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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mickie Lee Knuckles (1984-05-16)May 16, 1984 (age 41)[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Mickie Knuckles[1][2] Isabella Smothers[3] Izza Belle Smothers[4] Moose[1][2] Moose Knuckles[5] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[6] |
| Billed weight | 185 lb (84 kg)[6] [7][8] |
| Billed from | Clarksville, Indiana[7] The Right Side of Whiskey Row[8] |
| Trained by | Chris Hero[1][2] |
| Debut | August 2, 2003[1][2] |
Mickie Lee Knuckles[2][9] (born May 16, 1984) is an Americanprofessional wrestler. She is best known for work on theindependent circuit, particularlyIndependent Wrestling Association Mid-South,Chikara, H2O - Hardcore Hustle Organisation, ICW No Holds Barred, AWR - Asylum Wrestling Revolution andCombat Zone Wrestling,[10] as well as a brief stint withTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring nameMoose. Knuckles is also notable for her hard-hitting style andintergenderdeathmatches.
Mickie Knuckles was born in the small southern cityClarksville, Indiana on May 16, 1984. Knuckles graduated from Charlestown Senior High School.[9]
Knuckles has been a fan of professional wrestling since she was five years old,[7] and she started training to become a professional wrestler underChris Hero, Mark Wolf and Bull Pain. During this time, she also worked as a referee and part of the security forIndependent Wrestling Association Mid-South shows.[7] Knuckles became the final graduating student of the IWA-MS Wrestling School, and would go on to wrestle many various opponents including Amazing Kong and Too Cold Scorpio.
Knuckles debuted on August 2, 2003, in a non-tournament match at the 2003King of the Death Match againstHailey Hatred. During the match, Hatredpowerbombed Knuckles across two bridged steel chairs. Knuckles' neck hit the back of the chairs,[11] causing the match to be stopped. Undeterred, in November 2003, Knuckles was booked into theTed Petty Invitational (TPI) tournament, becoming the first woman to be booked in either the IWA Mid-South Sweet Science Sixteen Tournament.
Knuckles continued to have inter-gender matches against wrestlers such as Cash Flo and Nate Webb, before Dave Prazak began to bring in more women to IWA Mid-South and their women's division was formed.[12] In May 2004, a tournament was held to crown the first NWA Midwest/IWA Mid-South Women's Championship, during which Mickie advanced to the semi-finals before being defeated byMercedes Martinez. One of her fellow entrants in the tournament,Traci Brooks, stated that she had "never seen a girl train as hard" as Mickie.[13][unreliable source] Mickie won the NWA Midwest/IWA Mid-South Women's Championship on June 11, 2005, defeatingMsChif andAllison Danger in a three-way match.[14] However, six days laterNWA Midwest promoter Ed Chuman declared that the title match had been unsanctioned and returned NWA Midwest title to MsChif. Ian Rotten, however, still recognized Mickie as the IWA Mid-South Women's Champion, leading to the titles splitting into two separate entities.
As such, Knuckles became the IWA Mid-South Women's Champion, keeping the title for five months before losing it to her first ever opponent Hailey Hatred, on November 18, 2005. Knuckles would win the title back at an IWA East Coast event in February 2006, and held on to it until July 2007 before losing it to Chuck Taylor. Mickie earned an IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship match against Chuck and he stated that if he had to put up his title against a female, than the female should also put her title on the line. Mickie agreed and was defeated by Chuck who then became the men's and women's champion. Less than a month later, Mickie won back her title by defeating Taylor in a "Falls Count Anywhere" match to regain the Women's Championship for a third time. She would go on to hold the title until May 2, 2008, where she lost to by Daizee Haze in a triple threat match also involving Sara Del Rey.
Before receiving a rematch for the IWA Women's Championship, Knuckles broke her right femur on July 6, 2008, after performing a diving crossbody off a platform onto Del Rey.[15]
After losing on the first night in aFans Bring the Weapons Match in the 2006 tournament, Knuckles once again was booked in the King of the Death Match Tournament in 2007, becoming the only woman to ever be booked for the show on multiple occasions.
