Csonka: The Ballad of Ruby Riott & Abbey Laith

As wrestling fans, we easily become attached to the performers we watch and follow. They take us on an emotional journey, sometimes they are a performer who we get attached to at the beginning, and sometimes we find them as they are already into their career. It doesn’t matter when you find them, day one, day 1,000; all that matters is how you connect with them, the emotional attachment you make, and the fact that you love and enjoy that performer. It’s all about the journey and moments that you share with that performer. I love great matches and stories, but to me, it’s those attachments and love of the performers that I watch that keeps me as big as a fan as I am at age 41.

January of 2017 was a blissful time for the fans of women’s wrestling. The WWE women’s division was in full revolution (THANKS, STEPHANIE!), the roster had fresh faces, and developmental was stacking up on talent. Following weeks on rumors, which dark Twitter broke weeks before the pay sites, WWE announced the signings of independent standouts Kimber Lee and Heidi Lovelace. For the fans of women’s wrestling, this was a glorious moment, and to some fans, similar to when Chris & Eddie signed with WWE. These women were two of the very top independent stars, not only in women’s wrestling but also on intergender wresting. Heidi Lovelace was praised for her high-quality work and great babyface persona; Lee was also praised for her work and ability to adapt and work with anyone, and even became CHIKARA Grand Champion.

The signings were huge, and with the horsewomen gone to the main roster, new names like Nikki Cross, Ember Moon, The iconic Duo, and Asuka were the new top of the division. But WWE knew that they had to restock the cupboards, and by targeting Kimber Lee and Heidi Lovelace, two of the biggest and best stars from the independents, they were sending a message to their commitment to women’s wrestling.

But the two took very different paths…

Abbey Laith: Kimber Lee was renamed Abbey Laith in WWE, and the word going around was that she was going to be pushed as a big star in the division. And with her portfolio of work, it made sense for that to be the goal with her. She was earmarked for the Mae Young Classic, rumored at one point to be a finalist/possible winner, and given Mae Young’s finish as an extra way to put her over. But something went wrong along the way. She almost never made NXT TV, here live event appearances became less and less, and in total, she only worked approximately 50 NXT matches. There are tons of rumors out there, and please let me stress, RUMORS. These RUMORS allegedly include things like WWE not thinking she was staying in good enough shape (that she put on weight after signing and didn’t put in the effort to lose it), that she wasn’t progressing as they hoped she would, she was late/inconsistent attending practice and workouts, poor attitude and refusal to change, and not being a team player. Now please keep in mind, these are RUMORS, but it paints an interesting picture; she was brought in and earmarked as a future star, her use became erratic and sparse on live events, her overall lack of TV appearances. I’m not saying that the rumors are true, and I do not claim to know the full story. But you have to ask, what went so wrong in just over one year for the company to release a woman that they reportedly had such big plans for.

HER FUTURE: The good news is that her future is still bright. She’s only27, is loved on the independent scene, and following her WWE release, stacked up a big pile of bookings. She’s making grand returns to SHIMMER, CHIKARA, and mostly all of her old promotions she worked regularly. It’s a big homecoming tour for her, and at the start, she’s going to be a hot ticket because fans have missed her, she’s still a big name to those fans, and also because she was rarely used in NXT so fans are dying to see her again. She’ll start off hot with the bookings, and if she returns to form, she’ll be booked all over the place once again.

Ruby Riott: And then there’s Ruby Riott, she wasn’t pegged as the star out of the gate, but WWE had high hopes for her. Many worried about how she’d work in WWE, due to the tattoos, the punk rock look, and fact that she didn’t have what WWE thought of as “traditional beauty.” There may be a revolution and things are very different, but wrestling on TV is and always will be, on some level, a cosmetic business. While Laith spent much of her NXT run on a milk carton while fans filed missing person reports, Riott worked almost 100 NXT matches (compared to Laith’s 50). Riott had a presence on NXT TV, even had a title shot, and according to everything I heard, was loved by the women she worked with, busted her ass at the performance center, stayed in great shape, and was open to changes to her look and overall gimmick. Riott understood the game, became a model employee, worked hard and blew past the expectations of the WWE and even her fans. In just over a year, Ruby Riott was signed, made NXT TV, got a title shot, was called up to the main roster, was given a stable to lead, made the WWE video game, and even had a PPV match with Charlotte. WWE may not have looked at her as the start of those January 2017 signings, but she seemingly did everything right, caught the company’s attention, and climbed her way to the top.

HER FUTURE: Ruby Riott’s future looks to be locked in as a success story as long as she keeps working the grind, busting her ass, and playing the game. Her first year, while not full of title wins and “history-making achievements,” is quite remarkable when you really let it sink in. Sign with WWE, make NXT TV, main roster call-up, given a stable, in the video game, and already had a title match on PPV ALL IN THE SAME YEAR. For someone who wasn’t a chosen one, or named Flair, that’s a hell of a year.

The Ballad of Ruby Riott & Abbey Laith is a tale that perfectly reflects the wrestling business, because while the business certainly gives, it also takes a lot more than we’d like. Ruby Riott & Abbey Laith work their asses off together, made names working each other on the indie scene, and then made it to the top together. But just when you think you have the wrestling business figured out, it throws you a curveball and inserts an entirely new set of variables. For whatever reason, Abbey Laith failed and is dead, but Kimber Lee lives again and is primed to return to her roots, and in many ways, start all over again. For now, Heidi Lovelace is dead, but like a Pheonix, Ruby Riott has risen from her ashes, accomplishing more than WWE and most fans ever imagined. The Ballad of Ruby Riott & Abbey Laith is a quest, a tragedy, as well as a journey and a return, but at this time, both tales are unfinished, because the authors of their destinies have not completed the story…

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”