 Brooks atBound for Glory IV in 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tracy Brookshaw (1975-05-22)May 22, 1975 (age 50) St. Marys, Ontario, Canada[1] |
Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Miss Apocalypse Ms. Brooks Traci Traci Brooks Tracy Tracy Brooks Tracy Brookshaw |
| Billed height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 127 lb (58 kg) |
| Billed from | Toronto, Ontario, Canada Wall Street inManhattan, New York St. Marys, Ontario, Canada |
| Trained by | Ron Hutchinson[1] Rob Etcheverria[1] |
| Debut | 2001 |
| Retired | July 18, 2015[2] |
Tracy Brookshaw (born May 22, 1975)[3] is a Canadian formerprofessional wrestler,wrestling valet andreferee, better known by her ring nameTraci Brooks. She is best known for her work inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she spent most of her career, having been the longest signed knockout the company has had wrestling actively with them from 2003 up until 2012.
Considered by TNA/Impact as the "originalKnockout", she was inducted into theImpact Hall of Fame in 2023.
Brookshaw grew up on a pig and chicken farm inSt. Marys, Ontario.[4] In 2000, she won theToronto Sunshine Millennium Calendar contest which led to her being namedMiss June 2000 and interviewed in theToronto Sun.[5] Brookshaw went on to engage in promotional modeling work with theMolson,Labatt andBudweiser beverage brewers.
In her interview, Brookshaw said that she aspired to be "the nextWWF Superstar".[5] This led to her being introduced toRon Hutchison, a professional wrestler who operated the Sully's Gymprofessional wrestling school out ofToronto, Ontario. Brookshaw began training under Hutchinson in March 2000 and debuted in January 2001 as "Tracy Brooks".
Brooks appeared with numerousindependentpromotions, includingBorder City Wrestling and the Apocalypse Wrestling Federation (AWF). During her time in AWF, she worked a program feuding withLa Felina and was managed for a short time by Canadian hip-hop artist,Dan-e-o. On August 30, 2001, Brookshaw (as Miss Apocalypse) defeated Joey Knight to win the AWF heavyweight title. To this day, she continues to do work for independent promotions, includingBlood Sweat and Ears in her home region inSouthern Ontario and, most prominently,NWA Cyberspace where she contends for theNWA Cyberspace Women's Championship.
Traci even wrestled in independent custom wrestling matches against wrestlers likeAmber O'Neal andChristie Ricci.
Brooks debuted inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling on April 30, 2003, inCatholic schoolgirl apparel, attackingLollipop, a dancer who entertained the live audience during intermissions. The following week, Brooks demanded to be entered in agauntlet match in which the winner would receive a shot at theNWA World Heavyweight Championship, threatening tosueNational Wrestling Alliance officialBill Behrens forsexual discrimination if he did not comply. When her threats failed, Brooks instead attempted to charm Behrens into allowing her into the match. Behrens then placed Brooks in a triple threat match with fellow female wrestlersDesire andTrinity, with the winner gaining entry into the gauntlet match. AfterKid Kash ambushed Trinity andDavid Young accidentally punched Desire, Brooks won the match. Later that evening, she was attacked by Lollipop as she approached the ring to enter the gauntlet match. After she entered the ring, Brooks was quickly pinned and eliminated by Kid Kash.
On May 21, Brooks was paired with David Young in an "Anarchy Alliance"tag team tournament to determine the number one contenders to theNWA World Tag Team Championship. They defeated Kid Kash and Trinity on May 21 andRon Killings (whose partner,Don Harris, had refused to team with him) on June 4. During the match, Brooks was injured by Killings.Nurse Veronica (who had recently debuted in an on-air role as TNA's backstage clinician) rushed to the ring to aid Brooks. During this time, Brooks was also involved in catfights with Young's valet, Desire.[6] Brooks and Young then facedAmerica's Most Wanted in the tournament final, but lost. After the match, Young threatened Brooks, but she was again saved by Veronica.[7]
During an interview withGoldy Locks, Brooks and Veronica announced that TNA officials would no longer allow women to compete against men; however, they would continue to work together as a stable namedBitchslap.[8] The duo then issued an open challenge to any women in attendance. TNA cage dancers April Pennington and Lollipop (who was attacked by Brooks several weeks earlier[9]) accepted the challenge. They tried attacking Brooks and Veronica but were stopped by TNA security guards.[10] The following week, Lollipop challenged Bitchslap to a match. Veronica (without Brooks present) accepted, but was attacked by both Lollipop and Pennington until TNA security again stopped the catfight.[11] Veronica then replaced Brooks with a new partner,Cheerleader Valentina (who had earlier competed as JV Love onTNA Xplosion in a match against Brooks[12][13]). The reason for the replacement is because Brooks was unable to travel from Canada to the TNA taping. The storyline with Bitchslap was eventually dropped because TNA didn't have enough female wrestlers to compete against the group,[14] and Veronica turned down a two-year contract with TNA, instead attempting to sign with eitherWWE or a company in Japan.[15] Brooks was removed from television for repackaging, Trinity was placed into other storylines, and TNA stopped booking Valentina.
