Katana Chance Reveals She Turned Down WWE’s First Offer to Join Tough Enough

After dominating American Ninja Warrior and landing on Sports Illustrated’s “50 Fittest Women Athletes” list, former WWE Star Katana Chance, real name Kacy Catanzaro, caught the attention of WWE talent scouts. But in a move that surprised even her, Catanzaro didn’t jump at the opportunity to join the company right away.

While speaking with Joe Vulpis on the Lightweights Podcast, Catanzaro shared how WWE originally reached out with an offer to be part of Tough Enough — their reality series designed to discover new in-ring talent. But at the time, she was still fully committed to American Ninja Warrior and not ready to make the leap.

“I want to say it was Canyon… like, who had done the contracts at the time. And they had said, ‘We want you to be on Tough Enough.’ And so at the time, that’s a reality show as well, you know what I mean? And so is American Ninja Warrior. At the time, I wasn’t ready to leave American Ninja Warrior, so I was kind of like, ‘Oh, like I’m not able to do this TV show right now because I’m still doing this one, you know?’”

Despite turning down the offer, she said WWE respected her decision and made it clear they were still interested if her circumstances ever changed.

“They were very understanding. They were like, ‘Okay, we’ll be in touch. Let us know if anything changes.’”

That call may not have led to an immediate WWE debut, but it set the wheels in motion. Catanzaro eventually signed with WWE and built a strong career, including a memorable run in NXT and as one-half of the NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Kacy’s story is proof that timing really is everything — and sometimes the best opportunities come back around when you’re truly ready for them.