Wren Sinclair isn’t apologizing for sneaking into the NXT Women’s Championship No. 1 Contender’s Battle Royal on the October 6, 2026 edition of NXT. In fact, after stealing the win disguised as Lady Shani, she says she did exactly what she had to do because nobody backstage was giving her the opportunity she wanted.
While speaking on Busted Open After Dark, Wren Sinclair explained that after repeatedly trying to contact the NXT General Manager without success, she decided waiting around wasn’t getting her anywhere.
“Robert Stone, he’s a smart man, but I don’t wanna… he’s a man, so he doesn’t know things. Robert wasn’t answering my calls and he wasn’t listening to me. Like you said, the squeaky wheel gets the oil, and so I just made a couple little squeaks. I played the game the smart way instead of the safe way because we’re done playing it the safe way.”
The idea really came together once she saw the official Battle Royal graphic and realized she wasn’t part of it. Rather than accept being left out, Sinclair started thinking about how she could get into the match without anyone recognizing her, eventually landing on the idea of disguising herself as a masked luchadora.
“I saw the graphic drop. I saw I was not in the graphic, and I noticed that Robert was not answering any of my stuff. I was thinking, what’s the best way to go in there undetected? A luchadora would’ve been the best way because that’s literally covering my face. There’s no way for Robert to stop me as I’m going out. Under a mask was the safest way to not get stopped and be able to do what I was gonna do out there.”
The gamble couldn’t have worked out any better. Sinclair not only made it into the match, but she won it, forcing Stone to acknowledge her whether he wanted to or not. That’s exactly what she hoped to accomplish from the beginning.
“I’m so excited to hear what Robert has to say. I forced his hand. Now he has to talk to me because the winner of the Battle Royal gets a number one contender spot. And how can you take that away from me? I did that.”
Sinclair admitted there was one part of the plan she didn’t fully think through, though. Wrestling an entire match while wearing a mask turned out to be far more difficult than she’d expected, and she was questioning the idea almost immediately after making her entrance.
“It was my first time… and I underestimated it a little bit. I started second-guessing myself as soon as I walked out. Lady Shani, props to her. She’s amazing because I could not do this every day.”
Later, she said finally taking the mask off wasn’t just satisfying because of the big reveal—it was also a huge physical relief after wrestling under it for so long.
“Taking it off was a breath of fresh air, physically and figuratively. Kelani was looking down at me. She had no idea who it was… and for the fans… it was perfect. It was perfect.”
Another funny detail was how Sinclair avoided getting caught backstage before the match even started. Rather than spend the night hiding in the locker room, she simply stayed away from the building, watched the show on her phone and only arrived moments before the Battle Royal entrants were walking to the ring.
“I just didn’t show up until right before. I can obviously stream the show on my phone. I waited, and then I walked in the building as soon as we were walking out, just followed the line.”
That led to perhaps the funniest line of the interview, as Sinclair joked that if you’re going to be late, you might as well be really late.
“If you’re gonna be late, be real late. Be so late that they’re just happy to see you and they’re not mad at you. I just walked in and they didn’t even question it. They just sent me down in that line where they processed us out. Didn’t even take a second guess.”
With the disguise exposed and the Battle Royal won, Sinclair now has exactly what she wanted all along: an NXT Women’s Championship opportunity. Whether Robert Stone approves of how she got there or not doesn’t seem to matter much to her anymore.
What did you think of Wren Sinclair’s Battle Royal surprise? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
