Frankele was born and raised inSeattle, Washington. Originally aspiring to be a dancer, she trained in dance from an early age. She first became interested inprofessional wrestling as a teenager, and citesChyna as her inspiration.[4]
After moving toPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania to attend college, Frankele began training at theCombat Zone Wrestling Academy. The first woman to graduate from the school, she debuted as a wrestler in 2011 using thering name Kimber Lee.[4] Her first match forCombat Zone Wrestling (CZW) was on October 9, 2011, in which she defeated Austin Uzzie in anintergender match. In February 2012, she defeatedNevaeh, before losing toAlex Colon. In June 2012, Lee joinedDrew Gulak's faction, A Campaign for a Better Combat Zone. As part of the faction, Lee and Gulak feuded with Greg Excellent, defeating him andMia Yim in amixed tag team match in September. Two months later, Lee defeated Excellent in a singles match, before Excellent and Momma Excellent defeated Lee and Gulak.[6] Throughout 2013 and 2014, Lee continued to compete in CZW, participating in both women's and intergender matches. She faced wrestlers including Neveah,Christina Von Eerie,Candice LeRae,Alexxis Nevaeh, andJessicka Havok in women's singles and tag team matches.[7][8][9][10]
Lee first began competing forWomen Superstars Uncensored (WSU) in April 2012; as part of the promotion'sJ-Cup Tournament, she lost toAthena. That same month, she formed atag team with Annie Social, with the pair losing their first match together to Rick Cataldo and Ezave Suena. AtFull Steam Ahead in October, they lost to The Midwest Militia (Allysin Kay andSassy Stephie).[11] In May 2013, Lee entered theWSU Queen and King of the Ring tournament alongside Drew Gulak. They defeated Devon Moore andMickie Knuckles andOhio is for Killers (Nevaeh andJake Crist) en route to the final, where they lost toA. R. Fox and Athena.[12] Beginning to use the tag team name Chicks Using Nasty Tactics, Lee and Social defeated Jessie Brooks andVeda Scott to become the number one contenders to theWSU Tag Team Championship in August.[13] On February 8, 2014, they defeated The Midwest Militia to win the WSU Tag Team Championship, and successfully defended the title against Christina Von Eerie and Nevaeh the same night.[14] In May 2014, Lee and Gulak entered the Queen and King of the Ring tournament for the second time, but were eliminated by theWorld's Cutest Tag Team (Candice LeRae andJoey Ryan) in the semi-finals.[15] After retaining the championship against Rick Cataldo and Veda Scott, they lost it to The Juicy Product (David Starr andJ. T. Dunn) in July 2014, and failed to regain the title in a rematch in September.[16][17] On February 21, 2015, Chicks Using Nasty Tactics defeated The Juicy Product to win the WSU Tag Team Championship for the second time.[18] on February 13, 2016, they lost the titles to The Fella Twins at the 9th Anniversary Show.
"The Kimber Bombs"Cherry Bomb (right) and Lee (left) in December 2014
Lee debuted forShine Wrestling at their sixth show in January 2013, where she lost toNikki Roxx.[19] AtShine 12, she lost to Kimberly.[20] Lee formed a tag team withCherry Bomb, briefly called Team Combat Zone before being renamed The Kimber Bombs.[21][22][23][24] She returned in February 2014 atShine 17; The Kimber Bombs participated in the tournament to determine the inauguralShine Tag Team Champions, but were eliminated in the first round by eventual winners The Lucha Sisters (Leva Bates and Mia Yim).[25] The Kimber Bombs continued to compete in tag team competition, defeating the S-N-S Express (Sassy Stephie andJessie Belle Smothers) atShine 21, and unsuccessfully challenged Legendary (Malia Hosaka and Brandi Wine) for the Shine Tag Team Championship atShine 23.[26][27] In a rematch atShine 25 on March 6, 2015, The Kimber Bombs won the championship.[28] AtShine 30 on October 2, 2015, the pair had to vacate the title due to Cherry Bomb's shoulder injury.
In April 2013, Lee made her debut forShimmer Women Athletes atShimmer 53.[29] In October 2013, The Kimber Bombs unsuccessfully challenged 3G (Kellie Skater andTomoka Nakagawa) for theShimmer Tag Team Championship.[30] Throughout 2014, The Kimber Bombs continued to compete in Shimmer's tag team division against teams including Leva Bates and Veda Scott,Ray andLeon, Bambi Hall andKC Cassidy, and The Buddy System (Heidi Lovelace and Solo Darling).[24][31][32][33] On April 11, 2015, The Kimber Bombs defeated 3G to win the Shimmer Tag Team Championship.[34] They lost the title toEvie and Heidi Lovelace on June 26, 2016.[35]
Lee made herChikara debut atKing of Trios 2014: Night 1 in September 2014 as Princess KimberLee.[37] She had previously made several appearances in Chikara's "Wrestling Is" sister promotions in 2013 and into 2014, both as a wrestler and temporarily as a valet for "Knight Eye for the Pirate Guy", the team of Jolly Roger & Lance Steel, with whom she would eventually team at the King of Trios tournament, losing in the first round to Gekido. She later wrestled her first Chikara singles match, againstMissile Assault Ant, in a losing effort.
