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A WWE legend is proud of what his daughter has done in NXT and feels like she's ready for the main roster.
Not many fans might know this one, but Arianna Grace is a second-generation WWE Superstar. Grace is the daughter of former Intercontinental and United States champion Santino Marella, who currently works as an on-screen authority figure at TNA Wrestling.
Grace worked on the independent circuit before getting signed by WWE in 2022. A knee injury slowed down her career last year, but she's been doing well in NXT since returning in September 2023.
On Busted Open Radio, Santino Marella discussed his daughter's career in WWE. Marella is one proud father of what Arianna Grace has done in such a short time in NXT.
Marella also thought that Grace was ready for the main roster but would love her to remain in developmental for one more year.
"She's funny and she's entertaining and her work rate is, she's coming off the injury, her in-ring wrestling is good, man," Marella said. "She's a very hard worker. It's reversed. A lot of kids, they get the moves, they want to do all these moves, and then they learn the character stuff later. She learned the character stuff first because she just naturally had that, and now she's really fine-tuning the wrestling. Her level of wrestling now is good enough, she could get called up tomorrow and she’d be fine. I don't want her to, I'd like for her to simmer for another year, but it's awesome watching her." [H/T Fightful]
Arianna Grace is not the only second-generation wrestler signed by NXT. Other kids of former WWE stars in developmental include Bron Breakker (Rick Steiner), Ava Raine (The Rock), Charlie Dempsey (William Regal), Von Wagner (Beau Beverly), and Brooks Jensen (Bull Buchanan).
Arianna Grace injured her knee during training at the WWE Performance Center
Arianna Grace suffered a freak knee injury during training at the WWE Performance Center. Grace was doing a lockup when a change in momentum snapped her left knee.
In an appearance on Taylor Wilde's Wilde On podcast last November, Grace initially thought it was a sprained knee and was afraid other stars would judge her for not finishing her training session. But when her diagnosis was confirmed, it was all about getting the surgery and starting her recovery.
"[I was hoping] that it was a least a little bit sprained so nobody thinks I'm a wuss," Grace said. "I got the call and it was like, torn ACL, torn meniscus, sprained MCL. After that, what can you do? You only have one option, it's surgery, rehab, and then move on, so I had to do what I had to do." [H/T Fightful]
Would you like to see Arianna Grace get called up to the main roster or have a run as NXT Women's Champion? Share your answer in the comments section below.
