Former WWE Superstar Aliyah (Nhooph Al-Areebi) has won her first championship since leaving the promotion in September 2023.
The former WWE Women’s tag team champion (with partner Raquel Rodriguez) picked up singles gold in Canada’s Destiny World Wrestling promotion.
On Sunday, Al-Areebi defeated NWA star Tiffany Nieves to capture Destiny Women’s Championship. Nieves had been champion since August 17, when she defeated Zoey Skye in the finals of a tournament for the vacant title.
Here’s footage of the closing moments of the match:
In September 2023, Aliyah was released from WWE, ending a lengthy tenure with the promotion that had begun back in 2015. Now working under her real name of Nhooph Al-Areebi, she has made her in-ring comeback at a Destiny Wrestling event in Canada, marking her first match since September 2022.
Al-Areebi’s return to the ring didn’t just see her in action, but she also emerged victorious in an over-the-top-rope battle royal. On Instagram, Aliyah shared some footage from her first match back, writing “What a time to be alive ?.”
Al-Areebi’s preceding match came a year before she was released by WWE during the September 12, 2022, edition of WWE Monday Night Raw. That match saw Aliyah and Raquel Rodriguez lose the Women’s Tag Team Championships to Damage CTRL (IYO SKY and Dakota Kai) ending Aliyah’s first and only title reign in WWE at 13 days. Aliyah was dealing with injuries during her reign and she’d never return to TV after the title loss.
As Aliyah, Al-Areebi worked against some of WWE’s top names, and holds the record for WWE’s shortest match when she beat Natalya in 3.17 seconds. Stay tuned to SEScoops for all the latest on Al-Areebi now that she’s made her return to the squared circle.
Although some talent who were on WWE’s September releases have found a new home in pro wrestling, Aliyah hasn’t made that announcement yet. She is excited about an upcoming gig that she has at a pro wrestling nightclub.
Aliyah took to Instagram, and she shared an update on her life. In a video post, the former WWE Superstar, who is now going as Nhooph, informed her followers about an upcoming event at a ‘Wrestling Nightclub’ in Toronto scheduled for January 26th.
Have you been to a wrestling nightclub before? I’m Nhooph, formerly known as WWE star Aliyah and on January 26th in Toronto, I will be special guest DJing at the Wrestling Nightclub. They’re gonna be having special shots, like this Bloodline drink and we will be playing all of your favorite wrestling theme songs.
Aliyah dedicated over half a decade of effort in NXT to earn a spot on the WWE main roster. She was even a featured face on the OG WWE Network docuseries Breaking Ground, one that chronicled her start with the company.
She eventually got a main roster call-up, even secured a record-setting pinfall as a singles star. Things were looking up for her during a time, but the company never really got behind her with their booking.
The 29-year-old achieved recognition in the company by winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship alongside Raquel Rodriguez in August 2022. Sadly, Aliyah suffered an injury shortly after, resulting in an extended period of inactivity.
In September 2023, she was released from the company without making a single television appearance throughout the year.
Posted January 14th, 2024 in News, WWE. Tagged: Aliyah.
Aliyah has been off TV for months, and it looks like that will not be changing any time soon.
The SmackDown star went down with an elevated first rib and AC sprain in September. She was teaming with Raquel Rodriguez on the blue brand at the time of the injury, which kept her out of in-ring action for a few weeks. However, her absence from television isn’t due to injury any longer.
Aliyah Update
In a post on Twitter, the WWE star told a fan that she’d been cleared since October 27, 2022. A fan asked her where she has been as of late, and she responded with a Britney Spears meme with the caption, “Umm, i don’t know…”
In a response to a fan that suggested she film backstage content, she responded with, “If only I was backstage,” indicating she hasn’t been brought to events.
She also indicated that she would not be at the Elimination Chamber show in Montreal on February 18 when she wrote the following in response to a fan who hoped to see her there: “Sorry to let you down,”
She also tweeted, “Sorry to let you down” in response to a fan who hoped that she would be in the upcoming WWE 2K23 video game.
Posted February 2nd, 2023 in WWE, News. Tagged: Aliyah.
Aliyah has confirmed that she suffered rib and shoulder injuries last month.
The former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion posted an injury update on Tuesday via Instagram. She revealed she suffered rib and shoulder injuries last month. The injuries are an elevated first rib and AC sprain on the September 12 episode of Raw, where she and Raquel Rodriguez lost the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles to Damage CTRL’s Dakota Kai & IYO SKY.
