After a failed gimmick change and a series of injuries, Emma is slowly but surely claiming her stake in the WWE women’s division.
Here are five fast facts you might not know about Emma.
5. She Began Training at Age 13
Believe it or not, by her mid-20’s Emma had already been wrestling half her life. This is because she began training at the young age of 13 – and she took her training seriously. By the time she was 18, Emma had literally moved across the world from her native Australia to Canada to train under Lance Storm at the Storm Wrestling Academy. And yes, that nearly unrecognizable young lady pictured above really is her!
4. She Appeared on Lance Storm’s “World Of Hurt” Reality Show
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uy70zIvHnw]
While undergoing a second round of training at the Storm Wrestling Academy in 2011, Emma – then known as Tenille Tayla – was featured on an episode of Lance Storm’s documentary series about the school, “World of Hurt.” Unfortunately, Emma injures her shoulder in the episode, which is an injury that has plagued her entire career.
3. She Loves Food
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQXKBu3q3rE]
Emma is in incredible shape, and that’s partly due to the fact that she loves food – but she’s smart about it. In a 2015 interview with Muscle & Fitness, she said that she was working her way through a course to become a nutritional therapist. She also has a YouTube channel dedicated to cooking called “Taste of Tenille,” but she hasn’t added any new videos in a while.
2. She Made Her Main Roster PPV Debut At WrestleMania XXX
https://dailymotion.com/video/x37ik0k
It’s basically every wrestler’s dream to have a match at WrestleMania, but Emma can actually say that she made her main roster pay-per-view debut on the grandest stage of them all. At WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans, Emma participated in a 14-woman invitational match for the Divas Championship. Yes, it was a typical Divas match – and the women had the unenviable task of following Brock Lesnar’s shocking defeat of The Undertaker – but it’s nevertheless a notable moment of Emma’s career.
1. She Won An NXT Match By Mistake
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6RHovH4eHs]
Speaking of notable matches, Emma actually won one by mistake. At the NXT TV tapings held prior to the 2015 NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event, Emma was mistakenly declared the winner of a Fatal 4-Way match also involving Becky Lynch, Charlotte, and Dana Brooke. Charlotte was supposed to win, but when Dana Brooke failed to interfere in time and Becky failed to kick out, referee Drake Wuertz had no choice but to give Emma the victory. It’s pretty clear in the video above that Emma and everyone else knew they’d screwed up.
Clearly, Emma has more to offer than WWE has given her the chance to show, but with so many talented women on the main roster it’s more difficult than ever to get a piece of the pie. Here’s hoping that WWE will utilize Emma to her full potential in the future; perhaps a move to SmackDown would help?
What do you think of Emma? Do you think she deserves more opportunity than she’s been given? Share your thoughts below!