Blair Davenport
Birth nameBeatrice St. Clere Priestley[1]
Born (1996-03-22) 22 March 1996
Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Amy St. Clere
Bea Priestley
Beatrice Priestley
Blair Davenport[3]
Tammy Leigh
Billed height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)[4]
Billed weight68 kg (150 lb)[5]
Billed fromWellington, New Zealand[5]
Trained byTravis Banks,[2] IPW:UK (Swanley)
Debut2012[6]

Beatrice St. Clere Priestley[1] (born 22 March 1996) is an English-New Zealander professional wrestler, best known by the ring name Bea Priestley. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Blair Davenport. From 2017 until 2021, she wrestled for World Wonder Ring Stardom and she also made appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling serving as Will Ospreay’s valet.

She is also known for her appearances in All Elite Wrestling, World of Sport Wrestling, Defiant Wrestling, and Progress Wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2012-2016)

Born in England, Priestley moved to New Zealand at the age of 10. Priestley began training at New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling's developmental facility under Travis Banks, and debuted for the company as Amy St. Clere when she was 16 years old. After four years, during which time she also wrestled for Impact Pro Wrestling as Beatrice Priestley and the Hughes Academy as Tammy Leigh, Priestley moved to London, England, to further her career, training in Progress Wrestling's developmental program 'The Projo.'[7]

Progress Wrestling (2016–2019)

Priestley made her debut for Progress Wrestling on 13 March 2016, being defeated by Elizabeth.[8] In December 2016, Priestley participated in the tournament to crown the first ever Progress Women's Champion where Priestley lost to the eventual winner Toni Storm.[9] Throughout the year of 2017 and 2018, Priestley would mainly compete in six-man tag team matches and even feuding with Millie McKenzie.

What Culture Pro Wrestling / Defiant Wrestling (20162019)

Priestley debuted for What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) on 27 July at Loaded #5, losing to Nixon Newell,[10] but she defeated Newell the following day.[11] On 24 August Priestley and Newell faced off once again, this time in a Last Woman Standing match to crown the first ever WCPW Women's Champion, won by Newell.[12] Priestley unsuccessfully challenged Newell once again at Loaded #19, this time by disqualification.[13] After the match, Priestley's Pacitti Club stablemates The Swords of Essex put Newell out of action and Priestley stole her title, declaring herself "the true Women's Champion". Priestley lost her stolen WCPW Women's Championship to the returning Newell at WCPW True Destiny in February, who had replaced Tessa Blanchard in the match. One day later Priestley regained the WCPW Women's Championship, defeating Nixon Newell in a No Disqualification match.[14][15]

On 16 June 2017 Priestley was unable to compete, and her replacement Viper lost the title by pinfall to Kay Lee Ray.[16] After that, Priestley would feud with Viper until the last episode of Loaded, where Priestley defeated Viper to end the feud.[17] On 17 June 2018 Priestley defeated Millie McKenzie to regain the Defiant Women's Championship.[18] On 3 December 2018 Priestley lost the title to Kanji in a Gauntlet match involving Kay Lee Ray, Lana Austin, Little Miss Roxxy, and Millie McKenzie.[19]

World Wonder Ring Stardom (2017–2021)

On 14 October 2017 Priestley made her debut for the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion by entering the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League tournament.[20] Days before the final of the tournament Priestley unsuccessfully challenged Toni Storm for the SWA World and World of Stardom Championship in Stardom event in Taiwan.[21] She ended up winning the tournament along with Kelly Klein.[22] Following the tournament, Priestley and Klein unsuccessfully challenged Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura and Kagetsu) for the Goddess of Stardom Championship.[23] In her six month stay in Stardom, Priestley made it to the finals of the 2018 Cinderella Tournament, before losing to the eventual winner Momo Watanabe. At Mask Fiesta 2018 on 28 October 2018, Davenport dressed up as Marty Scurll and teamed up with Candy Skull in a win over Hanita and La Maestra.[24][3]

On 4 May 2019, at Golden Week Stars 2019 Queen's Quest Produce, Priestley defeated Kagetsu for the World of Stardom Championship.[25]

In January 2020, Priestley paired with Oedo Tai member Jamie Hayter to capture the Goddess of Stardom Championship, the first foreign tag team to hold the championships. She would later join the villainous Oedo Tai faction after betraying Queen's Quest stable-mate Momo Watanabe.[26] On 20 July 2020, Stardom stripped the tag titles from Priestley and Hayter, as the duo could not defend the titles in Japan due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] Priestley made her return to the company on 19 September, where she attacked Saya Iida in her match against Natsuko Tora, and later attacked Momo Watanabe and Utami Hayashishita.[28] On 3 October at Yokohama Cinderella, Priestley defeated Watanabe to win the vacant SWA World Championship.

