Tag: the iinspiration

Jessica McKay/Billie Kay announces pregnancy

Posted on by Josh Nason

Former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion and Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion Jessica McKay announced Thursday that she and her partner are expecting their first child.

McKay, the former Billie Kay in WWE, revealed the news on Instagram that she is expecting in December.

McKay will join longtime tag team partner Cassie Lee (formerly Peyton Royce in WWE) in being a mom. Lee and husband Shawn Spears welcomed their first child this past January.

https://www.instagram.com/p/p:CtPsCjLPORv

The soon-to-be 34-year-old hasn’t wrestled since April 2022 when she and Lee were unsuccessful in defeating then-Knockouts Tag Team Champions Madison Rayne & Tenille Dashwood for the titles.

Last month, Lee announced her impending return to the ring for Australia’s World Series Wrestling as part of their October Full Throttle tour. She also has not wrestled since April 2022.

McKay is the latest notable pro wrestling name to announce their pregnancy recently as AEW’s Tay Melo & Sammy Guevara revealed last month they are expecting their first child in addition to WWE’s Alexa Bliss and singer/husband Ryan Cabrera.

The IInspiration indefinitely stepping away from in-ring action

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The IInspiration’s Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay are stepping away from the ring.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Lee and McKay announced that they are “indefinitely stepping away from in-ring action.” Lee and McKay had been part of the Impact Wrestling roster since signing with the promotion last October.

“We first want to thank Scott D’Amore and the entire IMPACT family,” Lee and McKay said. “We have had such an amazing experience, working with the incredible IMPACT staff and roster. We will cherish these IMPACT memories forever. We are excited to start a new chapter in our lives and explore other opportunities that may come our way.”

“The Inspiration have been a great part of IMPACT’s Knockouts roster and wonderful to work with,” Impact Wrestling executive vice president D’Amore said. “Cassie and Jessie are incredibly talented performers. Everyone at IMPACT wishes them every success in the future.”

The IInspiration were formerly known as The IIconics in WWE, using the names Peyton Royce and Billie Kay respectively. They were released by WWE during the company’s April 2021 roster cuts.

The IInspiration made their Impact Wrestling debut at Bound for Glory last October. In their debut match, Lee & McKay won the Knockouts Tag Team titles. They dropped the titles to The Influence (Tenille Dashwood & Madison Rayne) at Sacrifice this March.

The Influence retained their titles against The IInspiration on the pre-show for Impact Wrestling’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view last Saturday.

Knockouts Tag Team title match set for Impact Rebellion pre-show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Knockouts Tag Team titles will be up for grabs on the pre-show for Impact Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view.

Impact Wrestling has announced that The Influence (Tenille Dashwood & Madison Rayne) will defend their Knockouts Tag Team titles against The IInspiration (Cassie Lee & Jessica McKay) on Countdown to Rebellion this Saturday. Countdown to Rebellion will air for free on YouTube starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. The PPV main card begins at 8 p.m. Eastern.

The Influence became Knockouts Tag Team Champions by winning the titles from The IInspiration at Sacrifice last month.

“The next chapter in the longstanding rivalry between Knockouts World Tag Team Champions The Influence and former champions The IInspiration will be written this Saturday on Countdown to Rebellion,” Impact Wrestling wrote. “After The Influence dethroned The IInspiration to become the new champions at Sacrifice, Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay attempted to turn the tide by poaching Kaleb With a K away from Tenille Dashwood and Madison Rayne. But when Kaleb failed to pick a side, he was left out to dry by both teams. With the playing field now even, The IInspiration look to reclaim their titles in a heated rematch with The Influence!”

Rebellion is being held at the MJN Convention Center in Poughkeepsie, New York. Here’s the updated card for the event:

  • Impact World Champion Moose defends against Josh Alexander
  • AAA Reina de Reinas Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Taya Valkyrie
  • Jay White vs. Steve Maclin vs. Chris Sabin
  • Jonathan Gresham vs. Eddie Edwards
  • Knockouts Champion Tasha Steelz defends against Rosemary
  • JONAH vs. Tomohiro Ishii
  • Violent By Design will defend their Impact Tag Team titles in an eight-team elimination challenge
  • X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Ace Austin and “Speedball” Mike Bailey in a triple threat match
  • Knockouts Tag Team Champions The Influence defend against The IInspiration 

The IInspiration vs. The Influence Knockouts tag title match set for Impact Sacrifice

Posted on by Josh Nason

Nearly two months after it was originally supposed to happen, Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration will defend their titles against The Influence at March 5th’s Sacrifice.

