Wendy Choo

Choo in 2018
Personal information
Born	Karen Yu[6] (1992-01-18)January 18, 1992 (age 33)[6] New York City, New York, U.S.[6][4]
Alma mater	Queens College (BSc)[5] Lehman College (MA)[5]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Karen Q[1] Karen Yu[1] Mei Ying[1] Wendy Choo[2]
Billed height	5 ft 2 in (157 cm)[2][3]
Billed from	Chinatown, N.Y. (as Karen Q)[3]
Trained by	Damian Adams[4][1] Johnny Rodz[4][1] Sara Del Rey[4] WWE Performance Center[4][1]
Debut	September 6, 2014[5][1]

Karen Yu (born January 18, 1992) is an Americanprofessional wrestler. She is signed toWWE, where she performs on theNXT andEvolvebrands under thering nameWendy Choo. She is also known for working withRing of Honor (ROH) and on theindependent circuit asKaren Q and for working with WWE asMei Ying.

Yu was born on January 18, 1992 inNew York City, New York. She grew up in theBayside, Queens neighborhood of New York City, attendingBenjamin N. Cardozo High School.^[5] Yu participated ingymnastics from the age of five.^[7] Yu received anNCAA Division II scholarship for volleyball, earning abachelor's degree inphysical education fromQueens College and amaster's degree in teaching fromLehman College.^[5][3][8] While attending Queens College, she playedvolleyball for theQueens Knights.^[9] Before becoming a full-time professional wrestler, Yu taught physical education atFiorello H. LaGuardia High School and coached gymnastics at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School.^[7]

Yu was first trained to wrestle byJohnny Rodz atGleason's Gym inBrooklyn, then byDamian Adams at the Team Adams Pro Wrestling Academy inWharton, New Jersey.^[4][5][10] She debuted in 2014 under her birth name, appearing with theCentereach, New York-based Victory Pro Wrestling (VPW) promotion.^[11] Over the following years, she competed on theindependent circuit, primarily in theNortheastern United States.^[12][13] In 2016, she adopted the ring name "Karen Q".^[13] She won her first title in April 2016, defeating Nikki Addams for the VPW Women's Championship.^[13] In 2017, she won theEast Coast Wrestling AssociationWomen's Championship.^[14] She took part in theECWA Super 8 ChickFight Tournament in 2016 and 2017, losing toDeonna Purrazzo in the finals in 2016 and winning the tournament in 2017.^[15][16]

In April 2017, Yu began appearing withRing of Honor (ROH). AtSurvival of the Fittest in November 2017, she lost to Deonna Purrazzo in ano disqualification match. AtFinal Battle in December 2018, Yu took part in afour way match for theWomen of Honor World Championship that was won byKelly Klein, marking her firstpay-per-view appearance.^[5][17]

Yu made her first appearance withWWE in August 2018, competing in theMae Young Classic tournament under the ring name Karen Q.^[18] In February 2019, she signed a contract with WWE^[19][20] and was assigned to theWWE Performance Center inOrlando, Florida for further training.^[4] From February to July 2019, she wrestled for WWE as Karen Q, primarily teaming withXia Li onNXThouse shows.^[18] In July 2019, Yu suffered a fracturedlateral malleolus; she spent the next two years rehabilitating, undergoing two surgeries.^[19][21][22]

In December 2020, Yu was reintroduced onNXT as "Mei Ying", the leader of thestable Tian Sha alongside Xia Li andBoa.^[20] She returned to the ring in August 2021.^[18] In November 2021, the Mei Ying character was dropped^[23] and Yu was again repackaged, this time as "Wendy Choo".^[20] In March 2022, Choo andDakota Kai competed in theDusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, losing toIo Shirai andKay Lee Ray in the finals.^[18] In June 2022 atNXT In Your House, Choo unsuccessfully challengedMandy Rose for theNXT Women's Championship.^[24] Choo went on to feud withTiffany Stratton, defeating her in alights out match in August 2022.^[18] In February 2023, Choo suffered an unspecified injury; she was written off television to allow her to recuperate via an angle that saw her attacked in a parking lot.^[25]

Choo returned to the ring at a house show in May 2024.^[18] The next month, she returned to WWE TV under a new, more aggressive persona.^[26] In July, Choo formed an alliance withTatum Paxley, which ended the next month when Choo turned on Paxley atNXT: The Great American Bash after Paxley failed to defeatNXT Women's North American ChampionKelani Jordan for the title.^[27][28] In September, Choo formed an alliance withTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) wrestlerRosemary, attackingTNA Knockouts World ChampionJordynne Grace during her open challenge.^[29] This led to Choo getting a title match at the TNA pay-per-viewVictory Road but she failed to win.^[30] At the TNA PPVBound For Glory, Choo and Rosemary failed to defeatTNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions Spitfire (Dani Luna andJody Threat) for the titles. After the match, Rosemary turned on Choo, ending their alliance.^[31] Their feud culminated into the first ever women'scasket match in WWE on the October 29 episode ofNXT, where Choo lost to end their feud.^[32]

On the March 12, 2025 episode ofEvolve, Choo defeated Aria Bennett in herEvolve debut match. Prior to the match, Choo handedKylie Rae a teddy bear and a note, starting a storyline between the two.^[33] In the weeks after, Choo kept giving Rae gifts consisting of teddy bears and blankets. On the April 2 episode ofEvolve, Choo defeated Rae.^[34] On the May 28 episode ofEvolve, Choo and Rae were two of the four women participating in thefatal four-way elimination match to crown the inauguralEvolve Women's Champion, where Choo was eliminated by Rae.^[35]

Choo wrestles in a "technical" style^[1] with a mix of "technical wizardry and breathtaking aerial assaults".^[3] Her finishing moves have included a modifiedBoston crab (dubbed theSpring Roll), afujiwara armbar,^[3][10] and arear naked choke.^[26] She utilizes "an array of stunningsuplexes".^[2]

In 2020 and 2021, Yu portrayed the "enigmatic and destructive" character of Mei Ying, a 1,000-year-old woman who acted as a "Yoda" for the Tian Sha stable.^[36][37] In 2022, she adopted thegimmick of Wendy Choo, a constantly tired wrestler who performs in aonesie.^[2] In 2024, she adopted a more "nightmarish" version of this gimmick.^[2][26]

Yu made hervideo game debut as a playable character in theRace to NXT PackDLC forWWE 2K23^[38] and subsequently appeared inWWE 2K24 andWWE 2K25.^[39]

Yu is aChinese American.^[5][3]

• East Coast Wrestling Association
  • ECWA Women's Championship (1 time)^[40][41]
  • Super 8 ChickFight Tournament (2017)^[41]
  • ECWA Year-End Award (1 time)
    • Match of the Year (2016) –vs.Deonna Purrazzo on October 22^[42]
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 86 of the top 100 female wrestlers in thePWI Women's 100 in 2018^[43]
• Victory Pro Wrestling
  • VPW Women's Championship (1 time)^[40]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toWendy Choo.

• Wendy Choo onTwitter
• Wendy Choo's profile atWWE,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database
• Karen Yu atIMDb

• 1992 births
• 21st-century female professional wrestlers
• 21st-century American professional wrestlers
• American female artistic gymnasts
• American female professional wrestlers
• American gymnastics coaches
• American people of Chinese descent
• Lehman College alumni
• Living people
• People from Bayside, Queens
• Professional wrestlers from New York City
• Queens College, City University of New York alumni
• Queens Knights athletes
• Schoolteachers from New York (state)
• 21st-century American sportswomen

• CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2023
• Commons category link from Wikidata