Blog #1

Blog #1 - End of the year review

I’m currently sitting on an awful flight. Normally, Baltimore to London is six hours. Instead, I’m on a 10 hour flight to Fort Lauderdale, where I may or may not make my connection. If I do, I’ll have another three hour flight before I finally get to Baltimore, then an hour drive home. The travel is grueling as it is normally, and this is so unnecessary. I digress. Just needed to VENT about that for a second. (Can I add that this 10 hour flight has no entertainment, wifi, or electrical sockets?)

Anyways, yeah! This year! What a whirlwind. The first year where I’ve truly felt everything has started to pay off. I’ve been wrestling eight years now, and 2018 gave me more in the past six months than wrestling ever did all the other time. In the beginning part of the year, I won multiple independent company tournaments and championships. That was all well and good, but I don’t believe it put me on the map. Finally, in September I was asked if I wanted to participate in All In - OBVIOUSLY I did, and I’m so glad I did. All In put me on the map like nothing else I’ve ever done has. I was able to simultaneously promote intergender wrestling, as well as show my ability to wrestle. That experience made me a wrestling fan again. I remember my phone positively buzzing right after my appearance. I wasn’t able to get service in the Sears Center, so I just went outside and there were non-stop notifications. I was in complete awe. I believe I gained 15,000 followers in the next couple of weeks, and I credit All In with that. My favorite part of the show, and the part that made it surreal for me, was the confetti that fell from the ceiling at the end of the show. They had already gone off air, but thousands of pieces of confetti were dropped from the ceiling, like it was snowing. It was SO cool.

After All In, things rocketed. I was contacted by many different companies, was able to get my actual rate, and was suddenly flying every single weekend. I don’t even drive to any shows in my area anymore! In January, the only show I have relatively close to me is Shine in New York. I have show in Wisconsin, Illinois, Nashville, Mexico City, Vegas, and LA.

The kicker here is I am terrified of flying. I have severe anxiety for days leading up to flight, where I can’t sleep because I’m imagining dying in a plane crash. Having so many flights, I’m in a pretty constant state of anxiety nowadays. I have been sleeping for about the past six hours or so on this flight, and I have had two plane crash dreams bring me out of sleep in that time. It’s really miserable for me, and I have tried everything to quell this fear to no avail. Eventually, I believe this will lead to the end of my career. I have taken dozens of flights this year, and haven’t “gotten used to it”. 

Anyways - back to the good stuff! I also made my American Progress debut this year, along with the European debut at Wembley Stadium! Wembley and All In were within the same month, so THAT was really something I loved. 

And of course, Impact. I have no idea why they were interested in me, if we’re being completely honest. When I first arrived, I didn’t feel like they knew much about my work, which made me curious as to whose idea it was to use me in the first place. I’m not complaining at all, but it makes you wonder. I am blessed to be there with mostly people I know, who are my colleagues and friends. Kiera, Allie, Tessa, LAX, Ethan Page, Su, Alisha -- they’re all my friends, so it brings me a certain level of comfort. I don’t feel like a fish out of water too much of the time because of them. Overall, Impact has such an amazing roster, and their female division is possibly THE best. The women have multiple storylines going on at one time, which is probably my favorite part. They make the most of everyone they have.

Last night I won my first European championship - the Progress women’s title. Did I ever imagine I’d be here? I hoped and dreamed, but I’m not sure I ever truly believed. I just made my European debut earlier this year, so to become the Progress women’s champion is astonishing. I will hopefully be defending it in the U.S. at least once a month, if not much more, and I plan to take my championship to Australia. I’ll prove that it wasn’t a fluke to give me the opportunity to don it, and that it wasn’t too soon. It was just the right time.

Stay strong! 

-Jordynne