WWE star Kiana James was sick and tired of sitting behind a desk — so she decided to give suplexes a try.
“I come from a corporate background,” James, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly. “I was in corporate America and I fell in love with wrestling and quit my job to train.”
James enrolled at Flatbacks Wrestling School in Forest City, Florida, which was founded by pro wrestling stars Shawn Spears and Tyler Breeze.
“I have an education and a career to fall back on, but I never thought about falling back,” she said. “That was never an option. I was going to become a WWE superstar and I was going to put the work in until that happened.”
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James described the transition from her 9-5 job to the wrestling world as “two different lives.”
“I like to think that my journey, every piece of it, led me here,” James said. “I think that being a WWE superstar blends all of my worlds. I come from a corporate background, but I grew up a competitive gymnast. In college [at Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa], I did competitive dance and cheer. I’ve performed in front of a crowd. I have love for the energy of a crowd. The acrobatics, the athleticism, the competition, it just blends it all.”
She added, “I have to do this. I was born for this.”
When she made the choice to pursue wrestling, James had the full support of her partner, Zach Klingensmith. The couple eventually got married in January 2022.
“I decided, ‘Hey, I want to be a WWE superstar,’ and he was like, ‘Well, it seems like Florida is the place to do it,’” James said. “I didn’t have a contract or anything and he was like, ‘Let’s quit our jobs. I believe in you.’ From day one, he quit his job and moved to Orlando just for me to chase my dream. He’s my ride or die.”
James debuted in WWE developmental brand NXT in February 2022.
Shortly after making her main roster debut on an episode of Raw in June 2024, James suffered a leg injury, which kept her out of action for over a year.
Earlier this month, she won the biggest match of her career in a triple threat against Charlotte Flair and Nia Jax to earn a spot in the upcoming women’s Elimination Chamber match.
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James will step inside the Chamber structure with Alexa Bliss, Tiffany Stratton, Asuka, Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez with a title match at WrestleMania 42 on the line.
“I always like to say, ‘Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready,’” James said about the match. “So when it comes to training, diet, physique, all that stuff, I’m always honed in. But the Chamber is like nothing else. But it gets me excited. I think my competitive edge is my mind and my strategic ways of thinking. Now I have a cage and pods and weapons and no rules.”
She continued, “I’ve been watching old Chamber matches from the past, men’s and women’s, to analyze like, ‘Oh, I could take from that’ or ‘That’s really cool.’”
WWE Elimination Chamber streams live on the ESPN App Saturday, February 28, at 7 p.m. ET from the United Center in Chicago.