On Night One, Knuckles defeated Tank in a Barbed Wire Ropes and Barbed Wire Baseball Bat Deathmatch. However, she was defeated on Night Two in the quarter finals by Brain Damage in another Fans Bring the Weapons Match.[16]
At the inaugural Queen of the Death Match tournament in November 2006, an announcement was made to open the show thatLuFisto would not be performing due to breaking her hand punchingNecro Butcher during the finals of the Stranglehold KOTDM tournament show. In the first round, Knuckles defeated Ann Thraxx in an Unlucky 13 Staple Gun Death Match, and went on to defeat Rachel Putski in the semi-final in a Taipei Death Match. This put Mickie through to the final where she defeatedMayumi Ozaki in a No Rope Barbed Wire, Fans Bring The Weapons Steel Cage Death Match to become the first ever IWA Mid-South Queen of the Death Match. However, following the match, LuFisto and Vanessa Kraven entered the cage and beat Mickie down, leading to Mickie swearing revenge against LuFisto.[17]
The second Queen of the Death Match tournament show was held in October, 2007 and this time LuFisto was able to make her booking. Mickie was beaten in a first round Barbed Wire Ropes and Barbed Wire Baseball Bat Deathmatch after being pinned by Storm. However, she was victorious in the Semi Final Losers Bracket, defeating B.B. Walls in a Barbed Wire Ropes and Deathmatch Bats match; following that with a victory over Roxie Cotton in a Barbed Wire Ropes and Taipei Death Match in the loser's bracket final. This set up the final fight of LuFisto vs Mickie Knuckles in a No Rope Barbed Wire and Electrified Light Tubes Death Match in which LuFisto defeated Mickie.[16]
In February 2005, Knuckles made herChikara debut asEddie Kingston'stag team partner for that year'sTag World Grand Prix. Later that year, she was booked in the Young Lions Cup tournament, becoming the first female wrestler to compete for the title. Knuckles made her final appearance with Chikara on June 25, 2006, where she lost toDaizee Haze.
In October 2005, Knuckles was booked in theChickfight 3 tournament show inHayward, California. After defeating Tiffany in the first round and Hailey Hatred in the second, Mickie lost out in the finals to returning championMariko Yoshida.[18]
In mid-2008, Knuckles made her debut withTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling. She appeared on the June 5 edition ofImpact!, coming toThe Beautiful People's aid by attackingGail Kim,ODB, andRoxxi. It was later announced that she would be in a tag match with The Beautiful People against the team of Kim, Roxxi, and ODB atSlammiversary. At the show, she made her in-ring debut under the name Moose, but lost the match when ODB pinned her.[19]
After Slammiversary, Mickie signed an official contract with TNA[20] and made herImpact! in-ring debut on the June 26 edition with a victory over ODB in aBimbo Brawl. The following week, she defeated Roxxi in another Bimbo Brawl.[21]
Later that week at an IWA-MS show, Knuckles broke her leg during a match againstSara Del Rey. In order to take time off to recover, TNA had reported they had a spot left open for Knuckles. However, after an unsuccessful first surgery, another surgery was needed and TNA decided to release her from her contract instead.
Knuckles debuted inJuggalo Championship Wrestling as a referee in season two of theinternet wrestling showSlamTV!.Tracy Smothers, who was facing his rival2 Tuff Tony, won the match after a fast count by Knuckles, who was later revealed as Tracy'sillegitimate daughter, Isabella Smothers.[22] Two weeks later, Tracy caught Isabella listening toBoondox, the rapper who sings 2 Tuff Tony's entrance music.[23] The following week, Tracy caught Isabella engaging in sexual actions with Boondox and assaulted him.[24] Tracy and Isabella were later scheduled to face Boondox and 2 Tuff Tony atBloodymania II.[25] After Isabella broke her leg wrestling for IWA-MS, she was replaced in the match byBull Pain.[26]
Isabella defeated Hailey Hatred in a Ladies 10,000ThumbtackDeathmatch at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's event Oddball Wrestling 2009. AtBloodymania IV, Isabella lost to "The World's TallestJuggalette" Isis in the first women's match in Bloodymania history.[27] By the end of 2010, she was put into astoryline in which she was seemingly dating Bull Pain. Smothers and Pain were then involved in a brief rivalry with the Weedman.[28][29][30]
Knuckles made herOhio Valley Wrestling debut on episode 610, under the nameIzza Belle Smothers. She teamed with her (storyline) sisterJessie Belle Smothers in a losing effort to The Blossoms. On episode 612, Smothers Twisted Daughters teamed with Shiloh Jonze in a six-person mixed tag team match in a losing effort to The Blossoms and Johnny Spade. Smothers was part of an eight-womangauntlet match for the at OVW'sSaturday Night Special on April 15, but was unsuccessful in winning the title. On July 7, Smothers Twisted Daughters defeated Taryn Shay andLady JoJo when Izza Belle pinned JoJo, giving her an opportunity to challenge for the title. On August 6, at theSaturday Night Special, Smothers defeated JoJo to win theWomen's Championship.[4] On August 24, Smothers lost the title back to JoJo.[31] On October 11, Knuckles was unsuccessful in reclaiming the Women's Championship during athree-way match against Lady JoJo andTaeler Hendrix. On December 10, Knuckles and Jessie Belle Smothers' OVW profiles were removed from the website, signalling their departure from the company.
