In some surprise news, inaugural WWE ID Women’s Champion Kylie Rae is leaving the WWE ID program after her contract wasn’t renewed.
The longtime indie veteran took to social media Thursday to both announce the news and show gratitude for her 11 months in the program.
“Today I share that my time with WWE ID is coming to an end as I was informed my contract will not be renewed. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities, memories, and people I met along the way,” she wrote.
Rae, who joined the program 11 months ago, revealed three weeks ago that she is pregnant for the second time with independent wrestler Isaias Velazquez. She previously gave birth back in October 2023. The title that Rae won just two months ago was then vacated with no announcement as to crowning a new champion.
Earlier on Thursday, Zayda Steel also announced she was also leaving the program. However, she chose to withdraw herself. Steel was part of the match where Rae won the title along with Zara Zakher.
The program was created to provides indie talent with financial support and other development opportunities while creating a potential pathway to NXT if WWE decides to sign them to a full developmental contract.
Today I share that my time with WWEID is coming to an end, as I was informed my contract will not be renewed.
I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities, memories, and people I met along the way. Thank you to everyone who supported me during this chapter—it truly means the…
The status of the WWE Women’s ID Championship has become clear.
WWE ID announced on Monday that the title is now vacated after champion Kylie Rae announced over the weekend that she was pregnant.
“The WWE ID Women’s Championship is now vacant,” they wrote on social media. “WWE ID is proud that Kylie Rae will go in the record books as the first ever champion and sends congratulations on the addition to her family. Thank you, Kylie!”
The WWE ID Women's Championship is now vacant.
WWE ID is proud that Kylie Rae will go in the record books as the first ever champion and sends congratulations on the addition to her family.
Rae announced her pregnancy when a fan asked why she recently had to vacate another championship on the independent scene, showing off a picture of her baby bump.
This will be Rae’s second child with independent wrestler Isais Velazquez, previously gave birth back in October of 2023. A year later, she signed with WWE’s ID program, becoming the first WWE ID Women’s Champion back on August 1 at a GCW event defeating Zara Zakher and Zayda Steel in a tournament final triple threat match.
This will be Rae’s and independent wrestler Isaias Velazquez’s second child. She previously gave birth back in October of 2023.
Rae won the WWE ID Women’s title back in August at a GCW show in Rutherford, NJ, defeating Zara Zakher and Zayda Steel in a triple threat match. WWE has yet to announce the status of the title given Rae’s pregnancy.
After a brief stint in AEW, Rae joined Impact Wrestling and wrestled there through 2021, where she announced that she was retiring from pro wrestling due to mental health struggles. However, she eventually returned to wrestling through the NWA. A couple of years later following tryouts, she was signed by WWE in the fall of 2024 as part of their new WWE ID program.
Less than a year after the WWE ID program was initially announced, it crowned their inaugural men’s and women’s champions on Friday in Rutherford, New Jersey.
On the female side, Kylie Rae defeated both Zayda Steel and Zara Zakher in a three-way to become the champion while on the men’s side, Cappuccino Jones took home the title after defeating Jack Cartwheel.
The show took place on a GCW-promoted WWE ID Showcase event as part of WWE SummerSlam weekend in the area.
WWE WrestleMania 41 week in Las Vegas is in full swing with the inaugural WWE ID Championship tournaments kicking off Wednesday night at the Palms.
Presented by GCW, one of the headliners saw Kylie Rae advance in her first round bout with Zayda Steel that kicked off the women’s tournament.
The rest of the night featured four men’s WWE ID Championship tournament bouts.
Jordan Oasis defeated Freedom Ramsey; It’s GAL defeated Aaron Rourke; Ice Williams picked up the victory over Aaron Roberts and GCW regular Atticus Cogar in a three-way; and Marcus Mathers got the win over Sam Holloway in a no DQ bout to advance.
Non-tournament matches saw Zara Zakher defeat Izzy Moreno, and Jackson Drake & Swipe Right (Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes) defeating Cappuccino Jones, Jack Cartwright & Sean Legacy.
