On January 14, Jinny announced that she would be retiring from wrestling.
Jinny had not wrestled since November 2021 when she defeated Amale on NXT UK. She remained under WWE contract, but was moved to the alumni section of the WWE website. She had been doing work for WWE media partner BT Sport while sidelined.
Speaking to Ring The Belle, Jinny revealed she was battling concussion issues and opened up about her decision to retire.
"When I was injured, this was the longest time I had been out with any injury. During the time of being injured and having the symptoms, I was like, 'Wow, this is taking so long for my body to heal.' The injury that I had, it was a concussion, unfortunately, I took quite a few blows to the head, and it was the worst one I ever had. Halfway through, I was like, 'If my body is taking this long to heal, if I get hit again, is it going to take even longer?' I had to be smart about it. I love wrestling. I'm a wrestling fan, I always will be. It was a really hard decision because if it wasn't for that, would I be wrestling still? Yes, but your health is wealth, and as difficult as it is, and as much as I love this business and as much as I like, 'maybe I'll be okay,' I had to be smart about it and make sure that I look after myself, not just for now, but in the long run as well," she said.
When asked if she would potentially do a retirement match, Jinny said, "Right now, I don't know. I don't want to take a chance and then get hurt, but never say never. You never know what is around the corner. Right now, I just need to focus on my health, even though I'm healed and I'm fine and I'm cleared, I need to focus on my health. Never say never, but would I fully come out of retirement and have another stint? No, I don't want to take that chance. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is. When we get in this business, whether you sign with a big company or you work on the Indies, we all know the risks that we take, but we take those risks because we have a dream and we have a passion for wrestling. It happens, but looking back on everything, I had so much fun, I really did. I'm very grateful for everything that have come out of wrestling. I met my husband [Gunther] in wrestling, I met great friends in wrestling, I got to work with some amazing people. All of those companies like PROGRESS, EVE, RevPro, OTT, they gave me opportunities when I was so new and they still believed in me. When I was experimenting with my ring gear and working on the basics and still training, they gave me an opportunity. It would always be nice to come out of retirement and achieve more, but looking back, I achieved so much and I'm very grateful."
Along with competing for NXT UK, Jinny was a former two-time PROGRESS Women's Champion and a former RevPro Undisputed British Women's Champion.
Asked if she might continue in wrestling in a different capacity behind the scenes, Jinny said, "Right now, I'm just coming to terms with the retirement. I left on very good terms. They were very good to me when I said I needed to step away from the ring. Who knows what is down the road. Right now, I just retired and I need to gather my bearings. There are always opportunities and stuff like that, who knows, I might be on a TV screen in a year's time. The world is your oyster, you just have to run with opportunities when given to you."
Wrestlers from various promotions reacted to Jinny's retirement, wishing her well in his next venture. Fans can view their reactions by clicking here.
Fans can watch the full interview with Jinny in the video above.
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