The title match was originally slated for January’s Hard to Kill, but due to one of the champions coming in close contact with someone COVID-19 positive, the match was pulled.

Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay and The Influence were set to battle in late-January with the titles on the line on an episode of Impact tv, but it turned out to be Madison Rayne and Kaleb with a K instead as Tenille Dashwood wasn’t on the show. The IInspiration still picked up the win.

The two have defended the titles just once since winning them from Decay in their debut match at October’s Bound for Glory.

That was the second match made for the Louisville, Kentucky, pay-per-view on Tuesday as Jay White vs. the returning Alex Shelley was added to the card.

Here’s the current lineup:

  • Jay White vs. Alex Shelley
  • Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration vs. The Influence in a title match

Report: The IInspiration turned down WWE Royal Rumble offer

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The IInspiration will not be walking through The Forbidden Door. 

According to a Fightful Select report, Impact Wrestling Knockouts Tag Team Champions Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay were offered spots in the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble match, but turned the offer down. 

The report cites an Impact Wrestling source that said that the company would have approved the deal, but that Lee and McKay did not want to go back to WWE at this time. 

Lee and McKay would have joined Knockouts Champion Mickie James as Impact talent participating in the Rumble had they accepted the offer. 

The IInspiration  joined Impact in October 2021 at the Bound For Glory pay-per-view, where they won the Knockouts Tag titles. The duo performed as The IIconics in WWE prior to their April 2021 releases. 

Performing as Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, the team captured the WWE Women’s Tag titles at WrestleMania 35 in April 2019, holding the titles for 120 days.

Impact Knockouts Tag Team title match set for January 27

Posted on by Josh Nason

Originally scheduled for Hard to Kill, the Impact Knockouts Tag Team title match between champions The IInspiration and challengers The Influence now has a new date: Thursday, January 27th.

The new date was announced during a backstage promo segment on Thursday’s Impact on AXS. It will be taped next weekend when Impact runs two TV tapings in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The match was scratched the day before the Hard to Kill pay-per-view due to close contact COVID-19 exposure by either Cassie Lee or Jessica McKay (seen above).

After losing in their first shot at the titles at September’s Knockouts Knockdown, Tenille Dashwood and Madison Rayne defeated Jordynne Grace and Rachael Ellering on TV to earn another title shot.

Lee and McKay have defended the gold once since winning it in their Impact debut over Decay at October’s Bound for Glory. They defended it against Decay at November’s Turning Point.

The two teams had briefly aligned on a recent episode of Impact, but lost in an eight-person intergender tag team match to Decay that began their dissention.

The IInspiration off Impact Hard to Kill due to COVID-19 exposure

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A title match has been pulled from the Hard to Kill card due to COVID-19 exposure.

Impact Wrestling announced today that The IInspiration (Cassie Lee & Jessica McKay) will miss Hard to Kill due to being in close contact with someone who later tested positive for COVID-19. It was noted that, out of an abundance of caution and with the health of their co-workers in mind, Lee & McKay will self-isolate this weekend.

The IInspiration were scheduled to defend their Knockouts Tag Team titles against The Influence (Madison Rayne & Tenille Dashwood) at Saturday’s pay-per-view.

Lee & McKay won the titles from Rosemary & Havok at Bound for Glory last October. The match was Lee & McKay’s debut for Impact Wrestling.

Lee & McKay signed with Impact Wrestling after being released by WWE in April 2021.

“Impact’s COVID protocols are in place to keep our talent roster, staff and fans safe,” Impact Wrestling executive vice president Scott D’Amore said. “I am sure the fans will share The IInspiration’s and my disappointment that they won’t be in action at tomorrow’s stacked HARD TO KILL event, but we look forward to their return soon.”