Future Stars of Wrestling will host more tournament action this Friday at 11:30 PM Eastern/8:30 PM Pacific on Triller+.
WWE ID Championship tournament results:
Women’s WWE ID Championship tournament first round: Kylie Rae defeated Zayda Steel
Men’s WWE ID Championship tournament first round: Jordan Oasis defeated Freedom Ramsey
Men’s WWE ID Championship tournament first round: It’s GAL defeated Aaron Rourke
Men’s WWE ID Championship tournament first round: Ice Williams defeated Aaron Roberts and Atticus Cogar in a three-way
Men’s WWE ID Championship tournament first round: Marcus Mathers defeated Sam Holloway in a no DQ match
A familiar name is the latest independent wrestler to be tabbed as a WWE ID prospect.
Former AEW wrestler Kylie Rae has been announced as the latest wrestler to join the WWE ID program as the announcement came Thursday night at an independent event put on by Freelance Wrestling. WWE employee Gabe Sapolsky commented on Rae’s ID status on X, calling Rae “the best worker on the indies.”
Rae was an original member of AEW’s women’s division in 2019 before asking for her release from the company later the same year.
WWE has now announced 17 prospects as part of their ID program where signees will receive some financial and training support, but are not signed to a full-time talent contract with the promotion. The updated list of WWE ID prospects:
Kylie Rae is still a free agent following a recent WWE tryout.
The 30-year-old spoke to The Going Broadway podcast about her match with Dana Brooke on Main Event last month and working out at the WWE Performance Center along with other independent wrestlers KC Navarro, Dutch, and Vincent.
Rae spoke about reaching out to WWE’s Gabe Sapolsky after she was no longer under contract to the NWA:
[WWE] were coming to Chicago and from my understanding, again, Freelance Wrestling is my home, it’s where I started, it’s where I continue to train and they were asking people from our school to reach out to WWE.
Gabe Sapolsky, I just want to say he’s like one of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.
At this point, I was not contracted with NWA anymore so I was able to throw my name in the hat for extra work. So, I just kind of said, ‘Hey, if y’all need any women, I’m more than happy to be considered for this opportunity. Please let me know, if not I completely understand because, let’s be honest, for the ones who know, I come with some baggage, just a couple of extra checked bags.
A previous stint with Impact Wrestling ended for Rae after she missed Bound For Glory in 2020. Previously, she was part of the inaugural AEW roster but ended up requesting her release from the company in late 2019. Rae has been open about dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues that may have played a role in her departure from both companies.
She continued to talk about how WWE likely has the best resources of any wrestling company for people who deal with mental health issues.
They are the biggest company so they have the tools and the resources for sure and they’ve also been around for so long that they’ve probably been through it all, like they’ve seen somebody who struggles with mental health on top of many other things. They’ve probably, again, seen it all so they have certain support systems in place.
Rae continued to talk about Sapolsky’s response when she reached out to him regarding WWE extra work.
I talked to Gabe and he was surprised that I was even reaching out for extra work because he’s like, ‘I think we could try to get you a tryout if you’re able to.’ But the one thing I really appreciated was that we had a conversation [about] where my mental health is, what I’m going through, the sobriety came up, we were able to talk about that.
She would say that while WWE management seemed impressed with her match against Brooke, they ultimately told Rae there isn’t a spot on the roster for her right now.
As far as something long term at this point, I got the ‘not right now’ deal which is okay because if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen and if it was meant to be, it would have happened kind of thing. They’re having me still come back for extra work. I was just there this past Friday and then the Friday before but from what it felt like, I can’t speak on their behalf because I don’t know, but from what it felt like after the match, and maybe I’m naive, but they seemed very happy with it.
This past week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before Monday’s Raw and featured debuts and returns of sorts.
Dana Brooke defeated Briana Ray (6:13)
This was a decent offering from the two, running slightly longer than they usually allow for these openers. Ray, the former Kylie Rae, should be happy with how she did in her debut.
In the latest round of debutantes to try out against either Dana Brooke or, more inexplicably, Tamina, Ray took center stage for this one. Apparently, ‘Kylie’ was for no good for some reason so they went with Briana and a different spelling of Rae.