In 2015, Lee was named one of the ten team captains for the "Challenge of the Immortals" doubleround-robin tournament and draftedJervis Cottonbelly and Los Ice Creams to her team. Initially spending multiple months without a win, they started picking up wins mid-way through the tournament, and when points-leader "Dasher's Dugout" had to forfeit their points, KimberLee's "Crown and Court" team was in the finals. On December 5, 2015, at the season finaleTop Banana, "Crown & Court" won the Challenge of the Immortals tournament, defeating "Wrecking Crew". Later in the night, she then cashed in her "Golden Opportunity" after the main event, going on to defeatHallowicked to win theChikara Grand Championship.[38] With the win, she became the first female wrestler to hold the top title in a major non-female promotion.[39] She lost the title back to Hallowicked on May 30, 2016.[40]
Lee made her return to Chikara after leaving WWE. She performed with The Whisper as a Tag Team, winning La Loteria Letal in 2018. On December 8, 2018, Kimber Lee and The Whisper won the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas.
On the December 7, 2016 episode ofNXT, Lee lost toEmber Moon.[41] Later that month, it was reported that she had signed with WWE and would start with the company in January 2017.[42] Using her real name, on January 14, she competed in a tag team match withDori Prange losing toAliyah andLiv Morgan.[43] On the May 3 episode ofNXT, Frankele participated in a number one contender's battle royal forAsuka'sNXT Women's Championship, where she was eliminated byRuby Riott.[44] In June, Frankele was given the new ring name Abbey Laith.[45]
On June 22, Laith was announced as one of the 32 participants competing in theMae Young Classic.[46] She defeatedJazzy Gabert andRachel Evers en route to the quarterfinals, where she was eliminated byMercedes Martinez on September 4.[47][48][49] On the October 25 episode ofNXT, Laith participated in a battle royal to gain a spot at thefatal four-way match for the vacant NXT Women's Championship atNXT TakeOver: WarGames, but was unsuccessful.[50] In March 2018, WWE released Frankele from her contract.[51]
In August 2018, Lee made her debut for theWorld Wonder Ring Stardom promotion by entering the 20185 Star Grand Prix.[52] During the tournament, Lee scored six points in her block, however, it was not enough to advance to the finals.
Lee made herImpact Wrestling debut on the May 5, 2020 episode ofImpact! duringMadison Rayne's "Locker Room Talk" segment where she confrontedHavok.[53] The following week, Lee defeated Havok in her debut match by knocking her out withbrass knuckles, establishing herself as a heel.[54] AtSlammiversary, she competed in aGauntlet for the Gold match to determine the number one contender for theKnockouts Championship, which was won byKylie Rae.[55] On August 4, Lee officially signed with the company.[56] On September 1, she aligned herself with the Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo.[57]
On the January 19, 2021 episode ofImpact!, Lee teamed with Susan in a Knockouts tag team match againstJordynne Grace andJazz, with Susan pinning the latter after a distraction from Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo.[58] AtNo Surrender, she teamed with Susan and Purrazzo for a six-Knockout tag team match against Grace, Jazz andODB, with the latter making Susan submit and lose for her team.[59] On the February 23 episode ofImpact!, Lee and Susan lost to Grace and Jazz in a number one contenders match for theKnockouts Tag Team Championship.[60] On April 25, she teamed with Susan and foughtRosemary and Havok in a losing effort on theRebellion pre-show.[61] On May 15, atUnder Siege, Lee and Susan lost a tag team bout againstTenille Dashwood andTaylor Wilde.[62] On June 12, atAgainst All Odds, she and Susan fought againstFire 'N Flava (Kiera Hogan andTasha Steelz) for the Knockouts Tag Team Championship in a losing effort.[63] Five days later, she and Susan were told by Purrazzo that they were no longer needed at her side.[64]
After losing against Rosemary and Havok on the July 8 episode ofImpact!, Lee took Susan to seeFather James Mitchell in order to change her back toSu Yung, but on the following week, she revealed that she knew about her and drags Lee into a room before slamming the door.[65][66] On the July 29 episode ofImpact!, Yung returned and revealed a transformed Lee under her control.[67] The following weeks saw both her and Yung confrontBrandi Lauren and convert her into an undead zombie.[68][69] On October 9, atKnockouts Knockdown, she competed in theShannon "Daffney" Spruill MemorialMonster's Ball match, which was won by Savannah Evans.[70] On the December 30 episode ofImpact!, Lee and Lauren were dismissed as a result of Su Yung's legitimate pregnancy. It was then reported by PWInsider that both had left the company, though Lee denied this.[71] In early 2022, her profile was removed from Impact's official website, signaling the end of her run with the company.[72]
On May 6, 2023, Frankele announced her retirement from wrestling.
Frankele graduated from theUniversity of the Arts inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania in 2013, with afine arts degree in dance.[4] Since 2018, she has been in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler,Zachary Green.[73] On August 20, 2019, the couple confirmed their engagement,[74] and married the following year, in May 2020.[75] They separated in 2022 following allegations that Green had domestically assaulted Frankele over a period of time.[76]
In April 2019, Frankele admitted that she had battledalcoholism but had been sober for two months.[2] In August 2023, it was announced Frankele was facing charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer stemming from her arrest in May inSebring, Florida.[77]
Frankele has been a vegan since February 2018,[78] and has publicly advocated for veganism throughout her social media.[79]
^Kreikenbohm, Philip."Verified Championship".CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database.Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. RetrievedMarch 3, 2023.
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