Amari Miller says she has a good relationship with WWE and could potentially return to the company.
The 27-year-old announced last week that her WWE contract had expired and both sides had decided not to renew. She had been with the company since February 2021.
It was mostly just creative, they didn’t have anything for me creatively and my contract was ending anyway so I just felt like it was best for both worlds. It mostly came from their side but it was not like, ‘Oh please, I’m begging’ it was more of like ‘You know what, thank you for the opportunity, I really appreciate it.’ Because there’s nothing else I could have done. I worked my butt off, I was there every day, I was putting in stats and things like that and there’s no bad blood on either side.
Miller missed most of 2023 after suffering a torn ACL that February. Following her return, she only wrestled on live events and two episodes of Level Up. Before that, she frequently performed on 205 Live and NXT following the show’s re-brand to NXT 2.0 in September 2021.
Miller continued:
I did have injuries throughout my path in WWE so I can get why it’s like, ‘oh, you know, she might be a liability.’ But to end it all, there was just nothing creatively for me so it was just time for us to just go our separate ways. (It) doesn’t mean I’m not going to go back, the door is not shut. Coach was saying that he would always put his name behind me if needed so there’s a very good, tight relationship between me and WWE right now.
Before joining WWE, Miller wrestled on the independent scenes around Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. Her pro debut took place in 2017.
She announced the news via Instagram stories on Thursday morning. Miller says her contract was up, and neither side decided to renew.
Miller wrote:
Picking up my Crown and going into my next chapter. So today, WWE and I have parted ways, neither one of us decided to resign another contract so my 3 years are up. I am beyond grateful of what they have given me and taught me but my journey there has come to an end, when a door closes one door opens!
Will I keep wrestling, who knows, will I lace up my boots again in the future, possibly.
I got to experience a lifestyle that most ppl dream of and I will NEVER take it back!!
Thank you Coaches, WWE, and the fans who actually supported me and not the fans who were bullsh*tters wishing me bad during my career lol.
Miller signed with WWE and reported to the Performance Center in February 2021 after having performed on the independent scene since 2017. By June 2021, Miller was wrestling regularly on episodes of NXT and 205 Live. She then became a regular on Level Up beginning in the spring of 2022.
Miller missed most of 2023 after undergoing surgery for a torn ACL that February. She returned on the December 5, 2023, Level Up taping but only performed on two more shows after that.
NXT wrestler Amari Miller is facing an extended time away from the ring.
Miller announced on Friday that she’ll be undergoing surgery for a torn ACL next week. Miller called it a minor setback for a major comeback.
She wrote:
I have torn my ACL and getting surgery next week
Life happens in the CRAZIEST way. Everything happens for a reason and I totally think everything lately has been a blessing in disguise for a powerful future.
I will keep u all updated, minor setback for major COMEBACK
Love u
Miller’s most recent match was her appearance in a 20-woman battle royal at NXT New Year’s Evil last month. Prior to that, she teamed with Elektra Lopez to defeat Sol Ruca & Dani Palmer on the January 6 episode of NXT Level Up.
Miller (real name Camron Clay) signed with WWE in February 2021. She previously wrestled under the name Camron Branae on the indies. In WWE, she’s wrestled on NXT, NXT Level Up, and 205 Live.
The new issue of the Observer is up on the site with these stories:
The return of Vince McMahon, the sales talks, and the departure of Stephanie McMahon
Who is in charge of running the company right now
What Vince McMahon’s role is today
How Vince McMahon got back in power
A look at different entities who have expressed interest in WWE
Can Tony Khan get control of WWE
What kind of numbers are we talking about for the deal
What is the current market value of WWE
The Saudi Arabia rumors
How far did the rumors spread
What the experience of the UFC sale in 2016 tells you about what is said publicly
Notes from the meeting Stephanie McMahon, Frank Riddick and Nick Khan had with all the company employees
If something happens with Saudi Arabia, what would be the likely repercussions based on previous sports world examples
What companies did Nick Khan bring up to employees when talking the sale
Changes in WWE morale
2022 Business year in review for pro wrestling, MMA and boxing major events
Biggest crowds of the year
Main eventers on top for the most biggest crowds
PPV numbers for the year
Who drew the most 15,000+ crowds
UFC gate numbers
List of $2 million gates
Biggest pro wrestling drawing card each year since 1916
Biggest drawing cards in history
The changing of the media landscape and how this effects AEW and WWE
Analysis of the losses incurred by FOX on Smackdown by Morgan Stanley
The career of wrestler and promoter Johnny Powers, one of the biggest stars of the 60s and 70s
The attempt to promote nationally and what happened
How he got his first break with Bruno Sammartino
Multiple world title matches around the world
His runs with major promotions
