- Makenna Smith, a Red Rocks gymnast, considers a WWE career after a recent visit.
- Smith's personality and energy align with WWE's entertainment focus, sparking her interest.
- While focused on gymnastics, Smith is open to exploring wrestling or other future opportunities.
SALT LAKE CITY — Makenna Smith's got the look, she's got the personality and energy, and she's got the moves.
But that has nothing to do with the gymnastics mat.
Smith may soon be trading in her electric floor routine and all her other gymnastic skills, for a choreographed routine in the wrestling ring. The veteran Red Rocks gymnast is contemplating a potential future with the WWE.
Yes, you read that correctly: the professional wrestling company who is big on personality and even more so on entertainment — two traits Smith has in spades.
While a professional wrestling gig is not a foregone conclusion, Smith said, it has certainly crossed her mind recently. So much so that her TikTok feed continues to show her WWE clips without her looking for them.
Maybe it is actually a foregone conclusion, then, if social media is any decider.
"I feel like it'd be the perfect balance between, like, not completely stripping myself from gymnastics, but not actually doing gymnastics. ... I already do the lands to my stomach on the floor," Smith told KSL.com.
But Smith doesn't call herself a "super fan," or one who has been dreaming of a wrestling career her entire life. If anything, the thought came by a bit of happenstance — an opportunity that peeked her interest after getting a closer look when the WWE was in Salt Lake City in October.
While posing with a WWE belt that was brought in to the gymnastics facility as part of a Big 12 partnership with the wrestling company, several people close to her told Smith she "already has the look and feel — the energy — for it" and encouraged her to pursue a career with the WWE.
A recruiter who was there as part of the visit even encouraged Smith to reach out if she wanted to learn more. The two eventually talked over the phone and she learned what the WWE was looking for in a gymnast.
"We had a conversation, and he told me that the hardest part about the tryouts, for most people, is having to speak in front of people and pitch yourself," Smith said. "And so I was like, 'Oh, OK' — like, if that's the hardest thing about it I was like, cool, I can do that. I was like, 'Yeah, I like talking in front of crowds.' He's like, 'Oh, everybody says that.' I was like, 'No, I do actually; I love that.'"
Anybody who has watched Smith compete — before a meet with her patented sunglasses look and during her events — knows she's a show woman, looking to hype up the crowd and be the entertainer for the team. It's a similar skill set the WWE looks for when bringing on new talent.
But it's not just flash and no substance; Smith is as competitive as the next gymnast and she strives to be at the top in all four events she competes in regularly. It's hard work meets entertainment at its finest.
"I definitely feel like it's me being myself," Smith said. "I feel like the energy within myself, I think it helps the team. ... I think something that everybody talks about a lot is my authenticity to myself, whether I'm actually out competing or I'm out on the sidelines.
"I'm glad that I get to be that person by just being myself, because that's what I've always wanted," she added. "So I think that's just super awesome."
And if her floor routine that is set to AC/DC's "Thunderstuck" is any indication, she's primed to think about all that goes into an entertainment career.
So has she picked out her walk-out music for the WWE yet? Not exactly, but she's open to what the potential future of a wrestling career could hold — even if it means she plays the role of a villain.
"They also told me that they see me as a heel, which I would not have necessarily pictured myself as that, but I could be here for it," Smith said. "I get to be a bad guy. That could be kind of cool. And I feel like that would also influence walk-out music — like you can't do a bubbly song if you're a heel. I think that's weird."
For the time being, Smith's focus remains solely on competing for a national championship with the Red Rocks during her senior season, but being young affords her the opportunity to "take the risk," whether it be in wresting or something else.
Smith said she could stay in the gymnastics world and follow her former teammates Maile O'Keefe and Grace McCallum's example and transition to a grad assistant coaching role, or there's also law school or a career in media. And then there's also professional wrestling.
"Wherever the wind blows me," she said, and "wherever the greatest opportunity is."
