2-time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion Killer Kelly is not yet ‘finished up’ with the promotion.
Last week, reports suggested that Killer Kelly was done and would be parting ways with TNA Wrestling. She teamed up with Masha Slamovich and dropped the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championships to Spitfire (Dani Luna and Jody Threat) at the Sacrifice pay-per-view on March 8.
Kelly’s absence from TNA’s television tapings in Philadelphia, which took place on March 22 and 23 led to speculation that she might be leaving. Further reports floated stating that, as Kelly would be leaving TNA, plans were in the pipeline to have a potential new tag team partner for Slamovich.
Killer Kelly’s contract with TNA runs through 2025, according to Fightful, and was at this past weekend’s tapings last weekend. She could be taking some time off, but she has not officially departed the company as is this writing.
Killer Kelly’s recent TNA run
In the summer of 2022, Killer Kelly made her return when she assaulted a couple of local wrestlers. She eventually went to form a team with Slamovich which is known as MK Ultra. They soon tasted success when they captured TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions twice.
We will now have to wait and see what Killer Kelly’s future holds.
One of the big names on TNA’s Knockouts roster finished her time with the promotion very recently, it has been reported.
Killer Kelly finished up her run at the recent TNA Sacrifice pay-per-view, PW Insider reports, though news of her exit is only now getting out. At the event, MK Ultra (Kelly and Masha Slamovich) lost the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championships to Spitfire (Dani Luna and Jody Threat.)
Killer Kelly in TNA Wrestling
Kelly made her TNA debut in November 2020, back when the promotion was still IMPACT Wrestling. She would team with Renee Michelle in an tournament to crown the new Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions. The duo were defeated by Jazz and Jordynne Grace in the first round.
In 2022, she returned to the promotion and would compete at that year’s Bound for Glory. At Slammiversary, she and Slamovich won the Knockouts World Tag Team Titles. They’d lose the titles at TNA Hard to Kill in January 2024 but won the gold back a month later.
TNA Exits
Killer Kelly may not be the only name to be leaving TNA Wrestling. It has been reported that Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, also known as the Motor City Machine Guns, could be leaving soon as their contracts are due to expire. The pair recently filed trademarks for the MCMG name, suggesting that they are ready to take the name outside of TNA.
Killer Kelly Outside of the Ring
It’s unclear what Kelly’s future holds in the ring, but the TNA alum will soon be flexing her acting muscles. She and Matt Rehwoldt are set to appear in the upcoming horror short film Arachnid. Kelly has a starring role in the film, while Rehwoldt plays a therapist in a supporting role. The film will also feature Lacey Creighton, who portrayed Tammy Sytch on an episode of Dark Side of the Ring.
Killer Kelly had every right to feel all sorts of emotions walking out the TNA Hard to Kill 2023 PPV event over the weekend. She and tag team partner, Masha Slamovich, lost the Knockout Tag Team Championships to Decay during the event, but the show itself was one of the most successful that TNA has put on in the last ten years. All things considered, Kelly said it all was “crazy.”
In an exclusive interview with SEScoops, Kelly spoke fondly about her company and the progress she’s seen it make the last few years. She also detailed how her chemistry with Masha Slamovich came to be, their Dog Collar Match, and what her top future goals are for herself.
Here’s our interview and highlights:
TNA backstage morale
“The first thing that comes to mind is ‘crazy,'” Kelly said of company morale after Hard to Kill. “Everyone is so happy backstage. Everyone is excited to be a part of TNA. People from the roster, people that aren’t on the roster. Will Ospreay. He was just a kid. Super happy to be a part of TNA. Everyone who arrived at the venue, who saw the tunnel, just freaked out. Like ‘oh my god this is so cool!’ Everyone wanted to show out. Everyone was like, we’re going to show what TNA is all about and everyone did.”
Killer Kelly and Masha Slamovich were a part of a heated rivalry over the summer — a rivalry that jumpstarted their work as a team and one that culminated in vicious Dog Collar Match. Kelly was insistent that working with Slamovich as a partner or opponent was easy due to just how good Slamovich is in the ring.
“We were very lucky that we’re very alike,” Kelly said of Slamovich. “It wasn’t hard at all to get on that level and have that chemistry. It just popped up. We didn’t have to force it. It was just natural to us. That Dog Collar Match was one of my favorite matches ever. We’ve created history together and that chemistry, you can’t make it up. It was there the moment we had our first lock up.”