Having had her own personal battles, it was probably cathartic for Rae to get the appearance on the show despite being on the losing end.
They were very evenly matched and slowed things down with a couple of chin locks in the early going, but it really wasn’t clear which way the pendulum was going to swing.
In the end, Brooke was on the top rope and managed to fight off what looked to be a superplex attempt by Ray, finishing things with a swanton to grab the win.
Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali defeated Edris Enofe & Malik Blade (7:01)
This was a good, but felt like it should have been even better given who was involved.
Backstage before the match, Ali and Alexander were in conference. They were kind on the same page and kind of not, but made it clear that Ali was still wanting to fight for the U.S. title even though he was on this show.
It’s been a few weeks since Ali has been on this show. It’s a shame that he can’t just be on the main roster, but it probably feels better for him to be involved in good tag team bouts on Main Event rather than being pummelled and belittled by the likes of Lashley on Raw.
Enofe and Blade have been NXT Level Up guys and this marked their first true main roster TV match as they made 2021 appearances on 205 Live. Both are still a little bit green, but certainly look the part and couldn’t have asked for better opponents.
Things started off with a handshake and we ended up at the commercial break with Ali getting frustrated, yanking Enofe out from under the ropes and slamming him into the dasherboards.
After the break, Ali and Alexander were very much in control. After lots of near falls, it ended with Alexander hitting the Michinoku Driver and Ali pinning Blade after the 450 splash.
Final Thoughts:
Both matches were ok, but when you have new faces, the quality of the match is sometimes outweighed by the intrigue in seeing how the debutants will fair. Long may this continue, but it would also be good to see some of these talents debut with strong wins that make a point.
Independent star Kylie Rae worked Monday’s WWE Main Event taping.
Working under the name Brianna Ray, Rae lost to Dana Brooke in a match taped prior to Monday’s Raw. It was reported last week that Rae had taken part in a tryout at the WWE Performance Center along with other independent talents such as KC Navarro, Dutch, and Vincent.
Rae appeared for AEW briefly in 2019 before heading to Impact Wrestling. In 2020, she was scheduled to face Deonna Purrazzo at Impact’s Bound for Glory event. However, she did not appear at the event and subsequently announced her retirement from professional wrestling. Months later, she started to appear for the National Wrestling Alliance. She last appeared for the promotion at the 2022 Crockett Cup, where she lost to Kamille and Chelsea Green in a three-way match for the NWA Women’s Championship.
Another match taped for Main Event had the NXT team of Edris Enofe and Malik Blade come up short against Mustafa Ali and Cedric Alexander.
Indie wrestlers Kylie Rae and KC Navarro are reportedly among those in attendance at a WWE tryout this week.
PWInsider reported on Tuesday that WWE is currently holding a tryout at its Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Rae and Navarro are the first two names PWInsider has confirmed as taking part in the tryout.
“WWE NXT is currently holding a tryout at the Performance Center in Florida. The tryout started yesterday and will run towards the end of the week,” PWInsider wrote. “The only names we have confirmed thus far as taking part are former MLW star KC Navarro and former AEW and NWA star Kylie Rae.”
In addition to AEW and the NWA, Rae has also formerly wrestled for Impact Wrestling. She’s battled mental health and substance abuse (alcohol/marijuana) issues during her career but reached the milestone of one year sober this October.
Also in October, Rae wrestled on the pre-show for NJPW’s Rumble on 44th Street pay-per-view in New York City.
Navarro announced this September that he was now a free agent after departing MLW: “As of today, I am officially a Free Agent. I would like to thank @MLW and all of the incredibly talented men and women that I had the privilege of sharing a locker room with. But now, the only question left to ask is…Who’s Next To Be Blessed”
NWA Power Surge opened with The Fixers (Jay Bradley and Wrecking Ball Legursky). Legursky yelled everything he said, from his name to “We’re special! We’re for hire! Pay us!” as they were the hosts of the show for tonight and wanted to advertise their services. I loved this.
