Bell signed with WWE in 2018 after an impressive performance in thesecond Mae Young Classic, and was assigned toNXT. She joined the main roster in 2020 and became a part ofRetribution under the ring nameReckoning. She was released in 2021, and briefly returned to Impact Wrestling and theindependent circuit in 2022. She returned to WWE in November of that same year and subsequently joinedThe O.C. until thegroup's disbandment in mid 2024.
After graduating from college, Yim received an invitation to train and wrestle in Japan with Universal Woman's Pro Wrestling Reina in 2011.[6][15] Through Reina's relationship withConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Yim also learned Mexicanlucha libre.[15]
After training withD. J. Hyde at theCombat Zone Wrestling (CZW) training school, Yim began working for CZW as amanager forAdam Cole.[15] Debuting atCage of Death II in December 2010, the two were presented as astoryline couple, and Yim regularly interfered in Cole's matches to help him win.[15][19][20][21] After helping Cole gain a victory over Greg Excellent atDown With The Sickness 2011 in September, Excellent beganfeuding with the pair.[22] As part of the storyline, Yim faced Excellent in anintergender match atNight Of Infamy 10: Ultimatum in November.[23] After losing a rematch in January 2012, Yim challenged Excellent to aTables, Ladders, and Chairs match atAerial Assault 2012, which Yim won, to conclude the feud.[24][25][26] She made only two more appearances for CZW that year before leaving the promotion.[6]
"The Lucha Sisters" Mia Yim (back) andLeva Bates (front) in November 2014
Yim debuted forShine Wrestling at their second show in August 2012, defeatingSassy Stephie. Throughout 2012 and 2013, she faced wrestlers includingJessicka Havok and Tina San Antonio,[6] before entering the tournament to determine the inauguralShine Champion. She defeatedMercedes Martinez atShine 10 in May 2013, and atShine 11, she defeatedLeva Bates andIvelisse Vélez en route to the final, where she lost toRain.[27][28] As part of Shine, she also appeared forEvolve, taking on Vélez and Su Yung in showcase matches.[29][30]
On February 28, 2014, atShine 17, Yim teamed with Leva Bates during theShine Tag Team Championship tournament, forming thetag team The Lucha Sisters. They defeated the teams ofCherry Bomb andKimber Lee, and Sassy Stephie andJessie Belle Smothers en route to the final, where they defeated Made In Sin (Allysin Kay and Taylor Made) to become the inaugural Shine Tag Team Champions.[31] They successfully defended the championship againstNevaeh and Sassy Stephie, and against the team ofEvie andMadison Eagles atShine 18, but lost it to Legendary (Malia Hosaka and Brandi Wine) atShine 20 on June 27.[6][32][33] The Lucha Sisters failed to regain the title in a rematch in August atShine 21.[34]
On November 16, 2014, during theWWNLive tour inChina, Yim defeated Ivelisse Vélez to win the Shine Championship, making her the first woman to have held both the Shine Championship and Shine Tag Team Championship.[35] AtShine 26 on April 3, 2015, Yim lost the championship toNWA World Women's ChampionSantana Garrett in a title vs. title match.[36]
AtShine 28, Yim was defeated by Allysin Kay, and began showing signs of aheel turn when she blamed Leva Bates for the loss.[37] Yim turned villainous atShine 31 on December 11, 2015, when she attacked Leva Bates after the duo lost to Marti Belle and Jayme Jameson in a match for the vacant SHINE Tag Team Championship.[38]
In April 2013, Yim debuted forFull Impact Pro, defeating Larry Dallas in an intergender match. In August, Yim and Dos Ben Dejos (Jay Rios and Eddie Cruz) defeated Dallas and The Now (Vik Dalishus and Hale Collins) in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match when Yim pinned Dallas.[50] Yim spent the next several months managing Dos Ben Dejos, along with Leva Bates, while also wrestling in Shine showcase matches against Jessicka Havok and Ivelisse Vélez.[51][52][53][54] In June 2014, The Lucha Sisters successfully defended the Shine Tag Team Championship against Vélez andCandice LeRae at an FIP event.[55] In January 2015, Yim lost toSantana in a Shine showcase match.[56]
