Latest news with #NationalWrestlingAlliance
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kenzie Paige Highlights Which Match Is A Perfect Representation Of Who She Is
One of the faces of the National Wrestling Alliance is current NWA Women's World Champion Kenzie Paige. She has been holding on to the world title for over 600 days. Recently, Kenzie Paige was interviewed by WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard. During the interview, Paige shared that her match for the NWA Women's World Championship against the former champion Kamille is the perfect representation of who she is in the ring. Advertisement 'Kenzie Paige versus Kamille for the NWA Women's World Championship. Still holds up. Still has a very emotional attachment to me, obviously. But I feel like that's the perfect representation of, I can hit hard, I can pull at your heart strings. And I can play dirty if I have to. I feel like that one's a perfect example of who Kenzie Paige is.' Kenzie Paige on her 625+ days as NWA Women's World Champion and potentially beating Kamille's record During the same interview, Paige shared her thoughts on her long title reign. 'I feel like I'm not really too focused on the days that I have the championship. I just want to make sure that the days I do have it, it matters. And whenever my time does come and I'm not the NWA Women's Champion anymore, I want people to remember, 'Kenzie Paige, she did something with it. She did something for the NWA. Her being the champion was good for her but it was good for the NWA.' That's the kind of thing I want to focus on there.' Advertisement 'But I also feel like, a lot of my run with the NWA has been history, right? The youngest NWA Women's Champion, first Triple Crown, first NWA Television Women's Champion. Just a lot of things. First woman to own a territory within the National Wrestling Alliance. And the youngest of course. But that is a lot of my reign and run at the National Wrestling Alliance is based on the fact that I've made history over, and over, and over, and over.' Paige noted how her match against Natalya would be historical too, and for different reasons. 'I've just been trying to build up not only my name but the NWA. I'm trying to give back some of that prestige feeling and just… It matters to me, and I want it to matter to everybody else. So, being a part of the history, being in those historical matches, it does mean a lot to me. And I just want to keep doing that and keep growing it to what I know it can be.' Watch our full interview with Kenzie Paige below: What are your thoughts on Kenzie Paige and her run as the NWA Women's World Champion? Read More: Kenzie Paige Doesn't Want Fans To Think She's 'Wasting Away' In NWA The post Kenzie Paige Highlights Which Match Is A Perfect Representation Of Who She Is appeared first on Wrestlezone.
Time of India
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Natalya stuns at NWA debut, sparks controversy with ringside altercation
Image via WWE Natalya, competing under her real name Nattie Neidhart, stepped into the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) ring for the first time on Saturday night to challenge Kenzie Paige for the NWA Women's Championship . While the result didn't go in her favor, the WWE veteran ensured her presence was felt long after the bell. Natalya made her entrance to Rage Against the Machine's iconic track 'Killing in the Name,' a theme she previously used during her appearance at Bloodsport. Despite a spirited performance, she was unable to dethrone reigning champion Kenzie Paige, who retained her title in what fans described as a hard-fought contest. Originally, former WWE and TNA star Gail Kim was scheduled to be the special guest referee for the bout. However, Kim was ruled out due to flu-like symptoms, forcing a last-minute change to the officiating duties. Viral moment steals spotlight The post-match drama eclipsed the in-ring action. Shortly after her loss, Natalya was seen confronting a heckler near the ringside area. Footage that surfaced online showed her slapping the fan and attempting to throw additional strikes before security intervened. While many speculate the altercation was part of a scripted angle, the intensity of the moment has sparked debate among fans and insiders alike. The incident quickly went viral on social media, with some applauding the emotional display and others questioning the blurred line between performance and reality. Natalya has remained tight-lipped about the incident so far, and there is no official word from WWE or NWA on whether any disciplinary action or storyline fallout will follow. Natalya's journey from WWE to NWA and beyond Natalya has kept busy outside WWE's main spotlight. After signing a new contract with WWE last year, she has made infrequent appearances on RAW throughout 2025. Earlier this year, she competed in the Women's Intercontinental Title tournament but failed to advance. In addition to her WWE commitments, Natalya has been exploring other wrestling promotions. Her recent appearances, including a notable victory over Miyu Yamashita at Bloodsport, show her eagerness to expand her in-ring profile. She has also been forming new alliances on WWE programming, notably with Maxxine Dupri, suggesting that she remains an integral part of WWE's evolving women's division storylines. As Natalya balances her WWE role with outside appearances and stirring moments like the Crockett Cup altercation, fans eagerly await the next chapter in her distinguished career - one that continues to blur the lines between reality and wrestling drama.
