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Jessika Carr has been one of the main faces of NXT over the past few years, refereeing almost all of the women's matches for the promotion, as well as the women's matches at WrestleMania and last year's Evolution.
Jessika made history by becoming WWE's first full-time female wrestler back in 2017 and has continued to push to make more history over the past few months, which is why it was revealed earlier this week that she had been promoted to the SmackDown brand.
Jessika was given the chance to cut a promo in front of the WWE Universe on Wednesday night at Full Sail University and was able to bid farewell to the crowd and the NXT roster, following the main event match between Finn Balor and Tommaso Ciampa.
While Jessika has been part of WWE for approximately two years, there are still many things that remain unknown about the former NXT star, so here are five facts ahead of her debut on SmackDown tonight.
#5. Wrestling inspired her to lose weight
Jessika Carr was born Kennadi Brink and as a teenager, struggled with her weight. She credited her love of wrestling as the reason for her weight loss and why she's been able to get her weight under control.
Carr reportedly met a local wrestler when she was younger, who helped her lose 60lbs and then go on to become a wrestler herself. Carr started training with Duane Gill's Academy of Professional Wrestling back in 2010 and went on to wrestle for several promotions before heading to WWE.
Jessika was known as Jessie Kaye on the Independent Circuit before she later changed her name to Kennadi Lewis as a WWE star and then Jessika Carr when she became a referee.
#4. She trained with The Dudley Boyz
Jessika Carr may be working as a referee in WWE right now, but she is also a trained wrestler. The star introduced herself to the WWE Universe back in 2017 when she was unveiled as WWE's first female referee at the inaugural Mae Young Classic.
Carr stated that she began training back in 2009, but actually started to take her wrestling seriously when she moved down to Florida and began training with The Dudley Boyz at Team 3D Academy.
In order to get the chance to train with the WWE Hall of Famers, Carr won an NWA scholarship, where she was chosen out of approximately 45 people to be given the chance to continue her training under the tutelage of D-Von and Bubba Ray Dudley.
Carr stated that her passion was obviously on full display from the beginning, which is why she was able to win the scholarship to continue her career. Her career has since led her to WWE, where she is already making history. Of course, she isn't making history as a performer, but she did have a tryout with WWE to become a singles competitor.
#3. William Regal is the one who convinced her to become a referee
Jessika was invited to a WWE tryout in February 2017 where she was hoping to be signed to the company, but she was instead asked by NXT General Manager William Regal if she would be interested in becoming a referee.
Carr revealed that she said yes right away, since she feels that being the third person in the match is just as important as being one of the wrestlers who are in the ring.
She went on to state that wrestling helped get her through some hard times when she was younger, including her parent's divorce and being bullied for being overweight. Even though she isn't a wrestler in the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, she gets to continue her passion and be a part of the business in a way she never dreamed possible.
Carr never thought that she would be able to become a wrestler when she was younger and struggling with her weight, so William Regal gave her the chance to not only achieve her dream, but also inspire another generation of female wrestlers in her own unique way.
#2. Jessika has featured on the main roster before
Jessika will make her official main roster debut on Friday Night SmackDown, but the NXT official has been on the main roster before.
Back in the summer, Jessika featured on NXT, 205 Live, RAW, and SmackDown in the same week, as she worked five days out of the seven in front of TV cameras. Carr refereed the match between Candice LeRae and Io Shirai in NXT, as well as the match between Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado on 205 Live.
She was part of a humorous backstage segment where Maria Kanellis lost the 24/7 Championship at the gynecologist's office and since Carr is the only female referee, it made sense that she was the woman who was in the room to count the pin.
The following day, she was seen on SmackDown and was part of the women's segment once again when Natalya refused to break the Sharpshooter on Ember Moon ahead of her submission match with Becky Lynch at SummerSlam. This proves that Carr is cut out for the main roster and could even be added to some interesting storylines when she becomes well-known to the WWE Universe.
#1. She's actually wrestled on NXT
Jessika Carr may have made a name for herself as a referee in the squared circle, but when she first came to WWE she was working as a singles competitor. Like many other women who are signed to a Performance Center contract, she also had hopes of becoming a women's wrestler in the company, but this wasn't to be.
Carr wrestled a number of matches for WWE before making the switch to being a referee, including a match against Nikki Cross back in January 2017, where she was defeated. Carr went by the ring name Kennadi Lewis, but her in-ring career came to an end in April 2017 and she was then used as a referee in the first-ever Mae Young Classic.
Kennedy Lewis looked like she could have been a star in NXT as a wrestler, but it appears that she made an even bigger impact when she decided to make history and become WWE's first full-time female referee. She is expected to continue to break through glass ceilings in the future as part of the SmackDown roster.