Aliyah mentioned she doesn’t know when she will return to action, but she can’t wait to get back in the ring.
Aliyah’s Statement
“It’s been a month so here I go straight from the horses mouth: I have to say my last match was probably one of my most favorite. And I would like to thank my tag partner Raquel and Damage CTRL And everyone involved. Yes I got injured mid match, however I have this overwhelming gratitude towards the incident because I felt like it pulled out a version of me that I never even knew existed. ‘Keep going!’ I remember thinking. ‘I never get opportunities like this one’ another voice in my head screamed. So idc I’m going to keep going and keep showing out. The emotions and energy I was feeling in the moment truly lit me up inside and I felt INDESTRUCTIBLE in that moment (yes, with an elevated first rib and ac sprain and all.) I am very grateful to get to do what I do and I hope my passion and efforts transcended thru your television screen.
I don’t know what the future holds or when I’ll be back. But I just want to say thank you for everyone that has reached out. I really can’t wait to get back in the ring.”
Aliyah and Rodriguez became the Women’s Tag Team Champions when they won the tournament to crown new champs after Sasha Banks and Naomi were stripped of the titles when they walked out. Aliyah & Rodriguez held the titles for 14 days before losing them.
Posted October 11th, 2022 in WWE, News. Tagged: Aliyah.
Aliyah wants to clear the air regarding her noticeable absence from WWE programming.
The 27-year old star released a new post on her personal Instagram revealing that she suffered an injury during her tag team title matchup against Damage CTRL (Iyo Sky & Dakota Kai) from an episode of Raw last month, where her and her partner Raquel Rodriguez lost the titles after a short reign as champions.
When talking about the match Aliyah calls it one of her personal favorites because the injury she suffered caused her to push forward, adding that she unleashed a side of herself that she never knew existed.
“It’s been a month so here I go straight from the horses mouth. I have to say my last match was probably one of my most favorite. And I would like to thank my tag partner Raquel and Damage CTRL And everyone involved. Yes I got injured mid match, however I have this overwhelming gratitude towards the incident because I felt like it pulled out a version of me that I never even knew existed. “Keep going!” I remember thinking. “I never get opportunities like this one” another voice in my head screamed.
So idc I’m going to keep going and keep showing out. The emotions and energy I was feeling in the moment truly lit me up inside and I felt INDESTRUCTIBLE in that moment (yes, with an elevated first rib and ac sprain and all.)”
Aliyah ends her passage by saying she is very grateful to be a professional wrestler, and is looking forward to getting back into the ring.
“I am very grateful to get to do what I do and I hope my passion and efforts transcended thru your television screen. I don’t know what the future holds or when I’ll be back. But I just want to say thank you for everyone that has reached out. I really can’t wait to get back in the ring. “
Aliyah and Rodriguez were the first champions following the walkout of Sasha Banks and Naomi, where the duo won an eight team tournament to capture the belts. Neither WWE or Aliyah has confirmed how long she will be out of action.
Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah are the new WWE Women’s Tag Team champions, but there’s more to this story beneath the surface.
On Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, Rodriguez and Aliyah defeated Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai in the the finals to crown new Women’s Tag Team champions. Some fans were confused and disappointed by the finish and expected Sky and Kai to win the titles instead.
SEScoops had learned some interesting details regarding WWE’s decision to put the vacant Women’s Tag Team Championships on Rodriguez and Aliyah.
WWE High on Raquel Rodriguez
(via WWE)
WWE has big plans for Raquel Rodriguez and sees her as a breakout star. She’s one half of the new women’s tag team champions, but Rodriguez is already being groomed for bigger things down the road.
The 31-year-old former college basketball star is a former NXT Women’s Champion. This run with the tag titles will help her establish her presence on the main roster ahead of eventually going off on her own once again.
WWE has released a video of the new champions reacting to their win. Rodriguez & Aliyah attempt to describe how special it all is and how hard they have worked for so long through NXT, to the main event of Raw and eventually to the titles.
The new champs are “over the moon” excited about what lies ahead for them.
IYO SKY and Dakota Kai vs. Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah was booked in the finals of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals on Monday’s episode of Raw.