Express Tribune
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Glamour, controversy and revolutions
From a carnival attraction to a billion-dollar industry worldwide, professional wrestling has come a long way since the 19th century. Even the 16th American president Abraham Lincoln was once a wrestler who remained undefeated in 299 out of his 300 bouts. Women's wrestling, however, took many years to develop and flourish. The first known Women's Wrestling Champion is Cora Livingston, who started wrestling in 1906 and won the title in 1910. A lot of facts are lost to history but in a male-dominated industry, and especially considering the times, it's not surprising that it took until the early 20th century to see the first recognised women's championship in the west. Pro-wrestling was still a side attraction then, and hence women's wrestling the side attraction of a side attraction. But the likes of Livingston, May Nelson and more had started to pave the way for future stars and a division that would gain more respect than they did. Livingston eventually trained another big star in Mildred Burke. Early stars Managed by her second husband Billy Wolfe, Burke built up her reputation wrestling men at carnivals, eventually becoming National Wrestling Alliance's newly introduced NWA Women's World Championship. However, Burke's separation from Wolfe, courtesy of his infidelity, led to her being shunned from NWA circles and subsequently affected women's wrestling's standing overall. Burke would continue defending the title until vacating it in 1956. Her involvement in pro-wrestling didn't stop there though. She would continue to help train younger wrestlers, including the Fabulous Moolah and introduced the artform in several countries. On March 7, 2025, a film titled Queen of the Ring was released. Directed by Ash Avildsen and starring Emily Bett Rickards in the lead, it chronicles the journey of Burke, a single mother who became a wrestling star at a time when women's wrestling was banned in many places. Former NWA Women's Champion Kamille, current AEW Women's Champion Toni Storm and Trinity Fatu (aka Naomi in WWE) also feature in the film. Women's wrestling continued its tumultuous journey. Personal vendettas, relationships, falling outs, and interpersonal politics between wrestlers and management (especially Wolfe) caused multiple women to claim themselves as women's world champions. This was not new. In the territorial days, political rifts between wrestlers over who should be the face of the promotion, winning and losing and compensation issues, would lead individuals to break ties and start new alliances and promotions in different states. It's a brutal industry full of egos as big as the Mountain in Game of Thrones. Besides Burke, Mae Young must be mentioned as one of the pioneers of women's wrestling at the time. Starting her career around the beginning of World War II, she built her credibility alongside Burke and Moolah. Young once shared an anecdote about her meeting Moolah and wrestler and trainer Ed "Strangler" Lewis. Known for her skill in the ring, Young was already an emerging star. After watching her wrestle, Lewis told her, "I don't like girl wrestlers, women should be in the kitchen. But after seeing you, you belong in the ring." An absolute icon in the history of wrestling, Young truly loved the business and even wrestled and took bumps into her 80s – something she didn't need to do. Fans of the Ruthless Aggression era in the 2000s remember Moolah and especially Young for taking part in multiple comedic storylines and taking beatings by the likes of Dudley Boyz. Both were octogenarians by that time. It's interesting to note that women's wrestling also flourished because a lot of men were away fighting in World War II. It opened up spots in carnivals and emerging promotions and female wrestlers like Gladys Gillem, Ella Waldek, Penny Banner, Ida Mae Martinez, Young and many more made the most of it. The Moolah monopoly In the 1950s, The Fabulous Moolah took over the mantle and led into a different era in women's wrestling. This period of around 30 years is known for much progress in the business but it also has a dark side. Moolah pretty much hijacked the NWA Women's World Championship from 1956 till December 1983. Although NWA recognised her reign starting from 1964 after another June Byers retired, Moolah essentially ran rough-shot for 28 years. In the three decades of complete dominance in women's wrestling in America, she also helped train and hire new emerging women wrestlers. She was the first woman to be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995. However, soon after Moolah died in 2007, her legacy began to be tarnished. Many women that Moolah trained, including Wendi Richter and Mad Maxine, came forth and shared that Moolah didn't actually train them. She would let her top students train everyone and wouldn't show up. She took her training fee, cut the rent and travel fee and paid the women