What I did for 15 years is pin people,’ Mensah-Stock said. ‘Going into WWE, that’s how you win.’
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