As reported a couple weeks back, WWE recently signed independent wrestler Kennadi Brink with the intent of using her as an in-ring official rather than a competitor.
It didn’t take long to get the Duane “Gillberg” Gill-trained Baltimore native settled into her new role, at least on NXT’s Florida house show circuit. She made her debut last night in Orlando, calling the action in a Lars Sullivan’s win over Kishan Raftaar.
According to Wrestling Observer, Brink was introduced as Jessika (her real name is Jessika Heiser; she’s worked under the name Jessie Kay in the past) along with ring announcer Christy St. Cloud pointing out she was the first female referee to work a men’s match in NXT history. She also officiated a Ruby Riot vs. Mandy Rose bout.
#NXTOrlando Our first ever full time women's referee, Jessica! @LadyKBrink pic.twitter.com/HyoLq2YHRP
— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) June 1, 2017
Congrats @LadyKBrink on the "official" debut. Glad there's a full time female ref on the big stage. #nxtorlando pic.twitter.com/1pb8bmMjOr
— Andrew Twiss (@ATwiss99) June 1, 2017
#NXTOrlando @LadyKBrink is the first female referee for a male NXT match in history. @WONF4W pic.twitter.com/0TxMHZwko1
— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) June 2, 2017
Speculation has been that Brink will be part of the upcoming Mae Young Classic women’s tournament, as WWE is aiming to include women in as many aspects of the production as they can (at least on-screen).
We’ll see about that. In the meantime, congrats to WWE’s newest ref!
More photos at JJ Williams’ flickr photostream