World of Sport (2018–2019)

At 5 May 2018 tapings of the newly-revived World of Sport Wrestling, Priestley failed to win the vacant WOS Women's Championship in a three-way match against Kay Lee Ray and Viper.[29] She unsuccessfully challenged Ray for the title on subsequent episodes in a battle royal[30] and a singles match against Ray after being attacked by Viper.[31] On 19 January 2019, on a WOS house show tour, Priestley won the title in a singles match when she successfully pinned Viper.[32] On 2 February 2019 Priestley lost the title to Viper after that she left the promotion.

All Elite Wrestling (2019–2020)

On 22 January 2019 it was reported that Priestley was close to signing a contract with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) after turning down a WWE contract.[33] It was announced on the edition of 27 February 2019 of "Road To Double Or Nothing" that Priestley would be joining the company, and would be making her debut at Fight for the Fallen on 13 July 2019,[34] where she would team with Shoko Nakajima to defeat Britt Baker and Riho. She entered an on-screen feud with Britt Baker after legitimately concussing Baker after kicking her in the back of the head. Ending their feud, where Baker openly referred to Priestley as "un-professional", Priestley eventually lost the conclusive singles match of this feud to Baker at Full Gear.[35] Priestley appeared on 11 December 2019 edition of Dark, where she was defeated by "the Alien" Kris Statlander.[36]

On 11 March 2020 episode of Dynamite, Priestley returned and teamed with AEW Women’s World Champion Nyla Rose to defeat the team of Hikaru Shida and Kris Statlander. After the match she attacked Rose and called her shot at the AEW Women’s Worls Championship.[37] Priestley was released from AEW on 13 August 2020 due to being unable to travel from her home in Japan due to restrictions from COVID-19.[38]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2020–2021)

On 16 October 2020, Priestley made her debut appearance in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where she interfered in her boyfriend Will Ospreay's match against Kazuchika Okada in the G1 Climax.[39]

WWE (2021–present)

On 24 June 2021, it was reported that Priestley signed a contract with WWE, where a vignette aired promoting Priestley's arrival to NXT UK with her new ring name revealed to be Blair Davenport.[40] Davenport would score a winning streak over several opponents such as Xia Brookside, Nina Samuels, Emilia McKenzie and many more until she seized an opportunity to challenge Meiko Satomura for the NXT UK Women's Championship. On 6 January 2022 episode of NXT UK, Davenport failed to capture the title from Satomura, marking her first loss in NXT UK. On 23 August 2022 episode of NXT 2.0, Davenport made her in-ring debut for the NXT brand and collected her first win over Indi Hartwell, and was then confronted by the NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose and the NXT UK Women’s Champion Meiko Satomura, which set up a triple threat match to unify both the NXT UK Women's Championship and the NXT Women's Championship at the Worlds Collide pay-per-view on 4 September, where Davenport lost when she was pinned by Rose.

On 30 May 2023 episode of NXT, Davenport was revealed to be the attacker that left many of the women's division on the shelf.[41] She made her in-ring return, where she defeated Dani Palmer the following week. On 9 December at NXT Deadline, Davenport won the women's Iron Survivor Challenge to earn an NXT Women's Championship match against Lyra Valkyria at NXT: New Year's Evil.[42][43] Davenport failed to win the title to Valkyria.[44]

Other media

Priestley made her video game debut in the Revel with Wyatt Pack DLC for WWE 2K23.[45]

Personal life

Priestley was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 14 years old. She underwent surgery to remove it at 18 years old.[46]

In 2017,[47] Priestley started a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Will Ospreay.[48][49][50] In 2019, the couple revealed they were planning on moving to Japan due to both of their wrestling schedules there.[33] The couple split in 2021. Since 2022, she is currently dating fellow wrestler and former NXT UK wrestler Josh Terry (Actually Known as Riley Osbourne) as confirmed via their Instagrams when she commented on his post on 19 August 2022, when she said "met the love of my life".[51] On December 19, 2023 Beatrice announced on her Instagram that she and Josh are engaged.