The match served as the main event of the show. The finish saw SKY hit a moonsault to Raquel for a near fall. Bayley argued with the referee until Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Bianca Belair ran her off. Aliyah rolled up Kai for the win.
In the first round, SKY and Kai beat Tamina and Dana Brooke to advance before beating Asuka and Alexa Bliss to make it to the finals. On the other side of the bracket, Rodriguez & Aliyah defeated Xia Li and Shotzi in the opening round then went over Natalya and Sonya Deville in the semi-finals.
Post-match, they celebrated with Bianca, Bliss, and Asuka in the ring. Fireworks were going off as the show went off the air.
Many fans expected to see the return of Sasha Banks and Naomi after this match after they reached an agreement to return to the company. Banks and Naomi walked out of a WWE Raw event in May due to creative differences as WWE wanted Naomi to win a six-pack challenge on the show. WWE suspended them and stripped them of the Women’s Tag Team Titles.
That didn’t happen, and fans will have to wait a little bit longer.
One rumor surrounding a WWE SmackDown superstar has been squashed.
The rumor mill spreads across many industries and the wrestling business is no exception. This has been heightened even further by social media.
Some have even gone as far as to blatantly lie about a credible source issuing a report.
Unfortunately, that seems to be the case here but rest assured it is bogus.
Aliyah Rumor Killer
(via WWE)
Aliyah was scheduled to compete in a Money in the Bank qualifying match on the June 24 episode of WWE SmackDown against Shotzi. She ended up being replaced by Tamina and on the WWE broadcast, it was revealed that Aliyah suffered an injury.
Rumors started spreading that a credible wrestling journalist reported that Aliyah was pulled from the match after being sent down to the WWE Performance Center due to a poor showing in a rehearsal for the match with Shotzi.
That rumor is simply not true as the journalist never reported it.
The real story is Aliyah is in fact dealing with an injury. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio confirmed that WWE’s reasoning for pulling her from the match isn’t a storyline.
Royal Rumble is not only the place for old veterans to have another moment but it also provides an opportunity for young prospects to make a name for themselves. One such star who will get an opportunity to showcase her talent at such a stage for the first time is WWE superstar Aliyah.
The former NXT star recently had an interview with The National News. Speaking of her upcoming Rumble appearance, she expressed her gratitude for the opportunity:
“I’m so excited, I was in NXT for like six years and every year I was in there I would think ‘Okay, maybe this is the year. Is [this] the year I’m going to be the Royal Rumble?’ I would pray and hope and it’s finally happening. I’m so happy and I’m so grateful.”
One of the most unexpected announcements for the upcoming show was the inclusion of Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James. Talking about James’ return to WWE, Aliyah said that she has always wanted to get in the ring with her:
“I’m so excited. I’ve always wanted to get into the ring with her and it’s finally happening, so it’s very cool to see. I grew up watching her and idolising her. I’m super looking forward to it,”
After almost 6 years in the developmental, Aliyah was called up to SmackDown during the 2021 draft. She recently made some headlines after scoring the fastest recorded win in WWE over Natalya.
Storm hasn’t been featured consistently in WWE since joining the main roster. Before joining the main roster, WWE promoted Storm as a newcomer to the Smackdown brand. She made her Smackdown debut on July 23rd when she defeated Zelina Vega. However, WWE didn’t feature Storm afterward except for occasional backstage segments.
She returned to competition in a loss to Vega in the first round of the Queen’s Crown Tournament on October 8th. WWE hasn’t used Storm on Smackdown since her loss to Vega. Despite winning her match on November 11th, Deville decided to take Aliyah off of Team Smackdown. It’s unclear if Deville or WWE will explain why Storm is replacing Aliyah on the team.
Survivor Series Updated Card
The WWE has confirmed six matches for Survivor Series. The main event of the Survivor Series seems to be WWE Champion Big E vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a non-title match. The WWE could also have Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Smackdown’s Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair as the main event. Both Lynch and Flair have generated attention towards their match due to their issues.
WWE hasn’t confirmed if they plan to add more matches. For Storm, Survivor Series will be an opportunity to show that WWE could utilize her more on the main roster.
Several NXT stars were reported to be backstage for this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw and at least four of them competed during the night, taping matches for the upcoming episode of Main Event.
The first match of the night saw Aliyah facing Dakota Kai in a one-on-one bout. Aliyah ended up picking the victory in this match against Kai.