Rodney Mack defeated D’vin Graves
This was an absolute nothing match with Graves and Mack both looking quite bad. Mack dominated most of the match with chokes and terrible offense, including making Graves tap out while under the ropes while squeezing his head against the ring post. Graves tapped out to a cobra clutch after a few minutes.
— The Fixers talked about things they liked in wrestling which included big men who beat people up and their favorite foods. This already overstayed its welcome, but there was still some amusing moments.
Austin Aries defeated Rhett Titus in a NWA Junior Heavyweight tournament qualifying match
This match was awesome. This was a replay of a match from NWA Hard Times 2, but it didn’t hurt to see it again here given how good it was.
Aries and Titus kept up a very fast pace in the early going as Aries tried to use mat skills to stay on top of Titus, but Titus used his ROH Pure division experience to stick with him. Aries popped out of a leg scissors and hit a dropkick while Titus rolled through a sunset flip to deliver a dropkick of his own.
Aries hit a dive on Titus followed by a kneecrusher and back suplex combination. Aries went for his corner dropkick, but Titus got the boot up. Titus then hit a kneecrusher and back suplex combo of his own. Titus went for it a second time, but Aries countered into the Last Chancery. Titus made the ropes and hit two hard boots in the corner for a near fall. Aries then hit a discus forearm, his corner dropkick, and a brain buster for the three count.
Kylie Rae defeated Madi
This match was very good. Rae is excellent and my wish for them to do more with Madi (sans her last name of Wrenkowski) seems to be happening as they played off her loss to Melina last week.
Rae looked fantastic early. Madi yanked her hair to try and get out of an armlock, but Rae held on. Madi pulled Rae’s head into the ropes to break it and then hit a boot while Rae was over the middle rope, choking with her foot afterward.
Madi went full heel, turning into a bully against Rae, rubbing her face into the mat after a suplex followed by a camel clutch. Rae fought out, but took a hard forearm to the back. Madi’s heel work here was excellent and Rae’s selling was awesome. Madi locked in a dragon sleeper in the ropes to further brutalize Rae.
The announcers noted that the loss to Melina in a previous episode seemed to light a fire of viciousness in Madi. Rae was able to get her in a cradle and floated over into a kip up and a superkick. Madi got a near fall, but Rae dodged a pump kick and rolled her into a crossface to secure a tapout.
— The Fixers told more stories, explained 4K resolution, and told a story about a woman walking a goat. I think the first one was their best one, but these are funny — mainly because they are such dork heels.
The Fixers defeated Fable Jake & Miguel Robles
The Fixers charged their opponents and began crushing them immediately. Bradley hit several big elbows on Robles before tagging out to Legursky, who slammed Robles with a powerslam. On commentary, Austin Idol told Legursky to lay the chops in as they apparently weren’t that hard. I laughed.
Bradley and Legursky threw Jake around the ring before crushing him in the middle of both of them. Legursky hit a cannonball on Jake before scoring the pinfall.
The show ended with the credits rolling, saying the Fixers produced the whole thing which made me smile.
Final Thoughts:
While this wasn’t a standard episode of NWA Power, it was a very fun and short half hour of wrestling.
The most notable happening was Kylie Rae vs. Madi with Madi turning heel in the middle of the match, showing increased attitude and aggressiveness. I really liked how they tied it back to her loss to Melina and I hope they continue to push that forward. Meanwhile, I have to think Rae is on her way to a title shot with her performances lately, not just for the tag titles with Tootie Lynn but for a shot at Kamille’s title too.
I should note that something that has happened a few times over the last year with the NWA. Last week on Power, they announced that the main event for next week’s show was going to be Trevor Murdoch facing Mike Knox for the NWA World title. That did not happen.
I enjoyed the show as there were two very good matches, but it is frustrating as a fan to be told something was happening next week and for it to not happen. All they had to say instead of next week was “Next episode of NWA Power” and it would have been fine. Work out your airdates before you record or fix the issues in post production and then advertise what is happening next week. It wouldn’t have been hard to put up a short ad for this show and then for Power a week later on the TV show.