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 "Search Results for Civil Births in Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records". findmypast.co.uk. England & Wales Births 1837–2006. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Bea Priestley « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". Cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 Kreikenbohm, Philip (28 October 2018). "Stardom Mask Fiesta 2018". Cagematch. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  4. reserved, Copyright (c) 2014株式会社スターダム, All rights. "ビー・プレストリー". Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. 1 2 "BEA PRIESTLEY". Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  6. "Bea Priestley". Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  7. Knox, Caylon (6 November 2016). "WNS Interview with Bea Priestley: Pro Wrestler/Brain Tumor Survivor". Wrestling News Source. Archived from the original on 10 November 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  8. "ENDVR:15". cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  9. Boon, Alan (16 December 2016). "The Week In British Wrestling: Dunne shines for PROGRESS in Sheffield". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  10. "WCPW Loaded #5 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  11. "WCPW Loaded #7 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  12. "WCPW Stacked « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  13. "WCPW Loaded #18 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  14. "Title Reigns « Defiant Women's Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  15. Boon, Alan (16 February 2017). "The Week in British Wrestling: WWE UK Heroes Go Home". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  16. Boon, Alan (22 June 2017). "The Week in British Wrestling: CZW Champ Steals British Gold". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  17. "WCPW Loaded #34 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  18. "Defiant Built To Destroy 2018 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  19. "Defiant Loaded #2 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  20. Angelita, Dark (19 October 2017). "Stardom: Resultados "Goddesses of Stardom Tag League 2017" 14/10/2017 Inicia la competencia". Superluchas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  21. Angelita, Dark (25 October 2017). "Stardom: Resultados "Stardom in Taipei City" Toni Storm retuvo sus dos títulos". Superluchas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  22. 1 2 "Kelly Klein and Bea Priestly win Goddess of Stardom Tag Team Tournament". Ring of Honor. 6 November 2017. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  23. Wilson, Kevin (10 December 2017). "Stardom Best Of The Goddesses on 11/19/17 Review". 411MANIA. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  24. 2018年10月28日 MASK FIESTA 2018. World Wonder Ring Stardom (in Japanese). 29 October 2018. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  25. Walsh, Shannon. "BEA PRIESTLY WINS STARDOM TITLE". PWInsider. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  26. Richards, Alex (19 January 2020). "Stardom 9th Anniversary: Title Change, Betrayal, Syuri & Sareee". Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  27. @we_are_stardom (20 July 2020). "The Goddesses of Stardom tag team titles have been declared vacant, as Bea Priestley and Jamie Hayter cannot defend the titles in the current situation" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2023 via Twitter.
  28. "9/19 STARDOM 5STAR GRAND PRIX report: The finals of the 9th Grand Prix tournament with a winner crowned and the return of a former world champ". 21 September 2020. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  29. "World of Sport episode two results: First Women's Champion crowned". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  30. "WOS Wrestling #5 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  31. "WOS Wrestling Results (9/22/18): 16-Man Battle Royal, WOS Women's Championship Match, And Moose Debuts | Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  32. "Viper Loses WOS Women's Championship To Bea Priestley At WOS Wrestling's Newport, Wales Show | Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  33. 1 2 Beltrán, William (26 January 2019). "Bea Priestley le dice no a WWE y firma con AEW". Superluchas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  34. Currier, Joseph (27 February 2019). "Bea Priestley to make AEW debut at Fight for the Fallen". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  35. "NoDQ.com - AEW Full Gear: Bea Priestley vs. Britt Baker". nodq.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  36. "List of Bea Priestley appearances in AEW". Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  37. AEW Staff (11 March 2020). "AEW DYNAMITE Results March 11, 2020". all elite wrestling.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  38. Middleton, Marc (13 August 2020). "AEW Releases Jimmy Havoc And Bea Priestley". WrestlingInc.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  39. "411MANIA". Hamilton’s New Japan G1 Climax 30 – Night Seventeen (Block A Finals) 16 October 2020 Review. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  40. "WWE airs video hyping Bea Priestley's NXT UK debut". RingSideNews.com. 24 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  41. Berge, Kevin (30 May 2023). "WWE NXT Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights After Battleground 2023". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  42. "The Mad Dragon reigns supreme at NXT Deadline". WWE. 9 December 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  43. Brennan, Corey; Lambert, Jeremy (9 December 2023). "Ilja Dragunov Retains NXT Championship At NXT Deadline | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  44. Elizabeth, Claire (2 January 2024). "WWE NXT New Year's Evil 2024 results, live blog: Dragunov vs. Williams". SBNation. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  45. Lara, James (6 March 2023). "WWE 2K23 Season Pass, DLC Wrestlers and Release Dates Revealed". Mp1st.com. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  46. "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  47. "The Week In British Wrestling: Lucha Forever overcomes a venue change". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. 15 June 2017. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  48. "Will Ospreay And His Missus". Talk is Jericho. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  49. "Piper Niven And Kay Lee Ray Expected To Sign With WWE; Offer Made To Bea Priestley | Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  50. Walsh, Shannon (16 March 2020). "WRESTLETALK & WILL OSPREAY'S NO FANS MONDAY REPORT FROM LONDON". PWInsider. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  51. ""Ghost hunting...Spike Ball...The best locker room...And one big family #nxtuk"". 19 August 2022.
  52. "Defiant Women's Championship". wearedefiant.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  53. "The PWI Top 100 Female Wrestlers 2019: Full List". Wrestling Travel. 1 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  54. Wilkinson, Nick (21 November 2020). "Nine Female Tag Teams land on PWI's Tag Team 50 list". Diva Dirt. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  55. Richards, Alex (14 November 2020). "Unagi Sayaka Debuts, New Champions Crowned At Stardom Show". Last Word on Pro Wrestling. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  56. Richards, Alex (19 January 2020). "Stardom 9th Anniversary: Title Change, Betrayal, Syuri & Sareee". Last Word On Pro Wrestling. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  57. Richards, Alex (3 October 2020). "Stardom Yokohama Cinderella 2020 News Roundup". Last Word on Pro Wrestling. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  58. 『スターダムアワード2020』の受賞者発表!. World Wonder Ring Stardom (in Japanese). 31 January 2021. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.