Rachael Ellering recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about her current run in IMPACT Wrestling, which has been capped off by teaming with Jordynne Grace to win the Knockouts Tag Team Championship. Ellering was introduced on television as Jazz’s pick to replace her, but the “Queen Of Strong Style” says the bond they share goes back several years.
“I love Jordynne for so many reasons, but I kind of fell in love with Jordynne a couple years ago when I actually wrestled her. I just gained so much respect for her, she is an incredible athlete and incredibly strong, which I am as well, but she can match that. When you’re in there and they can match you physically and intellectually—she’s very wrestling smart and smart in a lot of avenues, business, marketing—she’s very well-rounded. I realized that a couple years ago, and like I said earlier, everyone grows in the amount of time we have,” Ellering explained, “so seeing her now, it’s like she’s polished, she is absolutely incredible. She’s a force.
“I love her aggression, and she’s a little different than me where she’s a little quieter, then she’ll have these bursts of fire and intensity, where I’m like that all of the time. So, we play off of each other super well. If she tries to hide it—sorry for letting it out—but she’s very, very funny. Just very quick-witted and always has a funny story to tell, she’s seen so much in her life. We’re just a great fit for each other, we’ve gelled so quickly,” she said, “and I think it just started with such a high amount of respect for Jazz and that was just a cool way to come together and cement us as a team.”
https://twitter.com/JordynneGrace/status/1386749764574883844
Joking at first about their behind-the-scenes antics as the Mooter City Machine Guns, Ellering said they don’t have plans for an official team name right now and want to see where things go.
“For right now, I think it will just be ‘Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering’. But that’s not to say that we won’t have an official team name. It’s one of those things where we don’t want to force it,” Ellering noted, “and we both want to have that light bulb moment where we think, ‘Oh, that’s it. That fits us.’ versus sitting here and thinking up [options] that isn’t just as natural. We want it to fit us and have it be something that just comes about and something we love.”
Whether it’s in a tag team or singles action, Rachael Ellering loves professional wrestling and it shows in her work. She says she’s very competitive and strives to be the best, and believes fans will see that she’s putting out her best work yet.
“First and foremost, I love professional wrestling, I love it more than anything, and so I think that shines through in absolutely everything that I do because I can’t hide it, man. I just can’t, so I think that truly shines through in all aspects of my game, whether I’m cutting a promo or in a tag with Jordynne or a singles match with Kiera [Hogan] on AXS TV, it will shine through. I’m extremely competitive and I’ve been an athlete my whole life, and so that is part of me that I can’t hide, even if I’m playing a board game at home. I’m extremely competitive and I do this to be the absolute best,” Ellering said. “The best woman in the company, in the entire world, but also the best version of myself.
“That’s what I truly think IMPACT fans are going to see right now, the very best version of myself. When you have so much time to sit and reflect like I’ve had over the last year or two, you do a lot of self-reflection and work on yourself. I’ve done that in a lot of different ways,” she stated, “and I truly believe this is going to be the best version of me in all ways.”
