When someone loses their job, that is often a hard pill to swallow. Let alone during the holidays. However, after McKenzie Mitchell was released from WWE not long after Thanksgiving, she took it in stride. The now-former NXT interviewer began hitting the ground running, preparing for what’s on the horizon. It’s that strong work ethic that fueled her success within pro wrestling, starting right out of college with TNA Impact Wrestling and into the deep waters of WWE.
WWE Release
“It’s been quite a rollercoaster as you would expect when someone gets released,” Mitchell said. “For me, it was not expected. I didn’t expect it was going to happen, but I was able to take the news and what happened and move forward. It was unfortunate that it happened during the holidays but also a blessing as well because I was able to spend time with my family and friends, my husband, and my kids. All of that. It has been nice to decompress. 2023 has been a really hard year for us in every facet of life, so I’m able to take these last two weeks and hit the restart button before we hit 2024.”
Mitchell felt an overwhelming response as the pro wrestling world heard the news. Co-workers, staff, executives, and fans from all over the globe reached out. Among the colleagues was one certain veteran and a “Man.”
Receiving Support
“I did have Terry Taylor reach out to me, which was nice,” she said. “He stuck out because he is so respected in the business. So that was really important and awesome he reached out and gave me a personal phone call. Becky Lynch texted me a really nice message. She is so well-respected, obviously, as a top competitor in the women’s division and the world. It was awesome to hear her kind words. It meant so much.”
Perhaps the news didn’t sink in until that first Tuesday broadcast when her husband and WWE NXT commentator Vic Joseph went to work. For Mitchell, it was an adjustment not to join him.
Reality Sinking In
“I’ll be very honest. For four years, we worked together. You just get into the routine of things,” she said. On Tuesdays, we would go to television together. I would go into makeup, and he would start to talk to Booker T and prepare his notes for the night. So the first couple of weeks were really weird. I was like, ‘Okay, see you later. I’m going to do this at home.’ Or, ‘I’m going to take the dogs on a walk.’ And then he was going into TV. It has an emotional impact on you a little bit. It was very sad for the first couple of weeks just because you get into a routine of things. I have so many friends and my husband in NXT and WWE and wrestling.
“So my love for wrestling doesn’t go away because I get fired or released. I’m able to still watch. I’m kind of taking a break for a little bit. I will say that. The last couple of weeks I didn’t watch as I was spending time with family. I did watch the week after I got released. I don’t know why. I was just like, ‘I feel like I still have a part in the show.” I wanted to support them in general. Now after the release and taking that time, I’m just giving myself a break a little bit.”
Even before her release, Mitchell was expanding on other interests and passions. It’s that entrepreneurial spirit that led to the launching of Headline by MM in June. Her family has been rooted in the jewelry business for 75 years, making it the perfect creative outlet to keep them connected. “It has been wild to see the success so far. All the love and support I’ve felt from people who have worn my stuff,” Mitchell said. “Natalya loves to wear Headline. I will say that. I’ll see an order come through and will be from Nattie. I’m like, ‘Nattie, why don’t you message me? I would have sent you this stuff.’ She is a businesswoman herself, so she knows the hustle and grind. I’m excited to see where it’s going in 2024.”
What’s Next?
On the wrestling side, Mitchell has already begun hitting the convention circuit and adding dates. She even began taking Cameo requests. Even while in school, the University of Mississippi grad knew how powerful social media and marketing can be. She also takes inspiration from those within the industry.
“First and foremost I will say Matt Cardona has done it flawlessly,” Mitchell added. “He is my best friend’s husband. Chelsea Green is my best friend. Matt is so business-savvy. Not only when it comes to wrestling and who he is as a performer, but when it comes to his podcast, shows, and all the things he is involved in. He has flawlessly taken the independent scene by storm. I look to him for advice. I’ll text him and say, “What do you think about this?” He is one I reached out to.