she booked pennies for years. Moolah was also accused of controlling their lives, using her power to engage in sexual relations with her employees and students, and even sexually assaulting them along with her husband Buddy Lee. The tragic case of Sweet Georgia Brown, a black woman wrestler from South Carolina, is well known in the industry. In a cutthroat industry, she is said to have continued the exploitative tactics she learned from her mentor Wolfe. She would send her women wrestlers to promoters across the territories. Such sexual favours and pimping out her students helped maintain her influence in the industry. If someone defied her, they lost out on booking opportunities, money and a career. Vice's Dark Side of the Ring documentary series also did an episode on Moolah and her controversial practices which kept her at the top for decades. Her story is interesting in a truly classic pro-wrestling way. For some, she's a face; for others, a heel in real life. While she did help pioneer women's wrestling from the 50s onwards, her off-screen exploitation of her peers and students, trafficking them to retain influence and having a chokehold on the industry cannot be forgotten, especially by those directly affected. You can swap the placement of phrases in the previous sentence, and it would still ring true. Moolah's iron throne began to melt with the arrival of a new dragon: Vincent Kennedy McMahon. But this wasn't the end of Moolah's career yet as we stepped into the Rock n' Wrestling Connection era in the 1980s. This is part one of the Women's Wrestling series.
Fox News
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Mickie James reveals the 'last thing' a pro wrestler should want to be as she gears up for 'WWE LFG'
Mickie James is a legend when it comes to women's professional wrestling. She performed in the National Wrestling Alliance, Ring of Honor, Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling before breaking out with WWE in 2005. James had a lasting and memorable career with WWE, with her first stint ending in 2010 and her second stint ending in 2021. She was a five-time WWE women's champion and one-time WWE Divas champion. She was in TNA, Global Force Wrestling and a few other indie promotions in between runs with WWE. James' vast experience in professional wrestling made her the perfect choice as a coach in the upcoming television show "WWE Legends and Future Greats," also known as "WWE LFG." The reality show, which premieres on Sunday, will see James, The Undertaker, Booker T and Bubba Ray Dudley mentor the next generation of wrestling superstars. Viewers will get an inside look at what it takes to make it in the business. James told Fox News Digital in a recent interview it was quite difficult to determine what type of characteristics she looked for in a pro wrestler given a competitor's background and experience. "Each person you have to coach so differently depending on where they are in their wrestling journey," she explained. "I always say that I think what makes a superstar is the ability to tap into the thing that makes you unique, that stands out from the crowd, whether it be physically or emotionally or whatever, and making that larger than life. "In my opinion, as a talent, a lot of the times those things that, just through culture and our desire to fit in and be like everyone else and normal – that's the last thing you want in wrestling is to be like everyone else and normal. You want to be larger than life. Those things that make us and set us apart and make us so different are the things that we've pushed down and tapped down and kind of hidden and are insecure about. "And, I could just be speaking for myself, but I often find those are the things that you want to make larger, even bigger and go bigger with because those are the things that are going to set you apart from everybody else. The last thing you want is to be like anyone else in the arena." James said she was excited to be a coach on the show and to pull the curtain back on some of the WWE greats she will be working with. She added that she believed she had a unique experience because of her career trajectory. "I do think I relate most to these 'Future Greats' because I did go through the developmental system and then came up to television," she told Fox News Digital. "I can understand. I can relate a little bit more with them of what it feels like to be in their shoes. "It's been a lot of run to do. I feel like I'm constantly learning even still and it's cool to get to know these talent on a different level, on a real personal level and have fallen in love with all of them. But also to get to know all of my fellow coaches on a different level and hopefully earn a newfound respect from all of them. They certainly, I feel like, are my brothers now and I adore each and every one of them. So, yeah, it's been a lot of fun." "WWE Legends and Future Greats" is on A&E at 8 p.m. ET. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