Just like when they gave three different dates for the start of the Champions Series last fall, they have consistently had a problem with properly announcing the dates of shows.
Kylie Rae announced on Saturday that she is pulling out of her dates for NWA, AAW and Freelance Wrestling over the next two weeks so she can recover from a recent relapse situation.
Rae (Briana Sparrey) said she has been dealing with this situation since late-August and it has regressed since then.
“I have been having a difficult time differentiating what is real and what is fake, especially in these types of environments. Regretfully, I tried masking the pain through marijuana and alcohol,” she wrote.
She apologized for any issues that might cause and by not being honest about using substances to work through her mental health struggles, followed by a statement of gratitude for those who have given their compassion and support for her.
Rae signed with the NWA this summer after working out an agreement with Impact Wrestling that made the deal possible. She retired in November 2020 after missing a Bound for Glory date with Deonna Purrazzo. later announcing her return in March of this year for Warrior Wrestling. All of that followed a departure from AEW in 2019 after a handful of appearances.
The NWA has added a triple threat match to their upcoming EmPower pay-per-view, revealing the full card for the show.
Mickie James took to her Instagram to run down the entire card for the all women’s pay-per-view. She revealed that Kylie Rae will face AAA’s Chik Tormenta and AEW’s Diamante in a triple threat battle of the brands match. This will be both Tormenta’s and Diamante’s debut for the promotion.
The show is scheduled to take place at The Chase Park Plaza in St Louis, MO on August 28th. The card will be followed by NWA 73 which will take place at The Chase as well the following day.
The full card for the show is as followed:
NWA World Women’s title: Kamille vs. Leyla Hirsch
Impact Knockouts title: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Melina
NWA Women’s Invitational Cup Gauntlet featuring Tootie Lynn, Jamie Senegal, Chelsea Green, Lady Frost, Debbie Malenko, Bianca Carelli, Masha Slamovich, Jennacide, Thunder Kitty and Kiera Hogan.
NWA Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament semifinal match: The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) vs. Heel on Heels (Sahara 7 & Renee Michelle)
NWA Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament semifinal match: Red Velvet & KiLynn King vs The Freebabes (Miranda Gordy & Hayley J)
NWA Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament finals Match: TBA vs. TBA
NWA Power opened with Joe Galli breaking some news. He announced the Champion’s Series, a points-based tournament starting on July 13th. More news on how the tournament is going to work will be forthcoming.
Jennacide (with Taryn Terrell) defeated Lady Frost
This wasn’t bad. Lady Frost looked quite good, and it’s clear that they’re trying to make Jennacide a star. She is still quite green, but there is a lot of potential there, and she has a great look too.
Frost was given quite a bit in this little match, but she stood out and looked great. Jennacide was able to turn the match around when Terrell distracted the referee and Jennacide knocked Frost off the top rope.
Jennacide worked over Frost with armlocks, keeping her grounded. Every time Frost went to escape, Frost was able to go back to the arm. Frost hit a big spinning kick, but Jennacide caught her on the ropes and hit a tombstone (Jenna 9000) for the pinfall.
–Sal Rinauro won a TV title #1 contender match against PJ Hawx and Colby Corino, which happened on something called NWA High Voltage. I had no idea this existed until they mentioned it here, and they showed highlights. I managed to find the match on YouTube. I figured this was going to be on Power when they built it a few weeks ago.
Rinauro cut a great promo about how all he needed was 3 seconds to become the TV Champion, and that while Pope was a great champion, he was coming for it. Colby Corino attacked him from behind and went to give him a brainbuster on the apron, but Rinauro’s feet hit the ropes on the way down, which caused both of them to crash to the floor, and both men hit really hard. That was brutal, I hope they’re okay.
–Austin Idol and Tyrus came out. Idol buried Rinauro and Corino, saying Tyrus is the real star. Pope came out, and since his match was canceled with Rinauro, he decided he was going to fight him right now, putting the title on the line. Idol kept Tyrus back and said it would be on their time.
Aron Stevens stepped in with a match that was unannounced for the crowd due to Rinauro’s injury.