In April 2015, TNA began airing vignettes promoting The Dollhouse (Yim andMarti Bell)'s debut, in which Yim's ring name was changed to Jade.[59] Jade and Bell debuted on theTKO: Night of Knockouts edition ofImpact Wrestling on April 24, where Jade lost toLaura Dennis by disqualification after the two attacked referee Brian Stiffler as well as ring announcerChristy Hemme, establishing themselves asheels in the process.[60] Later that night, Jade and Marti helped Taryn Terrell retain herTNA Women's Knockout Championship againstAwesome Kong, with Terrell joining The Dollhouse in the process.[61] The Dollhouse wrestled their first match as a team on the May 8 episode ofImpact Wrestling, where they defeated Awesome Kong andGail Kim in a 3–on–2 handicap match.[62] Jade and Bell would regularly interfere in Terrell's championship matches and ensure the win for her. AtSlammiversary XIII, The Dollhouse lost to Awesome Kong and Brooke in another 3–on–2 handicap match.[63] On the July 15 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Terrell lost the championship to Brooke, after Gail Kim returned and attacked Jade, causing a distraction.[64] On theTurning Point special episode ofImpact Wrestling on August 19, Jade and Bell competed in a 2-on-1 handicapsix sides of steel cage match against Gail Kim, which Kim would win.[65]
On the September 23 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Jade unsuccessfully challenged Gail Kim for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship.[66] On February 23, 2016, during theLockdown special episode ofImpact Wrestling, Jade scored the pinfall over Kim in a six–KnockoutLethal Lockdown match,[67] as a result, Jade received another shot at Kim's TNA Women's Knockout Championship, two weeks later, but failed to win the title.[68][69]
On April 5, Jade defeated Kim andMadison Rayne in athree–way match to win the TNA Knockouts Championship for the first time.[70][71] On the same day, during the tapings forKnockouts Knockdown 4, Jade went on to defeat Leva Bates and thegauntlet match, with lastly eliminating Madison Rayne, to become the new "Queen of the Knockouts".[72] In her first title defense, on the April 12 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Jade defeated Madison Rayne to retain her championship.[73]
In late April, Jade started a feud with Knockouts CommissionerMaria which led to her firstface turn since signing with the company. Few weeks later, she was attacked by the debutingSienna after she refused to lay down for Maria. On the May 10 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Jade successfully defended her title against Kim by DQ after Sienna attacked them. Jade was then scheduled to face Maria's bodyguard Sienna atSlammiversary with the title on the line. On the May 31 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Jade teamed up with her former rival Kim to defeat Sienna andAllie in a tag-team match. At Slammiversary, Jade would lose the Knockouts Championship to Sienna after Marti Bell hit Jade in the back with a baton in a triple threat match that also featured Kim, ending her reign at 87 days.[74]
On August 25, 2016, atTurning Point Jade competed in aFive–way match against the champion Sienna, Marti Bell, Madison Rayne and Allie for theTNA Knockouts Championship, which was won by Allie.[75] AtBound for Glory, Jade defeated Sienna. On the December 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Jade lost toRosemary in a "Six Sides of Steel" cage match for the vacated TNA Knockouts Championship.[76] In mid–January 2017, the feud between Rosemary and Jade re–emerged[77] and this led to aMonster's ball match, where Rosemary defeated Jade to retain her championship. Jade received a rematch against Rosemary on the March 2 episode ofImpact Wrestling, in aLast Knockout Standing match, which she lost. This was Jade's last match in TNA, and it was officially announced earlier in the week that she was not signed to a new contract and confirming her departure from the company.[78]
On July 13, 2017, Yim returned toWWE by entering theMae Young Classic tournament, representing her mother's country ofSouth Korea. She defeatedSarah Logan in her first round match,[81] but lost toShayna Baszler in the second round match the following day.[82] On August 9, 2018, Yim once again returned to the WWE by entering theMae Young Classic tournament for the second time, defeatingAllysin Kay in the first round and the returningKaitlyn in the second before losing toToni Storm in the quarterfinals.[83][84][85]