Brooks returned to TNA on November 5, 2003, helpingShane Douglas defeatThe Sandman. On November 26, Douglas and Brooks, known now simply as "Traci", helpedMichael Shane defeatSonjay Dutt. Following the match, the trio celebrated, and Douglas announced that they were to be called "The New Franchise".[1]
The New Franchise began feuding withTriple X (Christopher Daniels,Low Ki andElix Skipper). The feud lasted until April 21, 2004, when Shane lost to Daniels after he passed up on a pinfall opportunity in order to try to hit his finisher. After Douglas admonished Shane, Shane began pushing and slapping his erstwhile mentor. Traci eventually grabbed Douglas from behind, enabling Shane tosuperkick Douglas. The following week, Traci helped Shane defeat Douglas in a singles match.
Traci continued tomanage Shane, who was by now pursuing theX Division Championship. Shane proved unable to defeat the incumbent champion,A.J. Styles, so he and Traci recruitedFrankie Kazarian in order to maximize their numbers advantage. The result was a new stable/tag team that was known by fans asShazarian. After several weeks of confrontations, Styles defended his title against Shane and Kazarian in a three wayUltimate X match on July 28, 2004. Though he was able to nullify the interference of Traci by giving her aStyles Clash, he was eventually knocked unconscious by the combined efforts of Shane and Kazarian. Shane and Kazarian then climbed for the X Division Championship, and simultaneously retrieved the belt, thus becoming co-champions. They lost the titles toPetey Williams in a Gauntlet Match on August 11.
In late 2004, Traciturned into afan favorite by leaving Shane and Kazarian and becoming the assistant of theTNA Director of Authority,Dusty Rhodes.Trinity also wanted to be Rhodes' assistant, however, so he told each woman to recruit a new tag team. The teams faced one another atDestination X on March 13, 2005, with the winning team's manager becoming Rhodes' sole assistant.[16] Traci's team (Don and Ron Harris, theDisciples of Destruction) defeated Trinity's team (Big Tilly andBruno Sassi -Phi Delta Slam), making her Rhodes' assistant.[16] Traci eventually left Rhodes' side and began managingChris Sabin, who was feuding with Michael Shane and Trinity. AtLockdown on April 24, she tried to prevent Trinity from interfering in a four way X Division Xscape elimination match between Sabin,Sonjay Dutt,Shocker and Shane, but failed.[17] The feud continued untilHard Justice on May 15, when Sabin and Traci lost to Shane and Trinity.[18] In the course of the match, Traci turned on Sabin and Shane turned on Trinity, with Traci aligning herself with Shane once again and Trinity siding with Sabin.[18]
Traci began managing Shane once again and stayed with him when he changed his name to his real name, Matt Bentley. When Bentley sat out during contract renegotiations in August 2005, she did some interview work for TNA. AtUnbreakable on September 11, Traci acted as a backstage interviewer throughout the event. She returned to Bentley's side after his return at Unbreakable. In February 2006, Bentley turned heel and began a dispute with longtime tag partnerLance Hoyt. Following the feud, Bentley was sidelined with an injury. Traci did promotional work for the company during the downtime.
On the May 15 taping ofImpact!, she wrestledGail Kim in the first woman's match in over a year. The match was taped purely for the forthcoming TNA Knockouts DVD, not for the Spike TV program. Kim gained the pin after interference from America's Most Wanted. At Hardcore War she defeated Kim withChristy Hemme as referee.
