Seattle Storm Take on the WWE

Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Basketballs

Former Seattle Storm draft pick Anriel Howard had her WrestleMania debut just a couple of weekends ago on April 18th. Howard’s story has been fascinating for me to follow over the years as a fan of both the WNBA and the WWE. She was drafted in the second round of the 2019 WNBA Draft (24th overall). That same year, the Storm selected Ezi Magbegor in the first round (12th overall). It was the season after Seattle had won their third WNBA Championship. Magbegor chose to stay overseas in Australia for an additional year since she was only 19 years old. The Storm also had a bevy of post players on the roster with Breanna Stewart, Natasha Howard, Mercedes Russell, Crystal Langhorn, and Courtney Paris. Because Magbegor stayed in Australia, that opened up an additional roster spot, and Anriel Howard made the team out of training camp as a second-round rookie.

Howard was on the team for the first five games of the season. She played in only three games, totaling just 20 minutes. In the first handful of games, the Storm suffered multiple injuries. Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird missed the entire season with injuries shortly before the season started. Jordin Canada, Shavonte Zellous, and Sami Whitcomb all suffered injuries early on, completely devastating Seattle’s backcourt. The team needed better ball handlers and was forced to waive Anriel on June 5th, 2019. In a corresponding move, they signed backup point guard Blake Deitrick.

After being cut by the team, Howard never got another chance in the WNBA. Instead of going overseas to play basketball and continue her career there, she looked for other opportunities. Anriel received an invite for a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) tryout in December of 2019. She did not get signed right away, but WWE kept an eye on her.

In recent years, WWE has been signing collegiate athletes and training them at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, to become Professional Wrestlers. Before that, they often hired people who had spent years competing on the indies (smaller wrestling promotions). Similar to how the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) era has boosted women’s college basketball. It’s also something the WWE has been utilizing to recruit future talent to the wrestling industry. Nowadays, people who were athletes in completely different sports (gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, track, etc.) can be signed by the WWE without having any professional wrestling experience at all. They’re looking for dynamic athletes that they can mold like clay instead of more established products. Newest recruits don’t need to know what a power bomb is or how to slap on a sharp shooter. They’ll teach them all of it in due time. Anriel Howard was one of the earlier signees when they signed her in December of 2020. The WWE’s official NIL program didn’t begin until 2021.

Howard made her television debut on NXT in September 2021. NXT is the WWE’s minor league show that is televised to a national audience. Think of it like the G-League in the NBA, the AHL for the NHL, or AA/AAA in baseball. In WWE, performers often have a stage name. Howard’s name on TV is Lash Legend. Her nickname in college was Lashes due to her extravagant eyelashes. She appeared in backstage segments, including hosting a fake talk show for her first few months with the company. She made her in-ring television debut on December 10th, 2021, where she defeated her opponent, Amari Miller.

Anriel had her ups and downs, winning and losing some matches. She participated in the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament in 2022, where she reached the semifinals before losing to the eventual champion, Roxanne Perez. She gained further momentum around the summer of 2023, when she teamed up with Jakara Jackson, Noam Dar, and Oro Mensah to create the wrestling stable, Meta-Four. They had one of the coolest entrances at the time.

The group lasted for roughly two years. During that time, Noam Dar was often the Heritage Cup Champion, and Legend and the other members of Meta-Four would cheat to help him retain it. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson would battle other tag teams for the tag team championships, but never won the titles as a team.

In October 2024, Lash Legend made her main roster debut on an episode of WWE SmackDown. Legend (Howard) would wrestle in both NXT and the main roster over the next few months. On February 1st, 2025, she had her debut in the WWE Royal Rumble, the company’s second-largest PPV event, only behind WrestleMania. Around the end of April, 2025, Meta-Four officially broke up as a group to go their separate ways. In November 2025, she was permanently called up to the main roster and teamed up with Nia Jax (pictured on the left of the first photo at the top). Their tag team became known as The Irresistible Forces, an homage to Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant’s infamous battle at WrestleMania 3. In February 2026, they defeated Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky to become the WWE Tag Team Champions.

On April 18th at WrestleMania 42, they defended the WWE tag titles in a Fatal Four-Way match against Charlotte Flair (Ric Flair’s daughter) and Alexa Bliss, versus Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, versus Brie Bella and the returning superstar, Paige. They dropped the tag titles to Paige and Bella in the match, but the fact that Anriel got to perform in front of 50,000+ people at the largest wrestling event of the year was an incredible honor for her. It’s really neat to think back to when I interviewed her as a Seattle Storm rookie, and now she’s found major success in something completely different. Not a lot of people would get cut from the WNBA and go on to have the experience and career that she is having. I wanted to find time to tell her story, and I thought Storm fans might enjoy learning about it.

