Anna Jenny Sjödin (born Anna Jenny Thunell; August 2, 1985) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

and

submission grappler Submission wrestling, also known as Submission grappling, Submission fighting a form of competition and a general term for martial arts and combat sports that focus on clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a submission through the ...

better known as Jenny Sjödin. She was trained in professional wrestling in several schools across

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and has spent most of her career working there for promotions such as Fightstar Sports Entertainment (FSE), Futureshock Wrestling (FSW) and Pro-Wrestling: EVE, where she is a former one-time Pro-Wrestling: EVE Champion. Sjödin is also an accomplished submission grappler, having won a gold medal in Ground Control's 2010 no-gi tournament and silver medals in

Grapplers Quest Grapplers Quest is an organization mainly concerned with the promotion of Grappling (submission wrestling) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. Founded in 1998 by Brian Cimins, Grapplers Quest hosts competitions of various division, age, and wei ...

's advanced division and

North American Grappling Association The North American Grappling Association (NAGA) is a grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) promotion started in 1995. NAGA Submission Grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments are held throughout North America and Europe. NAGA is the l ...

's (NAGA) European Championships that same year.

Professional wrestling career

Sjödin first became interested in

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

at the age of seventeen, after seeing the Gaea Girls documentary on Japanese ''

joshi puroresu is the predominant style of professional wrestling that has developed in Japan. The term comes from the Japanese pronunciation of , which is shortened to puroresu. The term became popular among English-speaking fans due to Hisaharu Tanabe's act ...

'', after which she began following the

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held th ...

(AJW) promotion. Having trained

amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

with Skönsbergs brottningsklubb, Sjödin moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in April 2007 to begin training professional wrestling under

Fergal Devitt Fergal or Feargal are Irish, male given names. They are anglicized forms of the name Fearghal.Mairéad Byrne, Irish Baby Names – 25 Apr 2005 The arts *Fergal Keane, OBE (born 1961), Irish writer and broadcaster *Feargal Sharkey (born 1958), for ...

, Paul Tracey, Phil Boyd and Peter Farrell with NWA Ireland. She made her debut on July 7, 2007, facing one of her trainers, Phil Boyd, at a Spanish Wrestling Association (SWA) event in

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. During the next years, Sjödin worked for several

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

promotions in countries such as

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Ireland,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and her native

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. In March 2008, Sjödin took part in the American Wrestling Rampage (AWR) promotion's tour of Ireland, along with several former

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

wrestlers. During the tour, Sjödin had a five match series with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

wrestler

Alpha Female Marie Kristin Gabert (June 4, 1982) is a German professional wrestler and former professional powerlifter, strongwoman, bodybuilder, and mixed martial artist under the names Alpha Female and Jazzy Gabert. She is best known on the independent scene ...

, which she won 3–2. In the beginning of 2009, she moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England to continue her training under the likes of Jon Ryan, Paul Tracey, Psycho Steve and

Zack Sabre Jr. Lucas Eatwell (born 24 July 1987), better known by his ring name Zack Sabre Jr. (Katakana: ザック・セイバーJr, ''Zakku Seibā Jr.''), is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Outsid ...

with NWA UK Hammerlock and The Wrestling Factory. While training in Manchester, Sjödin began incorporating more

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

and

grappling Grappling, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a position or causing injury. Grappling i ...

based offense into her in-ring style. On May 8, 2010, Sjödin took part in Pro-Wrestling: EVE's inaugural event in

Sudbury, Suffolk Sudbury (, ) is a market town in the south west of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour near the Essex border, north-east of London. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 13,063. It is the largest town in the Babergh local government ...

, England, losing to April Davids in the opening match. The match marked the launching of EVE's "Catch Division", where matches could only be won by submission or referee stoppage. Sjödin avenged her loss against Davids on October 16, 2010. Sjödin then formed the villainous European Empire

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

with Davids,

Nikki Storm Nicola Glencross (born 21 April 1989) is a Scottish professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Nikki Cross. She is a one-time WWE Raw Women's Champion, three-time WWE Women's Tag Te ...

and Shanna, under the leadership of Jetta, while also starting a storyline rivalry with

Britani Knight Saraya Jade Bevis (; born 17 August 1992) is an English professional wrestler. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she performs mononymously as Saraya. She is best known for her time with WWE under the ring name Paige. She wa ...

