Former WWE Women’s Wrestler Signs Deal With Impact Wrestling
After an extended leave of absence from the ring, Tenille Dashwood – best-known to WWE fans for her time in the company as Emma – has signed with Impact Wrestling.
The above news was first confirmed Monday night on the Impact Wrestling website, in a concise news release that described Dashwood as the newest member of the company’s all-female Knockouts division. Impact also noted that the 30-year-old former WWE superstar will be making her debut for the promotion in Mexico City, Mexico, in a pair of events scheduled for August 15 and August 16.
As noted by Sportskeeda, Dashwood made her WWE debut as a developmental wrestler in 2011, as part of the Florida Championship Wrestling roster. Using the ring name Emma, the Australian wrestler remained in developmental when FCW rebranded to NXT but fell just short of becoming the inaugural NXT Women’s Champion, having lost to Paige in the finals of an eight-woman title tournament.
In all, Tenille Dashwood spent three years on WWE’s main roster from 2014 to 2017, though it was a rocky run that, for one, saw her released and rehired within the same day over a shoplifting arrest in July 2014. She was later given the ill-fated Emmalina gimmick, which, according to Sportskeeda, ultimately “ended up going nowhere” as she immediately returned to her previous mean girl in-ring persona after WWE’s failed experiment to rebrand her as an old-school Diva-style character.
BREAKING!@TenilleDashwood signs with IMPACT Wrestling! pic.twitter.com/InzvhbHOIy
— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) July 30, 2019
After her release from WWE in 2017, Dashwood went back to using her real name in the independent circuit and notably spent some time in Ring of Honor. Her stint with the latter company, which started in February 2018, included a memorable segment where WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray put her through a table, as noted by WrestlingNews.co.
“Especially since the women’s revolution, I’m the first woman to [make an] exodus,” Dashwood told Sporting News in September 2018. “That’s really helped me and given me an advantage. … Luckily because of everything I’ve done and the timing of leaving WWE, women’s wrestling is extremely popular right now and the push it is getting, more options are being given.”
During that same interview, Dashwood also shared some fond memories of her time in WWE’s developmental system, telling Sporting News that she “absolutely loved” her storyline rivalry with Paige before both women were introduced to main roster audiences early in 2014.
Although Dashwood does stand out as one of the few prominent female wrestlers from WWE to make a big splash after leaving the company, WrestlingNews.co pointed out that her Impact Wrestling debut will come 10 months after she went on hiatus from in-ring action due to a battle with psoriasis.
