On January 20th, a tweet was sent out from the NXT Twitter page, announcing three new signings for the brand: Lacey Ryan, Priscilla Kelly, and Elayna Black. Each of them has received new names going forward and each of them will also be competing in the first-ever NXT Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Kelly and Elayna will team up together, whereas Lacey has been paired up with Marina Shafir. This piece will be an introduction of each signee.
Lacey Ryan (who will now be known as Zoey Stark)
Lacey is already quite the veteran, as she debuted back in June of 2013. Lacey made her name in her home state of Salt Lake City, Utah, competing for the UCW-Zero promotion, winning their Ultra-X Title. She’s a well-travelled veteran as, in the past, she has even competed for Impact Wrestling, facing the likes of Taya Valkyrie, Jordynne Grace and Keira Hogan.
When she begins her time on NXT, Lacey Ryan will be wrestling under the new moniker of Zoey Stark and she has already been paired up with Marina Shafir in the first Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, with them set to face off against the team of Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart in the coming weeks on NXT. With years of experience under her belt, only time will tell how well Lacey does during her time on NXT but entering the first-ever Women’s Dusty Cup can only mean big things for her future.
If you’ve not seen Lacey Ryan in action, I suggest checking out her taped fist match on episode 489 of Championship Wrestling from Hollywood with Heather Monroe. The YouTube link is below.
Elayna Black (who will now be known as Cora Jade)
Another new signee is Elayna Black, who has only had two years of experience before getting signed. Elayna has made her name on the American independent scene, with multiple appearances in GCW, AAW, Warrior Wrestling, and Black Label Pro, among others. She has also recently made a few appearances in AEW, where she wrestled on their YouTube show, AEW Dark, against the likes of Red Velvet and Brandi Rhodes.
Going forward, Elayna will be known as Cora Jade on NXT and to me, that name just rolls off the tongue. I definitely see her having a bright future on Wednesday nights. Elayna is only twenty years of age so she has her entire career in front of her. With the incredible matches she’s already had in the two years she has spent as a wrestler, Elayna can really prove just why she’s been signed to the NXT brand. I cannot wait to see how she does.
If you’ve not seen Elayna Black in action, I suggest checking out her match with Kylie Rae from Brew City Wrestling in January 2019. The YouTube link is below.
Priscilla Kelly (who will now be known as Gigi Dolin)
The final name on the signee list is Priscilla Kelly who is no stranger to WWE. She competed in the second Mae Young Classic back in 2018, losing out to Deonna Purrazzo in the first round. WWE signing Priscilla just proves that they’ve known just how talented she is since that first appearance in the tournament. Kelly has been a mainstay on the US independent wrestling scene since her debut back in 2015, regularly competing for Bar Wrestling, MLW, SHIMMER, BEYOND, RISE and even making it to the UK, competing for Pro Wrestling: EVE and British Empire Wrestling.
Priscilla will be known as Gigi Dolin going forward on NXT and, with her set to debut in the first-ever Women’s Dusty Classic, there must be pretty big plans set in place for her, especially as she’ll be teaming with fellow signee Cora Jade to face off against The Way’s Indi Hartwell and NXT mainstay Candice LeRae in the tournament. Kelly will look to impress in her debut match, which will also be part of history as their match will be the first women’s match to ever take place on 205 Live. I definitely see Priscilla being a big part of NXT for years to come.
If you have yet to see Priscilla Kelly in action, I suggest checking out her match with fellow NXT star Jake Atlas from the RISE Regional Rising Stars Tournament back in September of 2019. The YouTube link is below.
All three signees will look to impress during their debut matches in the Women’s Dusty Cup and I cannot wait to see how far they go.
After the Dusty Cup is said and done, I strongly believe that we will be hearing the names Zoey Stark, Gigi Dolin, and Cora Jade a lot more on Wednesday nights. They are rising stars who only need the opportunity to shine and prove exactly why they are NXT.