, which led to a trilogy of singles matches between the two. After both wrestlers had managed to win one of the matches, Sjödin defeated Knight in the third match on June 4, 2011, to become the second Pro-Wrestling: EVE Champion. After failing to become the inaugural Nordic Women's Champion, losing to

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

wrestler Aurora Flame, following outside interference from Miss Mina, Sjödin challenged Flame to a rematch, where she agreed to put her Pro-Wrestling: EVE Championship also on the line. On August 13, 2011, Sjödin defeated Flame to retain her title and win the Nordic Women's Championship. On October 8, Sjödin defeated April Davids in a rubber match to retain the Pro-Wrestling: EVE Championship. The following night, Sjödin successfully defended the title against one of her idols,

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

wrestler

Emi Sakura , better known by the ring name , is a Japanese people, Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler performing for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). After starting her career in International Wrestling Association of Japan in August 1995, Sa ...

, in a match that was broadcast on

Ice Ribbon is a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 2006 by Emi Sakura, after her split with Gatokunyan. History Ice Ribbon was founded by Emi Sakura, a professional wrestler wh ...

's 19 O'Clock Girls ProWrestling program on

Ustream IBM Watson Media (formerly Ustream and IBM Cloud Video) is an American virtual events platform company which is a division of IBM. Prior to IBM acquisition, it had more than 180 employees across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest offices. ...

. After a reign of 302 days and eight successful title defenses, Sjödin lost the Pro-Wrestling: EVE Championship to the Alpha Female on April 4, 2011. On August 25, 2012, Sjödin unsuccessfully challenged April Davids for Futureshock Wrestling's (FSW) Women's Championship.

Grappling career

After moving to Manchester in 2009, Sjödin also began training

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

submission grappling Submission wrestling, also known as Submission grappling, Submission fighting a form of competition and a general term for martial arts and combat sports that focus on Clinch fighting, clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a Submis ...

and mixed martial arts under

Rosi Sexton Rosemary Ann Sexton (born 16 July 1977) is a British athlete, sports therapist, osteopath, and politician. She had a career in mixed martial arts (MMA), from which she retired in 2014. In 2020, Sexton ran in the Green Party leadership electi ...

at the Fighting Fit Martial Arts Centre. On May 23, 2010, she won the gold medal in the female division of Ground Control's no-gi grappling tournament. As a result of her win, Sjödin earned herself a trip to

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to take part in the

tournament. After taking the silver medal in the – division, Sjödin finished off her 2010 with another silver medal at

's European Championships in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Personal life

Sjödin is a former member of the

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. History Th ...

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

as a representative of the Liberal People's Party. She has a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. In 2013, Sjödin began working as a columnist for the Body Confidential website. In a column on October 17, 2013, Sjödin revealed she was six months pregnant. On January 17, 2014, Sjödin announced she had given birth.

Championships and accomplishments

Professional wrestling

* Fight Club Finland ** Nordic Women's Championship (1 time) * Pro-Wrestling: EVE ** Pro-Wrestling: EVE Championship ( 1 time)

Submission grappling

** Women's Advanced No-Gi 120–139.9 lbs Division Silver Medal (2010) * Ground Control ** Female Division Gold Medal (2010) *

** European Championship Silver Medal (2010)

References

External links

*
Roasted Sweet Potatoes blogFight Club Finland profile

NWA UK Hammerlock profilePro-Wrestling: EVE profileSouthside Wrestling Entertainment profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sjodin, Jenny 1985 births 21st-century professional wrestlers Living people Liberals (Sweden) politicians People from Hudiksvall Municipality Swedish practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Swedish female professional wrestlers Swedish female sport wrestlers