Beth Phoenix | |
---|---|
Born | Elizabeth Kociański[1] November 24, 1980[1] Elmira, New York, U.S.[1] |
Spouses | |
Children | 2 |
Ring name(s) | Beth Phoenix Fabulous Firebird[2] Firebird[1] Phoenix[2] |
Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm)[3][4][5] |
Billed weight | 150 lb (68 kg)[2] |
Billed from | Buffalo, New York[5][6] |
Trained by | Ron Hutchison[2] Joey Knight[1] Robin Knightwing[1] Ohio Valley Wrestling |
Debut | May 2001[2] |
Retired | October 2012 |
Elizabeth Copeland (née Kociański; born November 24, 1980), better known as Beth Phoenix, is an American professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she is a former WWE Divas Champion and a three-time WWE Women's Champion.
Kociański had a successful amateur wrestling career in high school, winning several tournaments before being trained for professional wrestling by the All-Knighters. After her debut in May 2001, she wrestled for numerous independent promotions. She also appeared at the inaugural Shimmer Women Athletes shows. In 2004, she began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and signed a developmental contract with WWE in October 2005. She debuted on WWE's Raw brand in May 2006 but suffered a legitimate broken jaw the following month. As a result, she had numerous surgeries and returned to OVW for further training. While there, she won the OVW Women's Championship twice, although her second reign is not officially recognized by OVW.
She returned to the Raw brand in July 2007, and was heavily pushed, dominating the other WWE Divas and gaining the nickname, "The Glamazon." She won her first WWE Women's Championship at the No Mercy pay-per-view in October and held it for six months. She then developed an on-screen relationship with Santino Marella, dubbed "Glamarella," and won the Women's Championship for a second time in August 2008, holding it until January 2009. In January 2010, at the Royal Rumble, she became the second woman in the history of the event to enter the men's Royal Rumble match, and went on to win the Women's Championship for the third time in April, holding it for a month. In October 2011, Phoenix won the WWE Divas Championship for the first time and lost it in April 2012. Phoenix retired and left WWE in October 2012 due to creative frustrations with the treatment of women in WWE, and to focus on her family life with boyfriend and later husband Adam Copeland, famous in WWE as Edge, with whom she subsequently had two daughters.[7]
In 2017, Phoenix returned to WWE upon being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2017 class, also becoming a part-time color commentator for the company; her induction made her the fastest woman to be inducted after her retirement and the youngest inductee in history at age 36.[8][9][10] In 2019, she also became the first woman to be inducted in the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, a hall of fame dedicated to professional wrestlers with an amateur background.[11] Phoenix has wrestled on a part-time basis since her return, notably at WrestleMania 35; she also took part in the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match in 2018, making her the first wrestler to have participated in both the men's and women's matches. From May 2019 to December 2021, she was a full-time commentator on NXT.
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