Jinny does not think she’ll come back to wrestling in a full-time capacity.
In January, Jinny took to social media and shared that she was opting to retire from in-ring competition and was excited about what’s next for her.
D.S. Shin of Ring The Belle pushed out his new interview with the former NXT UK talent. She opened up about her decision to retire and that decision came after dealing with a concussion that took longer to recover from than she expected.
Jinny felt she had to be smart about her next move and did not want to risk getting hurt on a greater scale if she were to get back in the ring.
So, when I was injured, this was actually the longest time that I had been out with any injury and during the time of being injured and having the symptoms, I was just like, oh wow, this is taking so long for my body to heal. The injury that I actually had, it was a concussion. Unfortunately, I took quite a few blows to the head and it was the worst one I’ve ever had and halfway through, I was like, if my body’s taking this long to heal, if I get hit again, is it gonna take even longer? And I just had to be smart about it. I love wrestling. I’m a wrestling fan, I always will be and it was a really hard decision because if it wasn’t for that, would I be wrestling still? Yes. But, your health is wealth and as difficult as it is and as much as I love this business and as much as I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll be okay,’ I had to be smart about it and make sure I look after myself, not just for now but in the long run as well.
Following up on that response, Jinny was asked if she’d consider doing a retirement match. She stated that she is cleared and healthy, but reiterated that she wants to be careful. As far as retirement match goes, she said ‘never say never’ but is not interested in coming out of retirement for a full stint.
Right now, I don’t know. I don’t want to take a chance and then get hurt but never say never so, you never know what’s around the corner. But right now, I just need to focus on my health even though I’m healed and I’m fine, I’m cleared and everything. Right now, I just need to focus on health-wise but never say never. But would I fully come out of retirement and have another stint? No. I just don’t want to take that chance and it’s unfortunate but, it is what it is. When we get into this business, whether you sign with a big company or you work on the indies, we will know the risks that we take but we take those risks because we have a dream and we have a passion for wrestling. So, it happens, but again, looking back on everything, I had so much fun, I really did and I’m very, very grateful for everything. I’ve come out of wrestling, I met my husband (GUNTHER) in wrestling, I met some great friends in wrestling and I got to meet some amazing people and all of those companies like PROGRESS and EVE, EVE Pro Wrestling and RevPro, OTT and all of that, they gave me opportunities when I was so new and they still believed in me. You know, when I was experimenting with my ring gear, trying to work on the basics and stuff in the ring and still training and stuff and they still gave me an opportunity so, you know, yes, it would always be nice to come out of retirement and achieve more but looking back, I achieved so much and I’m very, very grateful.
Last summer, the NXT UK brand ended and is now being rebranded as ‘NXT Europe’ for when it officially relaunches.
Jinny felt the the show should have always been called ‘NXT Europe’ because not everyone on the brand is from the UK. She feels the rebrand is a good thing, but added that she did not want to see anyone lose their job.
So I was injured at that point so, I wasn’t actually there when sort of everything happened. I got told about it and I knew about it after. Actually, straight after because they announced it but, NXT UK should have always been NXT Europe because not everyone is from the UK. We’re from all over the U.K. and the U.K. is in Europe as well and even though, obviously, all the shows were based in the U.K. and stuff, I think it should have been NXT Europe because it just opens up even more doors. Business-wise, you always have to think ten steps ahead. WWE is a company, they want to generate more money, they want to generate more fans and now going within Europe, not just the U.K. but going to Ireland, in the U.K., they’re going to different parts of Europe. It’s just gonna bring more fans and it’s great because European fans, they’re absolutely amazing. They make so much noise, they’re so passionate. I think it’s a good thing. It’s sad when anyone loses their job because you don’t want that to happen to anyone and there definitely are so many talented people who were signed to NXT UK but it also gives even more people an opportunity going forward.
There was a point when WWE moved Jinny to the ‘alumni’ section of their website in 2022.
When she became aware of that, she contacted management and was told that she shouldn’t have been moved there but it only happened because she was injured. On the topic of possibly moving to WWE’s main roster, she wanted to get to the next level but was focused on her recovery.
So at that point when NXT UK had closed, my main priority and work main priority was just get better, you’re fine. I did get moved to the WWE alumni page and I messaged work and I was like, ‘What on earth is going on?’ And they were like, ‘I’m so sorry. It’s just because you’re injured so they’ve just moved you there’ but they were like, ‘They shouldn’t have moved you there.’ I was like, ‘Good. Okay. I hope you haven’t fired me without telling me.’ But, my main focus at that point was really just to get better. Obviously, personal goals, you have to set yourself personal goals within any career. I wanted to make it to the next stage, take it to the next level, etcetera, but I just need to get better.
As of this writing, Jinny’s last sanctioned match was at an NXT UK TV taping in late 2021. She had been a part of WWE since 2018.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Ring The Belle with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