The second bout which was taped for the show before Raw was between Odyssey Jones and Austin Theory. The heavyweight star managed to defeat Theory in this fight.
Odyssey Jones is competing in the ongoing Breakout Tournament on NXT. He is scheduled to face Trey Baxter in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Theory on the other hand walked out of The Way faction led by Johnny Gargano. The former Raw star has been on a hiatus from the black and yellow brand since then.
Dakota Kai is involved in the feud for the women’s championship in NXT currently. She is expected to challenge the current NXT women’s champion Raquel Gonzalez at NXT Takeover 36.
Aliyah was rumored to be sent to Raw after Mandy Rose was traded to NXT. Though there hasn’t been a solid update in that direction recently.
Aliyah was not pleased with Robert Stone following her team’s loss to Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter on NXT this week. She stormed off on her former team and appears to be gone from the Robert Stone Brand.
According to multiple reports, Aliyah is headed to the main roster. According to a report from Fightful, the 26-year-old from Toronto impressed the right people when they scouted her at the WWE Performance Center recently. Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard and John Laurinaitis were reported to have been scouting talent at the PC at the end of June.
Another report from the WrestleVotes Twitter account is stating that Aliyah is headed to the RAW brand. This may have been part of a straight-up trade involving Mandy Rose heading to NXT.
Aliyah started training with Squared Circle Training in Toronto. Her first trainer was Impact Wrestling’s Taylor Wilde. She would later train with Rob Fuego as well. She signed a developmental deal with WWE in 2015 and reported to the Performance Center.
In an interview with WWE.com in 2016, she spoke about being a huge wrestling fan growing up.
“Growing up, I would not miss Raw, SmackDown or a pay-per-view. Every time WWE would come to Toronto, I’d go to the events at the Air Canada Centre or Ricoh Coliseum. I was a huge fangirl.”
“My favorites are Edge, obviously, because he’s Canadian, and Jeff Hardy. For the Divas (it was still Divas then), Trish Stratus, Lita and Mickie James.”
– WWE.com noted that Charlotte Flair made history on Tuesday’s SmackDown Live in her match with Naomi. Charlotte is the first female Superstar in history to battle one-on-one in Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-view main events.
– The following video of Aliyah taking a ‘phantom’ bump at an NXT live event has been going around social media.
– Shinsuke Nakamura posted this photo on Instagram with the caption, “See you later buddy.” Yes, that’s AJ Styles in the background. Now that Nakamura is a member of the SmackDown roster, an eventual ‘dream match’ with the Phenomenal One is a very real possibility.
– Baron Corbin is the first SmackDown Superstar to be confirmed for the Royal Rumble match later this month in San Antonio. Other confirmed entrants are Chris Jericho, Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Braun Strowman, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg.
– NXT’s Aliyah made her main roster debut on last night’s SmackDown with a loss to Carmella, thanks to James Ellsworth. Below is video from that match:
– Last night’s SmackDown also saw Dolph Ziggler finally turn heel. After a loss to Baron Corbin, Ziggler superkicked Kalisto for saving him from a post-match Corbin attack, and later brawled with Apollo Crews backstage.
– Tonight’s NXT episode on the WWE Network will feature No Way Jose calling out Eric Young, Rich Swann vs. Kona Reeves, six-person action with Ember Moon, Liv Morgan & Aliyah vs. Peyton Royce, Billie Kay & Daria, plus highlights from TakeOver: Toronto.
In the video below, Kay and Royce recruit Daria for tonight’s match:
– Speaking of Aliyah, she’s celebrating her 22nd birthday today while former WCW and WWE star Juventud Guerrera turns 42.
– Former WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson just had to do the Mannequin Challenge, as seen int he video below. Rock recently participated in the viral social media challenge as a way to celebrate being named People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” for 2016.
Stephens left WWE last year after starting his career in the company in 2007. Since then, he has been working for Lucha Underground and various independent promotions under the name Big Ryck. He captured the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in 2010, and is recognized by WWE as the final holder of the title. He is also a one-time Intercontinental Champion.
– WWE.com issued this poll today asking fans who is the greatest Divas Champion of all-time. AJ Lee, who won the title on three occasions, currently has over 50% of the votes cast thus far.
– It was reported last week that Jasmin Areebi will be known as Aliyah in NXT. She confirmed the name change on Instagram as her account is now located at instagram.com/wwealiyah.
