News

Special Referee Added To Huge NXT-TNA Showdown Match

By John Canton • Published Oct 04, 2025 19:53 EDT
WWE NXT logo over Tyra Mae Steele Arianna Grace

A special referee has been added to one of the big matches at the upcoming WWE NXT-TNA Showdown card.

The first-ever NXT-TNA Showdown crossover event is taking place during the October 7th broadcast of WWE NXT on The CW.

It’s a card that will feature two Survivor Series-style elimination matches. One of the matches is for the men, and the other is for the women. The teams for both sides were officially announced during the NXT broadcast on September 30th.

A wrestler who was left off the women’s team was Jordynne Grace, who is a former TNA Knockouts Champion and a current member of the NXT roster. Grace went on social media to tell NXT GM Ava and TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella that they had to fix this and put Grace on the show.

Santino, Ava, there is a huge problem with Showdown next week…I’m not on it. I was trying to bite my tongue, but I just can’t anymore. There is no “NXTNA” without Jordynne Grace. There is no partnership. There are no cross-promotional champions. As a matter of fact, there is no Showdown without me setting the stage for it two years ago. … You two need to fix this.

Ava Gives Jordynne Grace Special Role For NXT-TNA Showdown

In response to Grace’s message, Ava responded on X/Twitter by assigning Grace the role of special referee for the Women’s Survivor Series elimination-style match.

All right, Jordynne, you’re right. You made some pretty good points. And you know what? I agree with you. I don’t think that there would be this NXT/TNA crossover partnership without everything that you’ve done, starting two years ago.

So, I have decided that you are going to be the special guest referee for the Women’s Survivor Series style-match on Tuesday.

The lineup for NXT-TNA Showdown on October 7th looks like this:

  • Survivor Series Elimination NXT vs. TNA Men’s Match: Ricky Saints, Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans & Myles Borne vs. Mike Santana, Frankie Kazarian, Moose & Leon Slater
  • Survivor Series Elimination NXT vs. TNA Women’s Match: Jacy Jayne, Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker & Lola Vice vs. Kelani Jordan, The IInspiration’s Jessie McKay & Cassie Lee, and Mara Sade
  • Winner Take All NXT vs. TNA Tag Team Championship Match: Darkstate’s Osiris Griffin & Dion Lennox vs. The Hardys – Matt & Jeff Hardy
  • NXT North American Championship Match: Ethan Page vs. Mustafa Ali

Joe Hendry, the former NXT Champion, has also said he needs to be part of the show, so it’s possible that he could be assigned the role of referee for the Men’s Survivor Series-style match.