“I have also been able to ask my husband. Social media is so different now. It’s such a catalyst and way to promote yourself and connect to people all over the world. It has been that way, but I think since COVID it has taken a different approach. You’re able to speak for yourself. Just put up a camera and say, ‘Hey, let’s film this. Let’s go live.’ That has been really cool. I think social media is a different way to navigate the world now, but it’s also new and exciting given I’m situation I’m in right now.”
Mitchell is overall proud of her evolution, following in the footsteps of so many who have come before. She feels it’s a good time to be an interviewer with more freedom and bandwidth to express who an individual is as a personality rather than just hold a microphone. The broadcaster felt it’s that authenticity that shines through and connects to the audience. She felt nothing from support from her fellow announcers over the years.
“We’re all in the same position,” Mitchell said. “If someone is struggling with something it’s, ‘How can I help you?’ When I was learning ring announcing, people thought when I was at Impact that I just kind of knew how to do it. I knew quite a bit of things. How to host, interviews, but I never picked up the skill of doing ring announcing. So when I was transitioning to doing WWE live events more often, that was a skill I had to figure out. Byron Saxton is someone that is very underrated. He has so many skills and facets and things he can do. He is one I love to learn from.”
Her Time with TNA & WWE
Mitchell’s intro into the business was trial by fire when she joined TNA Impact Wrestling in 2016. It’s while their the TV personality built her foundation and ever-lasting bonds that continue today.
“I think people still don’t know that I didn’t watch a day of wrestling in my life before I got the job,” she said. “I spent time learning on the spot. Learning as we went along. Who these people were. Who are these superstars? Where did they come from? What is their background? Who are they as humans? I put my head down and got to learn and put the work in during my time with Impact. I’m thankful for that opportunity to start at Impact where it was a little more forgiving than WWE sometimes. We had some taped shows, so I was able to learn as we went through.
“Then with WWE, you’re live, so if you mess up, you mess up on the fly. But that was a really unique experience. That when the red light goes on can you do it or not. I loved my time at Impact because of the camaraderie from the talent, executives, and everyone involved that we got established. Then it was cool down the road when I got to see Bobby Lashley, Cameron Grimes, LA Knight, Chelsea Green, Allie. We all are still a family and hang out and talk to each other. I’m t thankful for that experience from day one.”
On if we’d see her in TNA again or another promotion, she is open to opportunities. Adding,“I can’t reveal all my cards. I’ve had some fun auditions that are outside of wrestling. That’s all I’ll say… There is one project I’ve been very passionate about that I’d pitched for four years.
It never got followed through with. I never did it. So, I’m stating that in January, which will be independent on my own. I’m looking forward to that. That will involve wrestling.
“Tap into the celebrity more and outside media into entertainment as well. I think with wrestling it’s hard once you’re in you’re in. You’re sucked into it. It’s like what next?…But it’s okay to say you don’t know sometimes and take a moment and breathe and ask yourself, “Where do you want to go? What’s my new direction?’”
Mitchell takes pride in her time with WWE. From NXT to even stepping in on the main roster like SmackDown a time or two, she was up for any challenge.
“I’d say some of my highlights were hosting the kickoff shows for NXT. That was 30 minutes or an hour where it’s just genuine real conversation. We got to do more things on the fly. That was a moment of, ‘We trust you and this is your show and make it your own and see what you can do.’ That was for me a breakthrough moment. It was a different McKenzie you saw. What’s NeXT will always be very special to me with Alicia Taylor. We had Triple H on the show, which was really cool. When we asked for him to be on the show, I didn’t expect him to come on our little grungy-type show that was in the back of the Performance Center because we didn’t want to make it feel too staged.
“When he said let’s do it. It was awesome. We had Finn Balor, Johnny Gargano, and the list goes on. That was really a learning curve in my experience with WWE too because I was able to take those real moments and just respond by doing interviews. Rather than on television, you get a timed amount for a segment or different interview. This allowed us to have fun.”
Mitchell names Wes Lee among her favorite interview interactions. They’ll always share the high-five.
