Tenille Dashwood (March 1, 1989) is an Australian professional wrestler, better known by her ring name, Emma, who was best known for her time in WWE.
She was released from WWE on July 2, 2014, but reinstated later the same day.
Professional wrestling career
Early career
Tenille was introduced into wrestling by her older brother Jake, when she was about 8 years old. She involved herself in the Australian wrestling scene and did some training from the ages of 13 to 15. In 2005, Tenille made some appearances for the Australian wrestling promotion PWA under the name Valentine. However, from the age of 16 to 18, Tenille was limited to setting up the ring at events and helping out after she suffered a shoulder injury. In 2007, she moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for a few months to train with Lance Storm at the Storm Wrestling Academy. In the fall of 2008, Tenille returned to Australia. She wrestled for several promotions, with one of her most notable appearances being at Nightmare Wrestling, where she teamed up with Christy Hemme, Kellie Skater and Sara Jay to defeat the team of Traci Brooks, Vixsin, Sway and Aurora. On February 22, 2009 Tenille also won PWA Queensland's first-ever "Queen of the Warriors" tournament, after defeating Shazza McKenzie, Jessie McKay and Kellie Skater.
Canada and Shimmer Women Athletes (2009–2011)
On May 2, 2009 Tenille made her debut for all-female American promotion Shimmer Women Athletes, at the tapings of Volume 23, losing to Amber O'Neal. Tenille wrestled on Volumes 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 34 and 36 in a variety of matches.
She made her debut for the Canadian wrestling promotion ECCW on May 22, 2009 under the name Tenille Dashwood. In her debut match Dashwood defeated Nicole Matthews to earn a shot at the Supergirls title. She challenged the then-champion Veronika Vice, but was unsuccessful. On August 1, 2009 Tenille defeated Veronika Vice and Nicole Matthews in a 3-way match to win her first-ever ECCW Supergirls title. Tenille held the championship until November 27, 2009, when she lost it to Veronika Vice. On March 19, 2010 Tenille defeated Veronika Vice to re-capture the ECCW Supergirls championship. Tenille defended the championship against Lylah Lodge, Nicole Matthews, KC Spinelli and Veronika Vice, before losing it to Matthews in a tables match. In addition to Shimmer and ECCW, Dashwood wrestled for wrestling promotions such as RWF, Prairie Wrestling Alliance, MLW, PCW and Wrestling Fan Xperience. In early 2011, Tenille returned to Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy for further training, during which she became one of the ten trainees featured on the World of Hurt reality television show.
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2011–present)
NXT (2011-present)
On March 4, 2011 Tenille Tayla attended a FCW tryout camp and it was reported that WWE had signed her to a developmental contract. In July 2011, Dashwood decided to undergo surgery for her shoulder, which had caused her problems throughout her career. In June 2012, Dashwood relocated to Florida, and eventually reported to WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling.
Dashwood debuted in the rebranded NXT Wrestling under her new ring name, Emma. On the November 28 edition of NXT, Emma made her televised debut in a losing effort against the evil Audrey Marie. Emma began acting as a heel with the gimmick of a clumsy dancer character on the January 9, 2013 edition of NXT in a losing effort to Paige. From April, Emma began to rack up wins (over the likes of Bayley and Audrey Marie), while becoming a babyface due to the high number of cheers she received. On the June 26 edition of NXT, Emma competed in the NXT Women's Championship tournament to crown the inaugural champion and defeated Aksana in the first round. She went on to defeat Summer Rae in the semi-finals on the July 10 edition of NXT. Two weeks later, Emma was defeated by Paige in the finals for the NXT Women's Championship tournament. On the August 7 edition of NXT, Emma defeated Summer Rae to earn another shot at the NXT Women's Championship. In the following months, Emma teamed up with Paige to feud with The BFF's (Sasha Banks and Summer Rae), On the December 18 episode of NXT, Emma was challenged by Natalya for Emma's shot at the NXT Women's Championship, which was contested on the January 1, 2014 episode of NXT in which Emma was victorious. At NXT Arrival on February 27, Emma was defeated by Paige in a match for the NXT Women's Championship. A week later on NXT, Emma was defeated by Charlotte. On the April 3 edition of NXT, Emma defeated Sasha Banks in singles action.
Alliance with Santino Marella (2014–present)
On the January 13, 2014 episode of Raw, Emma made her first appearance on the main roster when WWE acknowledged her appearing amongst the live audience, Emma continued to appear in the crowd on Raw and SmackDown that month, with tensions developing between her and Summer Rae.
On the February 3 episode of Raw, Emma was invited into the ring by Santino Marella to participate in a dance-off against Rae, which Emma won by fan vote. In the following weeks, the feud between Emma and Rae continued and Emma eventually began teasing a on-screen relationship with Marella, showing romantic feelings towards one another on both Raw and Smackdown. The two would finally face off in a match on the February 24 episode of Raw, where Emma would defeat Rae. Week later, on the 3 March episode of Raw, Emma and Santino would defeat Rae and Fandango in a mixed tag team match, when Emma once again made Rae submit. On the March 25 episode of Main Event, Emma teamed up with Natalya, The Funkadactyls (Cameron and Naomi) and Eva Marie in a losing effort to the team of Rae, Alicia Fox, Aksana, Layla and Tamina Snuka, when Snuka pinned Naomi. On the 27 March episode of WWE Superstars, Emma once again defeated Rae via submission. On April 6 at Wrestlemania XXX, Emma competed in the "Vickie Guerrero Divas Championship Invitational" match for the WWE Divas Championship, which was won by defending champion AJ Lee. The following night on Raw, Emma and Marella once again defeated Rae and Fandango in a mixed tag team match, with Emma making Rae submit. On July 2, 2014, Emma was initially released by WWE after she was arrested for sixth-degree larceny, however, she was reinstated by WWE a few hours later.
Emma returned to WWE TV on the July 15, 2014 edition of Main Event and defeated Cameron in singles action.
In wrestling
- Finishing Move
- Emma Lock (NXT / WWE) / Muta lock (Independent Circuit)
- Ven-Emma (Right-handed thrust to an opponent's throat or face, with theatrics) –( WWE/NXT)- adopted from Santino Marella
- Signature moves
- Reverse bridging Indian deathlock
- Dil-Emma[47] (NXT / WWE) / Rope hung Boston crab (Independent circuit)
- Discus elbow smash[2]
- Emma-mite Sandwich[51] (Running crossbody to an opponent seated in the corner)
- Monkey flip, sometimes from out of the corner[52]
- Multiple short-arm clotheslines[53]
Roaring Elbow (Discus elbow smash)
- Entrance themes
- #Emmalution" by Brian Randazzo (NXT / WWE)
- Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
- ECCW SuperGirls Championship (2 times)
- Pro Wrestling Alliance Queensland
- "Queen of the Warriors" tournament (2009)
- PWI ranked her #38 in the 2013 PWI Top 50 Females
External links