After giving birth to her son and marrying her husband, fellow wrestler Justin Turner (also known asJacob Black), Knuckles made her return to wrestling in May 2016. Shortly after making her return she made a debut at TNA for a dark match againstLaurel Van Ness.[citation needed]
In 2012, Knuckles wrestled only four times as she was due to give birth.[32] Knuckles made her full-time return to wrestling on February 10, 2013, where she teamed with Ryan Dookie to win an eight-team Gauntlet Match to win the Pro Wrestling Freedom Tag Team Championship. Following this, Knuckles returned toIndependent Wrestling Association Mid-South for the first time in four years, where she defeatedHeidi Lovelace, Jordynne Grace, Randi West and Thunderkitty in a five-way match on December 6. After a few more matches with IWA-MS, Knuckles wrestled her final match for the promotion on April 13, 2014, where she defeated Randi West in a Strap Match. Knuckles found championship success soon thereafter, as she wonResistance Pro Wrestling's Women's Championship on April 25 and, while teaming with Matt Tremont, wonWomen Superstars Uncensored's King and Queen of the Ring tournament on May 10.[33]
After defeating Nick Esteban in an intergender Falls Count Anywhere Match on March 28, 2015, Knuckles announced she would be quitting wrestling for a little and a few weeks later on April 7 revealed that she was once again pregnant.[34] Knuckles made her return to wrestling in May 2016.
2021 would be a calendar year for Knuckles as she had notable matches with the likes of AKIRA, Kennedi Copeland, Charlie Kruel and Randi West.[35] She also competed at TKW Madness (featuring the Kaos Kup Deathmatch Tournament) on March 20, 2021,[36] ICW Hardcore Death Match Challenge 2021 on May 29, 2021,[37] AWR Asylum Deathmatch Tournament 2021 on July 11, 2021,[38] CCW Goddess Of Gore 2 on October 3, 2021,[39] AWR Goddess Of Death on October 16, 2021,[40] and H2O Tremont's Deathmatch Tournament on October 30, 2021.[41] Knuckles would stay active in the early 2020s competing in various Deathmatches for many promotions in the United States, including being a finalist in Tournament of Death 19 & Tournament Of Death 20, competing in Insane 8 2022 & 2023, and winning Slave To The Deathmatch 14 in September 2023.[42] Knuckles had a very notable match with Lufisto at ICW No Holds Barred Volume 44 in March 2023.[43] Knuckles was also successful in winning Tremont's Deathmatch Tournament 4 in October 2023.[44]
In 2024, Knuckles won a her first major deathmatch tournament claiming Combat Zone Wrestling's Tournament of Death 21 crown after losing in the finals the previous two years. She returned to defend the championship the following year at Tournament of Death 22, losing a Three-way 300 Light Tubes Tokyo Tower Deathmatch to Shlak.
In 2021, Knuckles participated in this hardcore tournament, known for its extreme matches. She competed again in this tournament on October 29, 2023, highlighting her ongoing involvement in hardcore wrestling.[45]
In December 2024, Knuckles competed in the Land of the Rising Sun for BJW at the BJW King Of Deathmatch World GP Tournament. She was defeated in the Second round by Daiju Wakamatsu in a Fluorescent Lighttubes Twin Tower Death Match. Having Made a strong impression on the Japanese crowd, She wrestled a few more matches on the Tour and is slated to return to Japan in 2025.[46]
In October 2024, Knuckles returned to Juggalo Championship Wrestling, tagging with Super Beast and losing to Dani Mo and Facade. Knuckles continued to wrestle on the Tour of Terror, primarily in singles matches, throughout late 2024 and early 2025.
1The IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship was held jointly between Knuckles, Abercrombie and Moore under theFreebird Rule.