Madison Knisley (born September 9, 2003) is an Americanprofessional wrestler andgymnast. She is signed toWWE where she performs on theNXTbrand under thering nameThea Hail.

Madison Knisley was born inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania. She went to school at Pivik Elementary School, in Plum Borough, Pennsylvania and practiced gymnastics at a gymkhana inMonroeville.^[7]

On September 28, 2021, Knisley made herAll Elite Wrestling debut asenhancement talent onDark under thering nameNikita Knight againstThunder Rosa.^[8] She wrestled in another match againstJulia Hart, on the October 24, 2021 episode ofDark, which she lost.^[9]

On March 17, 2022, Knisley was announced as one of the 14 recruits who reported to theWWE Performance Center inOrlando, Florida.^[6] One month later, she began to work under the ring nameThea Hail.^[1][10] She was assigned to NXT, where she became part of theChase Universitystable.^[11]

On the February 7, 2023, episode ofNXT, Hail confrontedTiffany Stratton over aTikTok video which Stratton uploaded, and she took issue with. After the incident,Ava appeared behind Hail, cupped her hand over mouth, then dragged her away.^[12] Two weeks later, on February 21, Chase and Hudson defended Hail's honor, by facingThe Dyad, who had Ava by their side. Hail was chased around the ring by Ava, which led to Chase arguing with her, while Fowler and Reid hit Hudson with thedouble codebreaker, ultimately costing Chase University the match.^[13] On April 1, on theNXT Stand & Deliver Kickoff pre-show, Hail,Duke Hudson,Andre Chase, andTyler Bate defeatedSchism in aneight-person mixed tag team match to successfully retain control of Chase University.^[14] On the June 6 episode ofNXT, Hail won abattle royal to become the number one contender for Stratton'sNXT Women's Championship.^[15] The match took place at Week 2 ofGold Rush on June 27, where Hail failed to win.^[16] She challenged Stratton once again on July 30 atThe Great American Bash in asubmission match, but lost while being held in aboston crab, as Chasethrew in the towel on her behalf.^[17] At Week 2 ofNXT: Halloween Havoc on October 31, Hail and Jayne challengedWWE Women's Tag Team ChampionsChelsea Green andPiper Niven for the titles though they were unsuccessful as Chase refused to help Jayne cheat to win.^[18]

On the following week ofNXT, Jayne (with Nyx) turned on Chase U.^[19] AtNXT Stand & Deliver on April 6, Hail teamed up with Henley andKelani Jordan to defeat Jayne,Kiana James andIzzi Dame in asix-woman tag team match.^[20] On the following episode ofNXT, Jayne revealed the truth of Chase U's gambling debt. In Hail's NXT Women's Championship match in 2023, Chase placed an illegal bet that Hail would win the title. However, he chose Hail's safety and threw in the towel, resulting in him losing the bet.^[21] On the April 16 episode ofNXT, Hail lost toTatum Paxley after interference from Jayne and Nyx. Following this, a match was scheduled between Hail and Jayne for Week 2 ofSpring Breakin', which Hail won. However, a dissatisfied Henley turned heel and attacked Hail as she was celebrating.^[22][23][24] On the May 21 episode ofNXT, Henley defeated Hail to qualify for a spot for the six-womanladder match to crown the inauguralNXT Women's North American Champion atNXT Battleground. On the November 19 episode ofNXT,Ridge Holland, who had joined and defected Chase U, defeated Chase with the future of Chase U on the line, causing the stable to disband.^[25]

After a five-month hiatus, Hail returned on the April 15, 2025, episode ofNXT and defeatedKarmen Petrovic to qualify for the six-woman ladder match for the vacant NXT Women’s North American Championship atNXT Stand & Deliver.^[26] At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 19, Hail failed to win the title.^[27] On the November 4 episode ofNXT, Hail was revealed asJoe Hendry's mixed tag team partner as they challengedAAA World Mixed Tag Team Champions Chelsea Green andEthan Page for the titles at Night 1 ofNXT: Gold Rush on November 18 but failed to win the match.^[28][29]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 115 of the top 250 female singles wrestlers in thePWI Women's 250 in 2023^[31]

• Thea Hail atIMDb 
• Thea Hail onInstagram
• Thea Hail's profile atWWE,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database

• 2003 births
• 21st-century female professional wrestlers
• 21st-century American professional wrestlers
• American female professional wrestlers
• Living people
• Professional wrestlers from Pennsylvania
• Professional wrestlers from Pittsburgh
• Professional wrestling managers and valets
• 21st-century American sportswomen

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from March 2024
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from March 2024