Aron Stevens, Mims, & Captain YUMA vs. Kratos, PJ Hawx, & Luke Hawx went to a no contest
Well, this was interesting from a story perspective with Kratos and Stevens actually smiling and getting along with each other. Honestly, I hope they don’t break up as a team. I really like the dynamic of Stevens being a nice guy and Kratos being a miserable monster, but somehow make the team work. I hope that continues. I think La Rebelion vs. Stevens & Kratos will be great.
Joe Galli said that Kratos and Stevens came up with this match when the injury happened as a make-good. Kratos and Stevens fist-bumped, but Kratos didn’t fist bump the others. Stevens and Kratos went to a neutral corner, discussing the match and smiling. I sense trouble brewing, as Kratos is way too happy.
Mims and Luke Hawx started the match, and Mims used hit size and power to keep the veteran down. Mims tagged Stevens in, even though he was at the wrong turnbuckle because he was holding the tag rope. Stevens did a few spots with Hawx before PJ Hawx and YUMA were in.
YUMA wanted Kratos, and he tagged in, but he looked like he would rather stay in the corner chatting with Stevens. YUMA must have a death wish, as Kratos no-sold a shoulder tackle. Kratos murdered YUMA with a forearm, and the massacre began, as he threw YUMA across the ring with a suplex.
La Rebelion came out and mocked the match in the ring saying that the teams involved were making a mockery of the titles and the sport. Kratos did not look pleased. La Rebelion attacked YUMA, and the ref threw the match out. La Rebellion then attacked Kratos. All 6 men were not pleased and chased them off.
–Jax Dane and Crimson were with May Valentine. Dane talked about how he thought Crimson went too far in his match with Slice Boogie last week, and they promised to address the issue live in front of fans at Power soon.
–JTG and Chris Adonis joined Kyle Davis at the podium to discuss their upcoming NWA National Championship match. JTG reminded everyone that he was there for gold, and that anyone in his way is in a very unlucky position.
Adonis said he was ready for war, and that the NWA National title is a title that he never lost, so he is going to do what it takes to win it back, and his insurance policy of Strictly Business was there to help him. Fred Rosser came out and said he was going to back JTG up.
–The Mystery Man was with May Valentine and continued to say his identity did not need to be known right now. He talked about how he dedicated his life to wrestling, and he is here because he believes he is the best technical wrestler in the world, and he wanted to become a champion, and his identity didn’t matter.
–Thunder Rosa told May Valentine that she was going to stay out of Melina’s match with Kylie Rae tonight.
Kylie Rae defeated Melina
Melina got booed by the audience despite being a babyface in recent weeks. Rae was cheered quite a bit, and Melina worked this match as a heel, so that feels like a phantom heel turn. I hate that. This was a good match by Melina standards, so it was fine. Rae looked fantastic in the match, she’s an exceptional worker.
Melina tried to ground Rae, but Rae was able to counter every move. Rae offered a handshake, but Melina hit some hard forearms and started striking Rae hard, including poking the eyes. Melina hit a DDT for a near fall, but Rae kicked out. Rae spun out of an inverted DDT position and hit a superkick on Melina for the pinfall. The show went off the air as Rae celebrated, winning clean as a sheet.
Rae was Taryn Terell’s tag team partner on this afternoon’s NWA When Our Shadows Fall event. Joe Galli on commentary confirmed she had signed with the promotion. PWInsider reported that the NWA and Impact Wrestling worked out an agreement over the last several weeks that would allow her to sign with the NWA. This deal was finalized over the last 4-5 days.
Terell and Rae took on Thunder Rosa and Melina. After Rosa took Terrell to the back, Rae rolled up Melina using the tights to pick up the win. After the match, Rae looked as if she had regretted what she had done.
Rae suddenly retired last year after leaving Nashville, Tennessee prior to Impact’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view, where she was scheduled to face Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo. She returned to professional wrestling this past weekend at a Warrior Wrestling event in Illinois, defeating Holidead to retain the Warrior Wrestling Women’s title.
