WVU Soccer Alum Jade Gentile Details Journey to WWE, Decision to Leave Company

Pat McAfee is not the only former WVU athlete to eventually become a WWE star. Jade Gentitle went from scoring goals on the pitch for the Mountaineers to embarking on a career in professional wrestling/sports entertainment.

Recently, Gentitle, who went by Jazmyn Nyx during her run with WWE NXT, sat down with mixed martial arts and wrestling journalist Ariel Helwani for an interview on his YouTube channel.

During their chat, Gentile, a Baldwinsville, N.Y. native, revealed that she ended up at West Virginia instead of Syracuse because she wanted to leave home. Gentitle said she didn’t even try to draw interest from Syracuse and then picked WVU due it being her best offer to move away from upstate New York.

After wrapping her career at WVU, Gentile played two seasons for a women’s profession soccer club in Iceland. However, Gentitle would eventually receive a random direct message on social media that would change the trajectory of her life.

Gentile told Helwani that a WWE scout reached out after finding her on Instagram. She was offered a chance to compete for a spot as part of the WWE Performance Center’s rookie class for the fall of 2022. That led to her rise up the ranks until she decided to walk away earlier this year.

So why did Gentile decide to turn down a new contract and leave WWE?

“So I truthfully can I was not expecting to leave. I wholeheartedly felt like this was going to be my life,” said Gentile when asked why she is no longer with WWE.

“I was ready to put in the work and see where my journey took me, but it came down to making a living. And everyone needs to make a living and some people’s living looks different than others. And for me, after my three years there and being on TV for two years, I expected there to be some sort of compensation,” Gentile then added to insinuate her departure was due to financial reasons.

Gentile was earning $75,000 per year with WWE, but she said that did not cover her cost of living and expenses, most notably what was needed to keep up with her gimmick and persona as a wrestler.

“Cost of living goes up every year you have to make a living. If you don’t get a raise, you’re losing money, you know what I mean. That’s kind of how I looked at it, and I just felt like at that time I had to make the decision for myself. It felt like I was losing money. I was not gaining, in terms of yeah. I was already paying for my own rent, like I’m an independent woman, you know what I mean.”

She said she tried to negotiate for a raise, but was unable to convince them to adjust the future in any way.

“It was honestly kind of a long process for me, because it was like a back-and-forth situation. They reach out, they say, ‘Here’s what we are offering you for the next three years,’ and you either accept right then and there, or you try to negotiate. And I tried to negotiate, and the offer stood as it was. Went back a couple times, like, ‘Oh, what about this?’ No offer stands. I just wanted any compensation…I felt like there definitely could have been a meet in the middle,” she explained.

Courtesy of WVU Athletics

While a big time WWE star can make a significant wealth, Gentlile was far from that level and still trying to make a name for herself. She also made it clear she harbors no bad blood towards WWE and would consider going back if a future opportunity made sense.

As far as what’s next, Gentile said she’s willing to pursue a more independent career as a wrestle, but she will make money as a social media influencer and making appearances on reality television.

Gentile played for the WVU women’s soccer program as a forward from 2016-2019. She was a freshman when West Virginia reached the National Championship Game in 2016.

For a related story, Gentile showed off her soccer skills she perfected at WVU in her work as a WWE wrestler.