Ash By Elegance, the reigning TNA Knockouts Champion, has pulled back the curtain on her recent WWE NXT appearances, detailing the backstage encouragement she received from Shawn Michaels. She described being nervous before a match, at which point Michaels offered his support. “Shawn looks and me and he’s like ‘You ready to go?’ I’m like ‘Yeah, yeah.’ He goes ‘Relax.’ and gives me a hug. He goes ‘Just smile and soak it in.’”
Speaking with Bill Pritchard for WrestleZone, she also recalled a conversation with Michaels following a six-woman tag match the week before her title victory. “He told me, he goes ‘See, I told you it wouldn’t be long until you were back.’ It meant everything, like man, you were right. He was just always so supportive.” (h/t WrestleTalk)
Her praise for the NXT executive was direct. “To me, Shawn Michaels is one of the best, if not the best in the entire world with his selling, with his moves, everybody looks up to him,” she stated.
These interactions took place during her return to NXT in August 2024, which was part of the ongoing partnership between WWE and TNA. The run culminated with her winning the TNA Knockouts Championship at NXT Heatwave, where she defeated both NXT’s Jacy Jayne and Masha Slamovich in a three-way match.
That championship victory has now set up By Elegance’s next major title defense.
She is scheduled to face Masha Slamovich in a one-on-one rematch at TNA Victory Road on September 26. The storyline centers on Slamovich aiming to prove the Heatwave result was a fluke caused by interference from The Elegance Brand.
The stakes for that match are even higher, as the winner will go on to defend the Knockouts World Championship against the new number one contender, Indi Hartwell, at TNA’s Bound For Glory.