While Arianna Grace was recovering from an injury, she took part in the 2023 Miss Universe Canada pageant where she finished in the top 20.
Speaking on a recent edition of Taylor Wilde’s “Wilde On” podcast, the WWE NXT Superstar revealed why she made the decision to compete in the pageant. She said,
“I was like ‘I need something. I need something for me. I need to distract myself’ [during her recovery]. Actually, Miss Universe Canada had always been a dream of mine. In high school, they nominated me for ‘most likely to be Miss Universe.’ So it’s kind of one of those weird full-circle things.”
She continued, “Obviously I didn’t win, but I got pretty close … It’s actually crazy, when I started at the [WWE] PC, I don’t know what happened, if it was stress or all the bumping because it’s a lot of grueling work, but I put on at least maybe 20 pounds. Then after the injury, I was like, ‘It seems as though I gained some pounds, let’s use this pageant as motivation to get myself into great shape for when I come back.’ It also gave me a distraction, so it benefited me in different ways.”
Grace made her return to WWE NXT back in September. She was also a part of the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament.