Being the star of the NWF
How Powers figured into the early days of New Japan Pro Wrestling and his biggest matches there
How Powers was promoted in Japan
Powers and the Greatest 18 Club
Full coverage of PWG Battle of Los Angeles with thoughts on the shows, where PWG stands, background of the appearance of Chris Jericho, who you should keep your eyes on and match-by-match coverage
A look back at the career of Black Warrior
The most detailed look at the ratings from all the shows this past week as well as segment-by-segment
Mexican iconic character looking at retiring
Sting’s last match in Japan
Major change in New Japan’s U.S. approach
Update on Sasha Banks/Mercedes Mone in New Japan with more dates
How Mercedes moved tickets for her first match
A look at the major matches on the next new Japan tour
Superstar Billy Graham health update
TV announcer starts up promoting new group
The death of the real Bobby Heenan, and how the pro wrestling legend found out about his brother and his family
Adam Cole’s return
Kyle O’Reilly gives health update
Streaming numbers for AEW and WWE
International TV numbers
Attendance for upcoming shows
California legislators critical of Dana White
Dana White talks at press conference about his situation
Bellator signs perhaps its top fighter
Phil Baroni charged with homicide and facing a lifetime in jail
PFL announces new tournaments
WWE tries to get things removed from the discovery process in MLW lawsuit
How slow the courts can be on these situations
How much did Shane McMahon earn from WWE in 2022
Former New Japan wrestler quietly started in WWE camp this week
Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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Tuesday Update
WWE
In a now-deleted TikTok video, Amari Miller shared that she had attempted to take her life in the last week. “Everything isn’t what it seems, mental health is hard, we should all speak out even though I know it’s hard, you are loved, fight through with me plz!ā she wrote in the caption of the post.
Charlie Dempsey and Zoey Stark taped matches prior to Raw on Monday that will air this coming week on Main Event.
Sean Ross Sapp reported that indie content is being removed from Peacock and the WWE Network after people pointed out that ICW content would be removed from the network on January 19.
Tatanka wrote on Twitter that even though he was contacted to appear on Raw XXX next week, he will not be attending the show. āEven though @WWE contacted me 5 weeks ago, I will not be attending the 30th Anniversary Show…instead, as noted, my Son’s Wrestling Team won the Regional Championship & we’re heading out of town to the State Championship!,” he wrote. “No better place I would rather be! #Father #Son Support!ā
Nigerian outlet The Nation did a story on Apollo Crews, who recently went to the country to film a WWE reality project.
Bianca Belair, Montez Ford, and The Usos will star in C4 Energyās new campaign called āBe You. But Better.ā
PWInsider reports that Belair and Ford will also be on NBC Saturday afternoon, appearing at the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars playoff game.
AEW Road to Fresno, which focuses on Bryan Danielsonās chase towards the AEW World title, Ricky Starks vs. Jake Hager, and Adam Coleās return last week on Dynamite.
Frankie Kazrian spoke to PWInsider about leaving AEW and signing with Impact Wrestling. āAEW management had contacted me early December, which was only a few weeks after this match. So it’s just kind of a coincidence timing wise. But they contacted me 30 days out, which is what they’re supposed to do, and they had basically talked about rolling me over and said you wanted to get the process going on that, and I mean, I basically said simply kind of, you know, thanks, but no thanks,” he said. “I had kind of voiced, you know, concerns and frustrations and goals and aspirations, and had a really good talk with management AND kind of left it there for a while. I still was going to TVs and the last television I was at was in San Antonio, Texas. And I sat down with Megha who, if people don’t know, that’s the head legal in AEW, a very, very bright, brilliant woman, very nice, and had a long conversation in person and gave her the list of the reasons why I wanted to, you know, kind of move on bet on myself. That’s kind of the recurring theme here and that now was the time to do it. I wanted to do it so we could…I’ve always done business the right way. I wanted to be amicable about it. I wanted to get out before there was feelings of resistance or bitterness or any of that. So, that message was relayed and they wanted to do right by me, which I respect the hell out of and the deal was done. So, as of January 1st of this year, I was, quote unquote, [a] free agent.ā
Young Rock on Friday scored 1,481,000 viewers, up from last week’s 1,306,000.
The Toronto Sun has an article on Hulk Hogan, who has been seen with people associated with Scientology recently including Tom Cruise.
PWInsider reported that Alberto El Patron’s lawsuit against MMA promotion Combate Global has been dismissed.
Wrestlecon will have a pop-up convention during the Royal Rumble on Saturday, January 28. Admission will be free, with pricing for autographs and photos. Those slated to appear include Sting, Trish Stratus, Diamond Dallas Page, Lita, Sean Waltman, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Ron Simmons, Jerry Lawler, The Steiner Brothers, and Matt Hardy.