Traci was announced asRobert Roode's manager atBound for Glory 2006 and changed her name to "Ms. Brooks," thus becoming a villain.[19] She managed him during theFight for the Right Tournament at the October 28Impact!. She lost toEric Young in a bikini contest atTurning Point.[20] After this, she was told to sign Young to a contract- no matter what it took to do it. In the storyline, Ms. Brooks began to pressure him into having sex with her. Finally, atAgainst All Odds Ms. Brooks successfully seduced Young into signing a contract with "Robert Roode Inc.".[21] After sometime without a storyline, she entered a rivalry withGail Kim and was defeated at anImpact! taping. AtSlammiversary, she was taken out by Kim once again.
On the August 23, 2007, episode ofImpact!, Roode wrestled Gail Kim, with Kim pinning Roode after a low blow leg drop. Following the match, Roode, unhappy at his loss, continued to attack Kim until Kaz came out to counter Roode.[22] On the September 27 edition ofImpact. Tracy competed in 5-way match in losing effort to Roxxi Laveau.[23] On the October 4 edition ofImpact!, it was revealed that Brooks and Roode were not romantically linked, and that the only reason she continued to take Roode's abuse was to help her sick mother. Subsequently, onImpact! and atGenesis a female fan held up signs asking Roode to replace Ms. Brooks with her. Roode then joined theAngle Alliance with Ms. Brooks begrudgingly by his side.[23] At the Genesis pay-per-view on November 11, 2007, Traci fainted due toheat exhaustion, but appeared to be doing fine following help from medics. However, news reports have arisen that claim that her fainting was staged, as Brooks was asked to do so byVince Russo. At the January 10Impact! tapings, Roode fired Ms. Brooks and replaced her with the female fan, identified by Roode asMs. Payton Banks. Shortly thereafter, Brookshaw reverted to acrowd favorite and to her "'Traci Brooks" ring name and began feuding with Banks. She defeated Banks at the annual pay-per-view,Against All Odds.[24] On the April 3 edition ofImpact!, Traci defeated Payton Banks after a facebuster from the top turnbuckle. AtLockdown, She participated in the first ever "Queen of the Cage" match which was won byRoxxi Laveaux.[25] AtSacrifice, Traci participated in the first everTNA KnockoutMakeover Battle Royal, which was won by Gail Kim.[26]
During the July 17 edition ofImpact! a backstage segment revealed that Brooks was in talks withJim Cornette about something concerning the Knockouts. Soon after on the August 7 episode ofImpact!, Brooks was the special guest referee for a match between Roxxi andJacqueline, which Roxxi won. In August 2008, Cornette announced that Traci officially is in charge of the Knockouts Division, known as the "Knockout Law". In January 2009, Traci stopped appearing in TNA andJim Cornette resumed control over the Knockout division. She returned on the March 12, 2009, edition ofImpact! as a referee.
Traci returned to television on the July 23, 2009, episode ofImpact!. During an interview withLauren, she announced that had taken time off TNA to work on some projects in Hollywood and she was returning as the referee for a Knockout battle royal later that evening. The winner of the battle royal would receive $50,000 and spot inThe Main Event Mafia. As the match wound down toTara andAwesome Kong as the final two participants, Brooks revealed that she was actually a participant in the match and tossed both women out of the ring. Upon winning the match, Traci turned villainous and became a member of the Main Event Mafia. On the following Impact, Traci cemented herself as a villainess during an interview with Lauren in which she denounced TNA for not giving her a spot on television, explaining her absence. On August 27 episode ofImpact, Traci competed in theTNA Knockout Tag Title tournament teaming withSharmell to represent The Main Event Mafia, but they lost in the first round of the tournament to Awesome Kong andRaisha Saeed. On the October 1 edition ofImpact!, Traci was defeated by Christy Hemme in a "Battle of the Playboy Models" match. After the match, the villainous Traci attacked Christy.[27] The following episode ofImpact, Brooks teamed up withAlissa Flash and The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne) to defeatTaylor Wilde, Sarita, Hemme and Hamada in an elimination match.[23]
On the October 22 edition ofImpact! the Main Event Mafia disbanded.[28] On the November 12 episode ofImpact, Traci began a rivalry with the villainousAlissa Flash when she attacked Flash after losing to her in a singles match.[23][29] On the November 19 episode ofImpact, Traci attacked Flash after she lost to Sarita, In the process, Traci cemented herself as a face.[23] On the November 26 edition ofImpact!, Traci competed in a number 1 contenders battle royal to face ODB for the Knockouts Championship atFinal Resolution but failed to win after being eliminated by Wilde and Sarita.[30] On March 4, 2010, Brookshaw was released from her contract.[31]