The Factory in Deep Ellum in Dallas, Texas is hosting Hard to Kill on Saturday night. Here’s the updated card for the PPV:

  • Impact World Champion Moose defends against Matt Cardona and W. Morrissey in a triple threat match
  • Texas death match: Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James defends against Deonna Purrazzo
  • X-Division Champion Trey Miguel defends against Steve Maclin (if Maclin loses, he can’t challenge for the X-Division title again while Miguel is still champion)
  • ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham defends against Chris Sabin
  • Women’s Ultimate X match for a future Knockouts Championship shot: Jordynne Grace vs. Rosemary vs. Chelsea Green vs. Tasha Steelz vs. Lady Frost vs. Alisha Edwards
  • Josh Alexander vs. Jonah
  • Hardcore War 10-man tag match: Violent By Design (Eric Young, Joe Doering & Deaner) & The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) vs. Eddie Edwards, Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Heath & Rhino
  • Chris Bey vs. Ace Austin vs. Jake Something vs. Laredo Kid (pre-show)

The IInspiration win Knockouts tag titles at Impact Bound for Glory

Posted on by Josh Nason

In their first official night in the company, The IInspiration won the Knockouts Tag Team titles at Bound for Glory, defeating Rosemary and Havok of Decay.

The former IIconics in WWE, Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay were released by their former employers earlier this year with Impact announcing their signing earlier this month.

The end came when Lee and McKay hit a blind tag, enabling them to hit their finisher on Rosemary and win the titles. The match opened the pay-per-view in one of six title matches scheduled for the night.

The duo previously held tag team gold in WWE, holding the Women’s Tag Team titles from April through August 2019. This was their first in-ring action since their release due to settling work visas due to being from Australia.

The loss ends the 98-day reign of Havok and Rosemary who defeated Fire N’ Flava at July’s Slammiversary for the belts.

The IInspiration getting tag team title shot at Impact Bound for Glory

Posted on by Skylar Russell

In their Impact Wrestling debut, the former IIconics will challenge for the Knockouts Tag Team titles.

Impact Wrestling announced on Wednesday that The IInspiration (Cassie Lee & Jessica McKay) will challenge Decay (Havok & Rosemary) for the Knockouts Tag Team titles at Bound for Glory. The pay-per-view is taking place at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 23. It will begin at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

This will be The IInspiration’s first match since being released by WWE this April. During Impact Wrestling’s Knockouts Knockdown special last Saturday, it was announced that Lee & McKay would be debuting for Impact at Bound for Glory. PWInsider reported that Lee & McKay have signed with Impact Wrestling.

Lee & McKay are former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. They held the titles from April 2019 to August 2019.

Lee & McKay have also been announced for Impact’s post-Bound for Glory television tapings in Las Vegas on Sunday, October 24 and Monday, October 25.

Here’s the updated card for Bound for Glory:

  • Impact World Champion Christian Cage defends against Josh Alexander
  • Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo defends against Mickie James
  • Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champions Decay defend against The IInspiration
  • X-Division Championship match: Steve Maclin vs. Trey Miguel vs. TBD
  • Impact Digital Media Championship tournament finals: John Skyler vs. Crazzy Steve vs. Fallah Bahh vs. Jordynne Grace vs. TBD vs. TBD
  • 20-person Call Your Shot gauntlet match (winner receives a future title shot of their choosing)

Former IIconics unveil new tag team name

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Image: WWE

The former IIconics have officially unveiled their new tag team name.

Cassie Lee (formerly known as Peyton Royce) and Jessie McKay (formerly known as Billie Kay) will be known as “The IInspiration” going forward. Lee and McKay filed a trademark for the name this June.

“Finally, IInspiration returns to professional wrestling,” Lee and McKay wrote today. “Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay present The IInspiration Tour Dates and cities to be announced soon.”

Highspots has announced that The IInspiration will be taking part in a virtual gimmick table on their Facebook page on Thursday, October 21. Highspots will also be presenting Lee & McKay as guests at WrestleCade Revenge weekend this November. The convention is taking place at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina from Friday, November 26 to Sunday, November 28.

Lee and McKay were both released by WWE during a round of roster cuts this April. At the time of their release, Lee and McKay were on different brands and their tag team had been broken up. They held the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles together from April 2019 to August 2019.