Regarding the Dog Collar Match between Kelly and Masha Slamovich at Against All Odds 2023 in June, Kelly revealed it was quite easy putting the match together.
“We didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about that,” Kelly said of planning the match. “It was literally, we got in that day and we’re like ‘ok,’ let’s see how the chain and the dog collar feel because we hadn’t done anything like that before. It was on the day a few hours before the match and we were like ‘oh, this is quite heavy.’ But it was so easy and so quick to come up with ideas. Of course, we had Tommy Dreamer there helping us with the match and it was easy for us because we have the same mind. We’re twisted in our own way. The storytelling, everything. It was a beautiful ending to our little feud and a beautiful start to the relationship of Masha and Killer Kelly.
Jordynne Grace
With TNA momentum behind her, Killer Kelly says she wants to regain the Knockouts Tag Team Championships that she lost, but also would like to have a match with Jordynne Grace.
“I’ve never had a singles match with Jordynne Grace,” Kelly said. “That is one match I’d love to have. Just to push me to my limits. Because every single person you see wrestle her, they just go to another level when they step in the ring with her. She would beat my ass probably, but I would love it.”
Follow Killer Kelly on Twitter @Kelly_WP. She and TNA will be in Florida over the weekend for a set of shows. Visit TNAWrestling.com for ticket information.
TNA No Surrender returns to pay-per-view on February 23 in New Orleans.
Impact Wrestling star Killer Kelly had a short (and strange) experience working for WWE. She was offered a contract during her rookie year in the wrestling industry. She made her debut at the inaugural NXT UK event. Kelly also took part in the 2018 Mae Young Classic where she lost in the first round.
Unfortunately, WWE did not use her much beyond that. The young star was occasionally used to put some other talents over before being released from her contract in January 2020.
Killer Kelly spoke with SEScoops this past week to discuss her absence from Impact for the past 2 years, her new persona and more. She also opened up about her time in the Vince McMahon owned promotion.
Watch Killer Kelly’s interview with Steve Fall for SEScoops below, followed by highlights from the conversation.
Why Killer Kelly said yes to a WWE contract with very little experience:
“So I had a good and somewhat bad experience [in WWE]. As soon as I got offered that contract. I said ‘Yes, like 100% Yes, because WWE is the dream.’ It was what I grew up watching. I was like ‘Ok, this is the thing that I want to do.’ But at the same time, I was just coming up as a professional wrestler. Basically, within the year that I decided to take a chance on myself and move to Germany to train to become professional wrestler, do this professionally. I got offered the contract. It was like everything at the same time. I had no time to read, to think, to do anything. So I felt like that came too soon to me. Because WWE was the dream. I didn’t even think about anything. I just said yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I never stood up for myself. I was afraid to give ideas. I was afraid of doing basically anything. I was walking on eggshells all the time because I was afraid of messing that up.”
Her exhausting WWE experience due to mental health issues:
“The whole experience being like that, and now knowing of my mental issues that I have. Anxiety, depression, ADHD, all of that exhausted me mentally, to the point that I wasn’t enjoying my time in WWE. I didn’t enjoy it at all. Because I was so stressed. I was so anxious all the time. I had everything. I could have had a blast there. But I didn’t because of my brain. So that kind of sucks. It sucks that I wasn’t on medication early. It sucks that I didn’t know about that. So that whole experience was very exhausting for me. But other than that, I have nothing bad to say about WWE. It was just my brain. It was my brain. I didn’t have the spotlight on me but I enjoyed my position. They basically gave me matches to make the other people shine. So that means that they have the stress on me that I can help them shine, help them achieve whatever they need to. That was kind of an honor.”
If Killer Kelly had any problems with her WWE spot:
“I was happy with my place there. But then brain didn’t let me enjoy anything. I didn’t have the, I don’t want to say the guts, the mental capacity of saying what I wanted to do. [To share] any ideas. [To] actually have fun with it, which is what I’m currently doing with impact. My brain, it’s not 100% good, but it’s good. I am still anxious all the time. I’m still nervous, but that’s because I love wrestling. Now I feel like I could show my full potential and enjoy. Really, really enjoy what I’m doing and just be myself. I’m so excited about it.”