On February 14, 2011, at the tapings of the February 17 edition ofImpact!, Brooks made a one night return to TNA, saving her real life husband Kazarian fromRobbie E andCookie.[32][33] On April 7, Brooks wrestled at TNAhouse show inErie, Pennsylvania, unsuccessfully challengingMadison Rayne for theTNA Women's Knockout Championship.[34] Two days later Brooks defeated Rayne in a non-title match at a house show inCleveland Ohio.[35] On the July 21 edition ofImpact Wrestling, Brooks made her return to TNA, savingVelvet Sky andMickie James fromODB and Jacqueline.[36] On the August 18 edition ofImpact Wrestling, Brooks re-applied for the job of "Knockout Law".[37] However, on the September 1 edition ofImpact Wrestling, the job was given toKaren Jarrett, who then hired Brooks as her executive assistant.[38] On the December 8 edition ofImpact Wrestling, Brooks returned to the ring to face Jarrett's ally Gail Kim. Despite being told to lay down, Brooks decided to fight back, but eventually lost following interference from Madison Rayne.[39] After Karen Jarrett was fired from TNA on the December 15 edition ofImpact Wrestling, Brooks began wrestling more regularly, feuding with Madison Rayne.[40] On the January 5, 2012, edition ofImpact Wrestling, Brooks and Mickie James failed to capture theTNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship from Rayne and Gail Kim. This turned out to be Brooks's Final match in TNA.[41][42] After months of inactivity, Brooks announced on April 17, that she had been released from TNA.[43]
Brooks made her debut forWomen Superstars Uncensored, on November 28, 2008, defeating Annie Social in singles competition.[23] On the March 6, 2010, where she lost toApril Hunter, following the match, Traci saved Hunter from an attack from The Boston Shore.[23] On the April 10 episode ofWSU, Traci unsuccessfully challenged Brittany Savage for WSU Spirit Championship.[23]
On July 18, 2015, Brooks made her final professional wrestling appearance forHouse of Hardcore (HOH), managing Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels to a win overThe Kingdom (Matt Taven andMichael Bennett).[2]
Brooks made a brief return to Impact on June 19, 2022, atSlammiversary 2022. Brooks was seen ringside supporting her husbandFrankie Kazarian his 10-man tag team match. She would get involved, taking outMaria Kanellis-Bennett with aclothesline. Brooks made another return to Impact atSlammiversary 2023 when she managed Kazarian his match withEddie Edwards. Later in the match, Brooks took out Edwards' wifeAlisha in the ring as she tried to get involved in the match. On the July 20 episode ofImpact! Brooks and Alisha brawled backstage. The two husband-and-wife teams would mace a mixed-tag match at tapings for the 1000th episode ofImpact!, with Brooks and Kazarian winning the match. After the match, it was announced that Brooks would be inducted into theImpact Hall of Fame at that year'sBound for Glory. On 21 October 2023 Traci was inducted into the Impact Hall of Fame.
On July 26, 2009, it was revealed that TNA had signed a deal withPlayboy making Brooks the first TNA Knockout to ever pose forPlayboy.[44] On September 2 it was reported thatPlayboy had decided not to publish Brooks' photo shoot in the magazine.[45] The photo shoot was instead released through their Cyber Club on September 17, 2009.[46][47]
Brookshaw married fellow TNA wrestler Frank Gerdelman, better known asFrankie Kazarian, on January 7, 2010;[48] they started dating in 2006 when she acted as his manager.[49] The couple have a son together.
In an October 2008 interview with theChicago Sun-Times, Brookshaw revealed that she suffered fromErb's palsy as an infant as a side-effect of her birth. While she recovered for the most part, due to aggressive treatment, she noted that she has impaired function in her right arm which affected her in the ring. She has said that "I don't have a biceps or a triceps. I have a uniceps."[49][50]
I grew up in St. Mary's, On. on a pig and chicken farm, yes I grew up shoveling pig S**T. I try to go home to the farm as much as possible
I won the Toronto Sunshine Calendar Contest and was named Miss June 2000. To promote the calendar I was a Sunshine Girl and in my bio I wrote to be the next WWF Superstar. (TNA was non existent then)
I've been wrestling for nine years now, and if you are wondering, yes, it does affect me in the ring, both physically and mentally.