After receiving criticism from fans, NXT wrestler Amari Miller has apologized for tweets that she made about Sasha Banks.
Miller posted a tweet on Wednesday crediting Ember Moon with being the “first and only” African-American NXT Women’s Champion. Miller wrote that her goal in NXT is to become the second.
When it was pointed out that Banks was NXT Women’s Champion before Moon, Miller tweeted: “For everyone on Twitter Fully Black NXT champion(Ember Moon). Im aware what I posted. Sasha is great and legendary for sure let’s never forget!”
Miller also posted a reply to someone where she wrote that Banks is “German and black” but not African-American.
Miller temporarily deactivated her account after receiving backlash for the tweets. On Thursday, Miller returned to Twitter and issued an apology, writing that she “meant something super well and it came across horribly.”
I didnāt mean bad intentions with what I had said but I do want to apologize. I meant something super well and it came across horribly. I want to sincerely apologize to everyone.
I also have to understand that posting on a social media platform can sound one way to me, as Iām typing and can come across totally different but thatās lessons learned for sure. People make mistakes and people grow and that is exactly what this experience was for me.
I didnāt mean bad intentions with what I had said but I do want to apologize. I meant something super well and it came across horribly. I want to sincerely apologize to everyone. I also have to understand that posting on a social media platform can sound one way to me,
Miller (real name Camron Clay) signed with WWE as part of the group of recruits that reported to the Performance Center in February 2021. She’s made appearances on NXT and NXT Level Up.
Banks and her tag team partner Naomi have been gone from WWE programming since walking out of Raw this May, but it was reported earlier this month that they’ve reached a deal to return.
The daughter of Santino Marella will make her WWE in-ring debut on this week’s edition of NXT Level Up.
Arianna Grace (real name Bianca Carelli) will have her first match for WWE as she takes on Amari Miller on NXT Level Up this Friday night. Grace signed with WWE as part of the class of recruits that joined the WWE Performance Center last month.
Grace is set to take part in the inaugural NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament, which begins on the Tuesday, May 10 episode of NXT. A video spotlighting Grace aired on NXT this Tuesday night:
WWE wrote about Grace when she signed with the company:
Bianca Carelli, the daughter of WWE Superstar Santino Marella, comes to the Performance Center after earning her Bachelorās degree in biology from Western University. Carelli has extensive training in MMA fighting with a focus on Judo, Jiu Jitsu and Boxing.
Grace was involved with the NWA’s Empower pay-per-view last August, appearing as an entrant in the Women’s Invitational Cup gauntlet match.
NXT Level Up airs on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays. Here’s the lineup for this week’s show:
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including all the speculation on Tony Khan’s big announcement tonight and potential ramifications, Cain Velasquez shooting update, Amari Miller and the NXT 2.0 matches, RAW ratings and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Amari Miller was stretchered out during tonight’s NXT.
Following her loss to Lash Legend, footage on social media showed Miller was stretchered out backstage to the locker room during a commercial break. PWInsider reported that she is being checked out by WWE’s medical staff.
Legend and Miller competed in the Womenās Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament on last weekās show. However, they lost to the team of Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray, who advanced to the second round. A segment prior to their match tonight showed dissension between the two, with Legend blaming Miller for their loss. Legend then proceeded to defeat Miller with a modified firemanās carry slam.
Legendās first match on WWE television aired on the December 7 edition of 205 Live, where she defeated Miller. Prior to her match on NXT last week, she had mostly been wrestling on 205 Live, though she did host a segment on NXT called Lashing Out with Lash Legend. Miller has been wrestling on NXT television since June of last year.
Everything in this match, every solitary moment, was gauche. Lyons is painfully green, as is Miller, so I guess this should be expected somewhat. But, with that being said, there were some interesting moments in this match. For example, the ragdoll choke was compelling; it just was done poorly.
A pre-taped Lyons promo aired before her debut. Not much was said, just a general, āIām here, watch outā type of thing.
Lyons started the match with an awkward grappling exchange. After Miller slipped free, the pair squared up in an even more awkward striking segment. Lyons pulled Millerās feet, slamming Millerās head into the bottom rope before locking in a choke.
Miller dropped Lyons after escaping the choke by pulling on her shoulders. Miller took advantage, landing a suplex and a knee strike that ended the match.
Dante Chen defeated Draco Anthony
This was another totally inoffensive, inconsequential match that the world will forget if they remember it to begin with.
Before his match, a pre-taped Chen promo played. He mentioned he was the first Singaporean in the WWE.
The match opened with meaningless chain wrestling before a forearm from Anthony initiated an offensive sequence in his favour. During this segment, Chen resisted but couldnāt actualise any real shifts in control.