With Seattle Storm training camp taking place and WrestleMania 42 happening around the same time, I thought it would be a fun opportunity to talk with some of the current Storm players about Anriel Howard’s journey, and then ask them some questions about the WWE and professional wrestling. The other day, I got to speak with Jade Melbourne, Jordan Horston, Flau’jae Johnson, and Mackenzie Holmes about this. I wanted to bring some light-hearted fun to their training camp experience this year, so I asked them what it would be like if they were wrestling in the WWE.

Below is my Q&A with the Storm players. You can listen to the audio here or read their answers below.

Storm WWE Interviews

Jade Melbourne

Q: If you were in WWE, what type of persona or character would you be?
A: I don’t know anything about the WWE… um, the person that wins..?

Q: In pro wrestling, there are the baby faces (good guys) and the heels (the bad guys), which one would you be?
A: I mean, I get referred to as a baby face a lot, so I’d probably go the baby face and be the good guy.

Q: Sometimes they have these tough matches called TLC matches. Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. Which would be your weapon of choice?
A: Um, a table… a ladder? Let’s go with a ladder. I would just take the A-frame ladder and use it as a weapon.

Q: Anriel was going for the tag team championships at WrestleMania. If you were going for the tag team championships, who are you picking from training camp to be your tag team partner?
A: Oh, Dom, because she’s got long arms and she’s athletic and she can tag anyone. No one gets away from Dom.

Jordan Horston

Q: If you were in WWE, what type of persona or character would you be?
A: I don’t know, probably like a Catwoman or something. Is that like rare? Like Catwoman, Halle Berry.

Q: In pro wrestling, there are the baby faces (good guys) and the heels (the bad guys), which one would you be?
A: Who usually wins? Good guys never win, so... Let me be the bad guy. I’ll take the W.

Q: Sometimes they have these tough matches called TLC matches. Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. Which would be your weapon of choice?
A: Let me get a table. Smash them through a table. Yeah, smash them through a table. RKO (she knew Randy Orton’s finisher).

Q: Anriel was going for the tag team championships at WrestleMania. If you were going for the tag team championships, who are you picking from training camp to be your tag team partner?
A: I’d probably have to pick Flau’jae. I feel like she can match my energy.

Flau’jae Johnson

Q: If you were in WWE, what type of persona or character would you be?
A: I’m going to lose a lot of points for this, but I don’t know anything about wrestling but John Cena. For real, for real. Oh, and the Undertaker. I would probably want to be like the Undertaker.

Q: In pro wrestling, there are the baby faces (good guys) and the heels (the bad guys), which one would you be?
A: Whatever Undertaker is. (I tell her he’s been both). I go, good guy…(changes mind) No, the good guy gets beaten up. I’m going, bad guy.

Q: Sometimes they have these tough matches called TLC matches. Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. Which would be your weapon of choice?
A: Yeah, I'm trying to slam somebody into the table.

Q: Anriel was going for the tag team championships at WrestleMania. If you were going for the tag team championships, who are you picking from training camp to be your tag team partner?
A: Stef Dolson. Big Mama and Big Four.

Mackenzie Holmes

Q: If you were in WWE, what type of persona or character would you be?
A: Oh gosh, can you give me some examples? (I brought up her love for coffee). I love coffee, yeah, it could be something, oh maybe I’ll be like a barista. Yeah, some type of barista moment.
Me: Like hitting people with coffee cups?

Holmes: Yeah, like I just take an espresso machine and (imitates hitting someone with it)… I don’t know if that’s on brand for what this is or if that’s a little too much.

Q: In pro wrestling, there are the baby faces (good guys) and the heels (the bad guys), which one would you be?
A: Oh, I’m for sure a baby face. For sure, a baby face.

Q: Sometimes they have these tough matches called TLC matches. Tables, Ladders, and Chairs. Which would be your weapon of choice?
A: A chair! I can smack people. I can step on it. I can (Mack imitates an elbow drop)

Q: Anriel was going for the tag team championships at WrestleMania. If you were going for the tag team championships, who are you picking from training camp to be your tag team partner?
A: (Before I even finished the question) DOM! Dom. And my name would be Mack Attack.

I had a ton of fun doing these interviews. I’ve now updated the article with the audio interviews. All the Storm players were good sports, and I hope they had fun too.

Notes:
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Photography Credits: WWE

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