Thanks to her performance at the Mae Young Classic, on September 24, it was confirmed that Yim was signed to a contract with WWE and would begin working atNXT.[86] Just a month later, on the October 24 episode ofNXT, Yim made her in–ring debut as part of the brand, defeatingAliyah, thus establishing herself as a face.[87] In November, after a backstage altercation between the two, Yim facedBianca Belair who would hand her first loss and that would also spark a feud between the two.[88] Yim was able to bounce off the loss and defeat Reina Gonzalez to earn herself a spot for an upcomingfatal–four-way match to determine the number one contender for theNXT Women's Championship,[89] however, the match was won by Belair.[90] Shortly after Belair's undefeated streak was ended, Yim was able to defeat her in two different matches to end their feud.[91][92]
On August 10 atNXT TakeOver: Toronto, Yim lost to Shayna Baszler in an NXT Women's Championship match.[93] In November, Yim made her main roster debut as part of the NXT talent that were placed in aninvasion angle withRaw andSmackDown as part of theSurvivor Series pay-per-view.[94] Yim was chosen byRhea Ripley to join her team for the first-ever women'sWarGames match against Shayna Baszler's team.[95] On November 23 atNXT TakeOver: WarGames, just before the match took place, Yim was attacked backstage and unable to compete in the women's WarGames match. However, Yim was replaced byDakota Kai on Team Ripley, who eventually turned on Team Ripley and attackedTegan Nox.[96] 11 days later on the December 4 episode ofNXT, Yim revealed that Kai attacked her backstage and this led to a grudge match the following week, which Yim lost.[97][98] On June 7, 2020, atTakeOver: In Your House, Yim teamed up with Nox andShotzi Blackheart against and defeated Kai,Raquel Gonzalez andCandice LeRae in a six-woman tag team match.[99]
On the September 21, 2020, episode ofRaw, several weeks after her last appearance onNXT, Mia Yim turnedheel in her main roster debut by revealing herself as a member of the villainous stableRetribution under the ring name Reckoning.[100] Yim made her ring-debut on the November 30, 2020, ofRaw, in a losing effort againstDana Brooke[101] Throughout February and March, tension was teased among the group as the group's leader,Mustafa Ali, would publicly berate the rest of the group whenever they lost a match. This culminated atFastlane, when Reckoning walked out on Ali along withSlapjack, whileMace andT-Bar gave Ali a double chokeslam, effectively disbanding the group.[original research?] Two months later, Yim was assigned to the SmackDown brand. In July, Yim was traded back to the Raw brand in exchange forNaomi.[102] As part of the2021 Draft, the Reckoning character was quietly dropped as Yim was officially drafted to the Raw brand.[103][104] On November 4, 2021, Yim was released from her WWE contract without ever reappearing on television.
Bell is proficient insign language. She learned to sign from her deaf former boyfriend.[129] She has worked as a captionist for the deaf and hard of hearing.[130]
Bell previously dated pro wrestler Jay Rios and moved to Florida in 2013 to live together.[131] In 2016, Bell began publicly participating in awareness and advocacy after revealing that she is a survivor ofdomestic abuse. This includes painting her leftring fingernail purple forSafe Horizon's #PutTheNailinIt campaign.[132][12][133] Her advocacy led to her being named one ofBBC's100 Women in 2016.[134][135] Bell detailed the relationship in an hour-long interview withLillian Garcia in 2019, including relocating to Florida before the abuse started, how it continued for two years, leaving the relationship after he cheated on her with a friend, andShelton Benjamin's support.[13] Though Bell did not identify Rios by name, details pointed to him and he identified himself on a deleted social media post.[13][136]
On February 11, 2021, Bell got engaged to fellow professional wrestlerKeith Lee.[137] The couple married on February 5, 2022.[138]
As Mia Yim, she made hervideo game debut as a playable character inWWE 2K20.[139][140] She also appears inWWE 2K22 as both Mia Yim and Reckoning. She was added toWWE 2K23 in a post launch patch (Version 1.10) alongside Candice LeRae.
She streams onTwitch under the name "OfficialMiaYim".[141]
^IMPACT Wrestling Staff (August 12, 2022)."Emergence 2022 Full Results". Impact Wrestling.Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. RetrievedOctober 2, 2022.
^IMPACT Wrestling Staff (September 23, 2022)."Victory Road 2022 Full Results". Impact Wrestling.Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. RetrievedOctober 2, 2022.
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