Finally, Chen started to pick things up after landing a lariat. A pump kick, a slap across the chest, and a sitout butterfly cradle drop all in quick succession allowed Chen to pin Anthony to close the match.
Final Thoughts:
With another year of 205 Live in the books, I thought Iād reflect on the show. If one word describes 205 Live in 2021, itās āforgettableā. Even after watching 50 episodes of the show this year, I can count on one hand the number of matches that left any kind of impression on me. In fact, 205 Liveās most notable moments were not during its airtime but after its roster was fired. Twice.
Iām honestly shocked that this show survived this year.
This week’s 205 Live will feature the debut of a recent Performance Center signee.
Nikkita Lyons (real name Faith Jefferies) will have her first match for WWE on 205 Live this Friday night, facing Amari Miller. Lyons signed with WWE after taking part in this August’s tryouts in Las Vegas. She’s a Las Vegas native and is 22 years old.
Lyons formerly wrestled for WOW (Women of Wrestling) using the name “Faith the Lioness.” WWE filed a trademark for her new in-ring name earlier this month.
“Eagerly participating in singles matches as well as the tag team ranks, Miller has experienced her ups and downs since joining the revamped 205 Live, and sheāll now seek a crucial win against Lyons,” WWE.com wrote. “Primed for her WWE debut, Lyons is undoubtedly hungry for an immediate statement win.”
205 Live airs on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays. Draco Anthony vs. Dante Chen and Edris Enofe vs. Guru Raaj will also air on this week’s episode.
This week’s edition of 205 Live will feature the in-ring debut of Lash Legend.
WWE has announced that Legend will have the first match of her career on 205 Live this Friday night. She’s facing Amari Miller on the show.
Legend (real name Anriel Howard) signed with WWE as part of the class of recruits that reported to the Performance Center in December 2020. An accomplished basketball player, she played for Mississippi State and Texas A&M in college and was drafted by the Seattle Storm in the second round of the 2019 WNBA Draft.
Legend debuted on NXT following September’s NXT 2.0 rebrand. She’s hosted her “Lashing Out with Lash Legend” talk show on NXT.
Miller defeated Erica Yan on 205 Live two weeks ago.
Solo Sikoa vs. Mailk Blade and Andre Chase vs. Guru Raaj are also set for this week’s 205 Live. The show airs on Peacock/WWE Network at 10 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays.
Before today, I donāt believe Iāve seen Miller or Jade wrestle. They had a fine enough match in typical 205 Live fashion. Will I remember it happening this time next week? Probably not.
The match opened with a back-and-forth exchange that lasted some time. As the match entered its midpoint, the trading continued with more impactful maneuvers. The match pacing changed as Miller connected with substantial offense for the first time. Jade escaped from the first actual stint of offense and began to rally.
The comeback lasted for a while, but came to an unexpected end after Miller freed herself from a firemanās carry and delivered a devastating knee strike. The knee proved to be enough to close the match.
Joe Gacy defeated Josh Briggs
The cruiserweight brandās heavyweight division carries on with a Briggs/Gacy rematch. As they did last time, both Biggs and Gacy let their size shine through. This match was very entertaining.
The match opened with Gacy forcing Briggs into the corner and unloading with heavy strikes. A forearm strike from Gacy seemingly left Briggs rocked, but Briggs responded with one of his own that left Gacy desperate. Now in control, Briggs landed big move after big move.
Briggs slowed the match by taking things to the mat with a chinlock. Gacy slowly fought to his feet, winning an old-school test of strength. Briggs stopped Gacy by flattening him with a shoulder tackle. After a whip into the ropes, Gacy hit a tackle of his own. Gacy connected with a belly-to-back suplex, followed by clubbing strikes against the ropes. A belly-to-belly from Gacy followed immediately by a crossface nearly left Gacy with victory.
Gacy grew frustrated after the crossface failed to win him the match. He stomped and clubbed at Briggs, only for Briggs to connect with a world-shaking boot after being gifted a second of space. Gacy kicked out.
Briggs sent Gacy back into the ropes; this time, Gacy came out with a ravishing handspring lariat. Gacy then pinned Briggs in full mount.
Xyon Quinn defeated Andre Chase
This match was all Quinn. He has an impressive look about him, no doubt. As for his future, only time will tell.
The match opened with a back and forth, but Quinnās power left him with early control. The former pro rugby player tossed Chase around as if it was nothing. With a premature end in sight, Chase saved himself by sidestepping a spear, sending Quinn into the turnbuckle post.
Chase connected with a lot of quick moves over an extended period. Quinnās power shined through once more as he won a strike exchange, closed with a Samoan drop.
Quinn hoisted Chase onto his shoulders and hit a neckbreaker to complete a quick match.
