Nikkita_Lyons

Nikkita Lyons

Nikkita Lyons

American professional wrestler

Faith Marie Jefferies (born August 5, 1999) is an American professional wrestler, taekwondo practitioner, and musician.[2] She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on its NXT brand under the ring name Nikkita Lyons. Jefferies has also wrestled for Women of Wrestling (WOW) as Faith the Lioness.[3]

Quick Facts Birth name, Born ...

Early life

Jefferies was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and raised in Hollywood, California. She began practicing Taekwondo at the age of four,[3] earning a black belt by the age of 8.[2] She graduated from high school in early 2017.[3]

Professional wrestling career

Women of Wrestling (2019–2021)

Shortly after graduating high school in 2017, Jefferies began professional wrestling training under Selina Majors. She debuted for Women of Wrestling under the ring name "Faith The Lioness".[2] In summer 2021, Jefferies attended WWE's tryouts in Las Vegas, where she was offered a developmental contract.[4]

WWE

NXT (2021–present)

After signing with WWE in late summer 2021, Jefferies' WWE debut was on the December 31, 2021 episode of 205 Live, under the ring name Nikkita Lyons, losing to Amari Miller.[5] She made her NXT debut on the February 22, 2022 episode, defeating Kayla Inlay (who goes by now Kiana James)[6] In April, Lyons entered into a feud with Lash Legend, beating her on the April 5 and 26 episodes of NXT respectively.[7][8] At Spring Breakin', she teamed with Cora Jade to defeat Legend and Natalya in a tag team match.[9] On the May 10 episode of NXT, Lyons participated in the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament, defeating Arianna Grace in the first round.[10] On May 24, it was announced that Lyons was removed from the tournament due to an injury, revealing on her Instagram account a day later that she suffered a partial MCL tear and an MCL sprain.[11][12] Lyons returned on the June 28 episode of NXT, defeating NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose by disqualification.[13]

On the July 19 episode of NXT, Lyons competed in a 20-woman battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, eliminating Kayden Carter and Kiana James, but was eliminated by Tiffany Stratton.[14] On the August 8 episode of Raw, it was announced that Lyons would be teaming with Zoey Stark in a tournament to fill the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship that had been vacant since May.[15] On the August 19 episode of SmackDown, Lyons and her tag partner were removed from the tournament. Stark reportedly sustained a concussion days earlier in an NXT Women's Championship match. It was soon also reported that WWE had pulled Jefferies from the tournament because Canada, where the first round matches would take place, didn't allow unvaccinated (COVID-19) foreigners into the country.[16] On September 13 at the NXT 2.0 One Year Anniversary Show, Lyons and Stark defeated James and Arianna Grace.[17] On the November 8 episode of NXT, Lyons and Stark failed to capture the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship from Carter and Katana Chance, and Lyons was taken out by Stark after the match.[18] Lyons lost to Stark on the December 20 episode of NXT and was injured by Blair Davenport on the January 24 episode of NXT. Lyons returned to NXT on its December 5 episode, attacking Davenport. On the December 12 episode, she made her return to the ring after a near year-long absence in a tag-team match with Lyra Valkyria, facing Blair Davenport & Cora Jade, where her and Valkyria failed to win. Lyons defeated Tatum Paxley in a quick bout on the December 19 episode of NXT.

Other media

Jefferies made her video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K23.[19]

She was also featured on the show One Mo’ Chance on the Zeus Network as “She-Raw.”[20]

References

  1. [1]
    World Wrestling Entertainment CageMatch
  2. [2]
    "'Quartship' Episode 6: Contestant With Perfect Score Gets Virtual Date With Crush Faith Jefferies". Maxim. September 21, 2020. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  3. [3]
    "Meet Faith Jefferies". VoyageLA. July 6, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  4. [4]
    Guzzo, Gisberto; Salcedo, Denise (August 19, 2021). "Faith Jefferies And Isaac Odugbesan Offered WWE Developmental Contract During Las Vegas Tryout". Fightful. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  5. [5]
    Chik, Jon (December 31, 2021). "WWE 205 Live results: Chen remains undefeated with hard-earned win over Anthony". WWE. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  6. [6]
    "WWE NXT results: Feb. 22, 2022". WWE. February 22, 2022. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  7. [7]
    Moore, John (April 5, 2022). "4/5 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of the Stand & Deliver fallout edition with Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs. Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, Nikkita Lyons vs. Lash Legend". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  8. [8]
    Moore, John (April 26, 2022). "4/26 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Tony D'Angelo vs. Von Wagner, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro, and Elektra Lopez vs. Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen, and Fallon Henley, Nikkita Lyons vs. Lash Legend, Solo Sikoa vs. Trick Williams, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter vs. Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon, Nathan Frazer debuts". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  9. [9]
    Moore, John (May 3, 2022). "5/3 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Spring Breakin' with Bron Breakker vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Title, Cameron Grimes vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Solo Sikoa for the NXT North American Title, The Viking Raiders vs. The Creeds, Cora Jade and Nikkita Lyons vs. Natalya and Lash Legend, Nathan Frazer vs. Grayson Waller, Tony D'Angelo and Santos Escobar meeting". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  10. [10]
    Moore, John (May 10, 2022). "5/10 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Cora Jade vs. Natalya, NXT Tag Team Champions Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne vs. Roxanne Perez and Wendy Choo, the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament begins". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  11. [11]
    Thomas, Jeremy (May 24, 2022). "Nikkita Lyons Removed From Women's NXT Breakout Tournament Due to Injury". 411Mania. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  12. [12]
    Thomas, Jeremy (May 25, 2022). "Nikkita Lyons Reveals Extent of Injury, Says She Has Partial MCL Tear & MCL Sprain". 411Mania. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  13. [13]
    Moore, John (June 28, 2022). "6/28 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of NXT Champion Bron Breakker and Cameron Grimes meet face to face, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade for a shot at the NXT Women's Tag Titles, Sanga vs. Xyon Quinn, Kiana James vs. Indi Hartwell, Giovanni Vinci vs. Ikemen Jiro". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  14. [14]
    Moore, John (July 19, 2022). "7/19 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of a 20-woman battle royal for a shot at the NXT Women's Title, JD McDonagh vs. Cameron Grimes, Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs vs. Pretty Deadly for the NXT UK Tag Titles, Roderick Strong vs. Damon Kemp, Axiom debuts, The Schism reveals their identities". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  15. [15]
    Rose, Bryan (August 8, 2022). "WWE reveals bracket for Women's Tag Team title tournament". F4WOnline.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  16. [16]
    Surrao, Lennard (August 20, 2022). "WWE pulls Nikkita Lyons from SmackDown for reportedly being unvaccinated". Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on August 24, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  17. [17]
    Moore, John (September 13, 2022). "9/13 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Pretty Deadly vs. The Creed Brothers in a cage match for the NXT Tag Titles, Carmelo Hayes defends the NXT North American Title against the winner of a fan poll, Axiom vs. Nathan Frazer in the second match of their best of three series, Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons vs. Kiana James and Arianna Grace". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  18. [18]
    Tessier, Colin (November 8, 2022). "Zoey Stark Turns On Nikkita Lyons On 11/8 WWE NXT". Fightful. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  19. [19]
    Wilson, Ben (February 20, 2023). "WWE 2K23 roster reveal with every confirmed wrestler". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  20. [20]
    "One Mo' Chance (TV Series 2020–2021) - Faith Jefferies as She-Ra - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
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