Kendal Grey Discusses WWE Influences

Thanks to a push from "WWE Raw" star Julius Creed, Kendal Grey has officially elevated her wrestling skills from amateur level to a professional one, with WWE as her new learning ground. Still, as she continues to hone her professional wrestling skills, Grey sometimes can't help but pull inspiration from her former world, which saw her emerge as a three-time NAIA champion for Life University.

When asked about her influences within WWE, Grey pointed to WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle as her foremost sources. For Grey, Michaels' in-ring selling has particularly mesmerized her, so much so that she, and many others, consider him the "top dog" in that department.

Regarding Angle, Grey noted that his similar journey from amateur wrestling to WWE has been a constant source of motivation for her. Moving forward, she now hopes to mirror his success in the company.

"I love him. I love his story," Grey told Denise Salcedo. "Every time I need motivation or just to get more motivated, I literally watch his documentary on Peacock, 'Angle.' I watch it all the time because I think his story is so inspiring and just having that same similarity of a background in amateur wrestling and then transferring it over here. Obviously, I don't have a gold medal in the Olympics, but I would like to hopefully be like a female Kurt Angle. There's not many females here in WWE that come from an amateur wrestling background, so I do look up to Kurt Angle a lot. "

Among the active roster of WWE talent, Grey finds additional inspiration from former WWE Champion Rey Mysterio and former WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley.

"Another one I watch is Rey Mysterio because, in size, I am a little bit smaller. So I do watch Rey Mysterio a lot just to see how he kind of used his size to his advantage and stuff," Grey said. "I watch him a lot, but there's so many that I love. Then Rhea [Ripley], she's one of my favorites. I think she's so badass. She's so cool. It kind of gave me that childhood, tomboy [vibes]. It gives me that [sense of] like, oh I feel that, that's me internally. So I love her too."

Known as "The Eradicator" and "Mami," Ripley has especially wowed the WWE Universe with her impressive showings of strength, which included her slamming the six-foot-eight Luke Gallows to the floor in 2022. Elsewhere, Ripley has extended her physicality to other male colleagues such as Karl Anderson and her former on-screen ally Dominik Mysterio. Within the women's division, Ripley is a Grand Slam Champion.

Despite his smaller stature, Rey Mysterio has captivated audiences with his high-flying, fast-paced in-ring offense for decades. In 2024, WWE even inducted him into its Hall of Fame.

So far, Grey's WWE career has resulted in one, existing run as WWE Evolve Women's Champion. With her recent Iron Survivor Challenge win, though, Grey is also in line for a shot at the NXT Women's Championship.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Denise Salcedo with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.