The wrestling career of Killer Kelly has been a roller coaster ride. She was offered a WWE contract not long after she decided to pursue a career in wrestling in her mid-20s. She competed in NXT UK. She also took part in the 2018 Mae Young Classic before getting released in 2020.
Kelly then made her debut for Impact Wrestling. It looked like she was finally ready to make her mark but she then disappeared from Impact for two years. The former wXw Women’s Championship recently spoke to SEScoops about her contractual status and more.
Watch Killer Kelly’s interview with Steve Fall for SEScoops:
Under Contract with Impact for Past 2 Years
Kelly revealed that she was offered an Impact contract on the day she made her debut on November 24, 2020. Furthermore, she revealed that she has been contracted for the past two years:
“Well, it was exactly on that day. On that same day that I wrestled, I got offered a deal. So I’ve been contracted for the past two years.”
When Fall inquired about the reason for her absence from Impact programming, Killer Kelly revealed that it was due to Visa issues. She had to go back to her home country of Portugal shortly after her Impact debut. Unfortunately for Kelly, this is when the Coronavirus struck and she got stuck there:
“Well, you have to ask the good ol’ United States of America (why she hasn’t been wrestling). Its legalities, legalities, legalities…It was a very tedious process, which impact dealt with wonderfully. They took care of everything, but it was a horrible process. They were wonderful about it. After they offered the contract, I had to go back to Portugal. Then I was stuck in Portugal.
They did everything in their power to get me out of Portugal. It was a visa process that started in Portugal, and then it didn’t pan out. Then I had to come to the United States and start all over again. It was a whole process. But finally, I can say that I’m part of Impact. I can finally work and I am excited.”
Being stuck at home and not being able to compete was a horrible experience for Killer Kelly. It was during this time she found out that she had ADHD, in addition to being diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression:
“It was terrible. It was horrible. Well, at least I sought some help. I finally found out that I had severe depression, severe anxiety. Most recently, I found out that I have ADHD. So that really helped me to finally seek out mental health help. But the whole waiting, the whole being locked. It was a very horrible experience.
It really put me down. I was in lower than rock bottom. It was just awful. Without my husband, without his help and without impact, I don’t know what I would do. Impact was beyond professional, beyond professional… They were amazing, dealing with everything.”
The good news is that Killer Kelly is now back in the United States and she is ready to compete in Impact again. The July 7 episode of the show featured a vignette teasing her return with a new persona.
Last night, many notable pieces of news emerged from the July 7 episode. We have collected some of the news and updates from last night’s episode.
Killer Kelly To Return
During the July 7 episode of IMPACT, a vignette aired that announced the return of Killer Kelly to IMPACT Wrestling.
In November 2020, Killer Kelly made her IMPACT debut. She competed in the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament where she teamed with Renee Michelle. Unfortunately, Michelle and Kelly lost to Jordynne Grace and Jazz in the first round of the tournament.
Mia Yim is the new number one contender for the Knockouts Championship.
Yim and Deonna Purrazzo battled in the main event of the July 7 episode of IMPACT Wrestling. Yim was able to defeat Deonna to become the next person to challenge the Knockouts Championship Jordynne Grace.
The former AEW wrestler Alan Angels made his IMPACT Wrestling debut on the July 7 episode of their TV.
The tapings for this episode of Impact Wrestling TV took place just days after Angels’ AEW contract expired. Alan’s full-time AEW deal expired recently, but he decided to turn down a part-time deal.
It is unclear whether or not Angels has signed a contract. As Alan is from Georgia, where the tapings took place, this could be a one-off appearance.
Alan answered “Speedball” Mike Bailey’s open challenge for the X-Division Championship. On the Against All Odds pay-per-view, Bailey issued the open challenge. On the next night at the tapings, Alan Angels showed up to answer his call.
KUSHIDA is set to make his debut at the IMPACT Derby City Rumble.
IMPACT Wrestling has recently announced that at their next TV tapings the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion and current NJPW star KUSHIDA will make his debut for the promotion. The TV tapings will take place in Kentucky on July 15 and 16.
The tapings will happen at Old Forester’s Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. Tickets for the event are currently on sale here.
