With each show they put on, All Elite Wrestling continues to gain momentum and exceed expectations of many in the wrestling industry.
One factor that has contributed to the early success of the promotion is the high-quality talent it has on its roster. Today, I want to shift focus to one of the newest members of its women’s division, Bea Priestley.
Originally born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, Priestley moved to New Zealand when she was 10 years old. Four years later, she began training with Travis Banks at the New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling facility and made her wrestling debut in December 2012.
But just as she was getting started, Priestley was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor at the age of 14. She had surgery to remove it four years later, which forced her to put her wrestling career on hold.
In May 2015, Priestley was cleared to return to the ring and moved back to London, England to train at Progress Wrestling’s ‘The Projo’. She made her debut with the promotion on March 13, 2016, losing to Elizabeth. During her time in Progress, she participated in a tournament to crown the first Progress Women’s Champion and faced the likes of Toni Storm and Millie McKenzie.
She also performed for What Culture/Defiant Pro Wrestling, debuting at Loaded #5 in July 2016 in a losing effort against Nixon Newell. The two would continue to feud into early 2017, culminating in Priestley winning the WCPW Women’s Championship one day after WCPW True Destiny in February. She would then feud with Kay Lee Ray and Viper, losing the title to the former in June.
Priestley would once again capture the now-called Defiant Women’s Championship after defeating McKenzie on June 2018. She would hold the title until December, losing it to Kanji in a gauntlet match that also featured Ray, McKenzie, Lana Austin, and Little Miss Roxxy.
The next step in her career took her overseas, where she wrestled for the prestigious World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion in Japan. She made her debut in October 2017, entering the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League Tournament with Kelly Klein. The two would end up winning the tournament but would come up short in challenging Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kagetsu) for the Goddess of Stardom Championship.
She would go on to challenge Toni Storm for the SWA World and World of Stardom Championships but failed to capture either title. She also entered the 2018 Cinderella Tournament and made it to the finals, only to lose to Momo Watanabe. In May of this year, she was able to finally capture the World of Stardom Championship by defeating Kagetsu at Golden Week Stars 2019 Queen’s Quest Produce. She is still the reigning champion as of this writing.
Priestley then performed for World of Sport Wrestling. In May 2018 she competed in a triple threat against Kay Lee Ray and Viper for the vacant WOS Women’s Championship, which was won by Ray. She would continue to feud with both women, winning the title from Viper in January 2019. Viper won the title back a month later and Priestley left the promotion.
Among her numerous accolades, she is also the reigning Fight Forever Women’s World Champion and was ranked #80 in PWI’s top 100 female wrestlers of 2018.
But perhaps her biggest career moment came in January 2019, where it was rumoured that she would be signing with All Elite Wrestling after turning down a contract offer by WWE. Her signing was made official in February on “Road to Double or Nothing”. She made her AEW debut at Fight for the Fallen in July, teaming with Shoko Nakajima and defeating Britt Baker and Riho.
With her hard-hitting and ruthless style of wrestling, Priestley is not someone you should take lightly. After overcoming a pretty serious setback early on in her career, she has worked relentlessly for the past several years and travelled all over the world to prove why she’s a force to be reckoned with in women’s wrestling.
The women of All Elite Wrestling better watch their backs, because there is a monster that is ready to be unleashed on the division; a monster that has no remorse for her opponents and will do whatever it takes to win. That monster’s name is Bea Priestley.
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You can find the author of this article on Twitter @Shalenehixon21. Thanks for reading!