Jakara Jackson Blindsided By WWE Release After TNA Trip

Mara Shardai, formerly known as Jakara Jackson in WWE NXT, is still trying to wrap her head around how suddenly her wrestling career with WWE came to a halt—especially after being sent to TNA by the company itself.

In a new interview on StardomCast, Shardai opened up about the shocking moment she got the call, just days after returning from a WWE-approved appearance at TNA. While many wrestlers mentally prepare for the possibility of being cut, Shardai says this one caught her completely off guard.

“Yeah, there’s always different stories for everyone. And we all know that releases come about ever so often… But this time? Absolutely not. I had no clue at all.”

Shardai pointed out how much momentum she had going, citing a steady schedule since WWE’s Saudi Arabia event and her trip to TNA as signs that things were moving in the right direction.

“We were on a roll—ever since Saudi Arabia, we were busy. Then we got the TNA opportunity, and as soon as we landed, took a little nap, woke up, and we saw what the deal was.”

The timing, she admits, left her stunned. “It makes you just turn your head ’cause you never know with anything.”

Despite the emotional hit, Shardai said she allowed herself to feel it but knew she had to press forward. As she put it earlier in her own YouTube video, “It is what it is and it ain’t what it isn’t… a wise man once told me that.”

Shardai’s WWE exit came while she was preparing for her niece’s birthday dinner—a moment she described as painful but also grounding. She missed the dinner that night but did go roller skating with her niece later. Since then, she’s adopted her real name and has kept a positive outlook on the next chapter of her life.

Mara Shardai’s journey is far from over. If anything, she’s just getting started outside the WWE machine.