Wren Sinclair, Hanging Out at Monday Night Raw & Wrestling's Top Nepo Babies | No-Contest Wrestling

On No Contest Wrestling, every day is Wednesday now. Wren Sinclair, the No. 1 contender to the NXT Women's Championship, stopped by the podcast ahead of her title shot against Kelani Jordan at Halloween Havoc, and hosts O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ, longtime Wren believers, finally got her on the show.

They also had a lot to unload first, starting with a night backstage at Monday Night Raw in San Diego.

## A night at Raw

The first person they saw pulling up to the production trucks was Becky Lynch, walking up the ramp. Moments later, Roman Reigns came by on his way to the bus. After the show, Reigns signed a world heavyweight championship belt that now also carries autographs from Seth Rollins and CM Punk.

The hosts got walked into Gorilla, chopped it up with Paul Heyman, and heard William Regal tell WCW stories they're now determined to get on the podcast. The in-person verdict on Logan Paul: "Logan Paul is a big dude." And in the hometown pop for Rey Mysterio in a match with Chad Gable and Dragon Lee, they were convinced Mysterio was leaving with the belt until Gable got the three count. Mysterio later admitted to TJ, "at a point I thought I was gonna win."

The hosts used the moment to praise Gable, a guy fans always said deserved more, who went through the Shorty G years and the El Grande Americano mask before finally getting his shot. Now he's the Intercontinental champion, and they say the belt still means something.

The best story involved Jackson booing 946 when they brawled with the Bloodline at the end of the night. Bronco Nima and Lucien Price snarled and started circling him, and TJ was ready to make "a decision." "I booed John Cena while he was here," Jackson countered. TJ's ruling: "You had it coming."

Looking ahead, the hosts expect WarGames at Survivor Series and noted that 946, with Royce Keys, Melo, Bronco and Lucien, has only four for a five-on-five match. TJ also flagged a possible rift: LA Knight is not going to like seeing Solo Sikoa dap up Roman Reigns.

## Wren Wednesday

Sinclair got bit by the wrestling bug as a kid when her brother flipped past Chyna and did a double take. As the youngest of four, with one brother, she became the sibling who watched with him, and she loved Team Extreme, Lita and Scotty 2 Hotty. Lita stood out because she didn't always look polished, and Sinclair, who played sports and ran with a family that did 5Ks on Thanksgiving, related to that. Her one-leg gear is a nod to Florence Griffith Joyner.

What pulled her back in was an NXT show in Austin where Enzo Amore started talking and the whole building said every word with him. "This is power," she remembered thinking. "I need that."

Her first independent match was against Jazz, who told her before she went through the curtain, "I taught you some of what I know, not all of what I know." The crowd then chanted that Jazz was going to kill her.

Her NXT debut was even less forgiving. About a week after arriving, she was thrown into a match with a ring full of women she barely knew. With no vignettes or teasers, she built her own introduction. Before NXT, she had done a weekly social series called Side Character Spotlight, so she claimed a day: Wren Wednesday. It started as a Q&A, "let me tell you about me," and it caught on.

The No Quarter Catch Crew is where she says she finally planted roots. "Wren Sinclair had absolutely no business being in the No Quarter Catch Crew," she said, which was exactly the point. "I made him be my friend the same way I made them let me in the group," she said of Charlie Dempsey. "Even to this day, I'm not sure they would say they wanted me in."

## The Texas lightning round

The hosts had done their research on her Texas loves: H-E-B tortillas, Selena, Big Tex and Whataburger, which she picked over In-N-Out. As for the Cowboys being America's team, Sinclair, whose father is from New York, offered an "allegedly." In their start, bench, cut game, she started H-E-B, benched Buc-ee's, and cut Whataburger, saying it changed after Chicago took it over.

Her bar fight crew: Kendal Grey, Jazz, Awesome Kong and Jaida Parker. Her dream WrestleMania opponents: Jazz, Lita, Madusa, Chelsea Green and one more she named from the past. And the move she hates taking is Lash Legend's chokeslam. "It was one of those dreams and you're just like free falling," she said. "Where is the mat?"

## Halloween Havoc

On Kendal Grey, Sinclair didn't hold back: "I would say that she is probably the best women's wrestler in the industry right now in the ring." Grey welcomed her at the Performance Center when she arrived, and the friendship on screen is real.

That's what makes the Jordan match personal. Jordan injured Sinclair, putting her out for a month, then injured Grey, and on NXT dragged Grey out to Sinclair after a backstage beatdown. Sinclair answered with a kendo stick and got suspended by Mr. Stone, a ruling the hosts called an injustice. The suspension has since been lifted.

Sinclair said she can't do anything but leave as champion, because the match means too much. "I'm not just defending Kendal. I'm defending myself."

Halloween Havoc is Saturday, October 31, on the CW and the ESPN Unlimited app.

## TJ's top 15 nepo babies

TJ delivered on last week's promise with his top 15 second-generation wrestlers, with some families sharing a spot. Bron Breakker opened the list at 15. The Bloodline (Roman, Jimmy, Jey, Solo and Jacob) landed at three, Randy Savage at two, and The Rock at No. 1. Putting the Harts at eight was instantly flagged as controversial.

The episode closed on Jackson and his dad, Ice Cube. TJ realized only two weeks ago that Cube's song "What Can I Do" includes the words "no contest." And Jackson explained that he and his father never talk about work, so he learns about Cube's appearances on the internet like everyone else.