Emma (wrestler)’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Tenille Averil Dashwood (born 1 March 1989) is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under the ring names Emma and Emmalina, who performs on the Raw brand. She previously wrestled on the independent circuit under the ring name Tenille Tayla.

Professional wrestling career

Training and debut (2003–2007)

Dashwood was introduced to wrestling by her older brother, Jake, when she was about 8 years old. She involved herself in the Australian wrestling scene, and did some training from the ages of 13 to 15. In 2005, Dashwood made some appearances for the Australian wrestling promotion PWA Australia under the ring name Valentine. However, from the age of 16 to 18, Dashwood was limited to merely setting up the ring at events and helping out after she suffered a severe shoulder injury. In 2007, she moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for a few months to train with Lance Storm at the Storm Wrestling Academy.

In early 2011, Dashwood returned to Lance Storm’s Storm Wrestling Academy for further training, during which she became one of the ten trainees featured on the World of Hurt reality television show.

Independent circuit

Dashwood returned to Australia by September 2008, and wrestled there until February 2009 for promotions such as Wrestlerock and PWA Queensland.

Shimmer Women Athletes (2009–2011)

Dashwood then traveled to the United States, and made her in-ring debut for all-female American promotion Shimmer Women Athletes on 2 May 2009 at Volume 23 as Tenille Tayla, where she lost to Amber O’Neal. At Volume 25, Tenille defeated Jetta of the International Home Wrecking Crew, but was attacked by the Crew after the match. At Volume 26, Tenille lost to Rain, another member of the Crew. Rain and Jetta defeated Tenille and Jessie McKay at Volume 28. Tenille teamed with McKay again at Volume 36, when they unsuccessfully challenged Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship.

Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling (2009–2011)

Dashwood made her debut for the Canadian wrestling promotion Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) on 22 May 2009 under her real name. In 2009, Dashwood also wrestled for another Canadian promotion, Prairie Wrestling Alliance, as Tenille Williams. In Dashwood’s debut match for ECCW, she defeated Nicole Matthews to earn a shot at the SuperGirls Championship, but later lost to champion Veronika Vice. On 1 August, Tenille defeated Vice and Matthews in a three-way match to win her first ECCW Supergirls title. By racking up successful titles defenses in singles matches against Vice and Matthews, Tenille held the championship until 27 November 2009, when she lost it back to Vice.

At the 19 March 2010 ECCW event, Tenille defeated Veronika Vice to re-capture the ECCW Women’s Championship. She then made successful title defenses against Vice, Nicole Matthews and Lylah Lodge in singles matches, as well as against Matthews and KC Spinelli in a three-way match. Dashwood lost the title to Matthews in a tables match on 26 October, and went on to lose a title rematch to Matthews in December 2010. Tenille’s last match in ECCW was on 7 May 2011, where she was defeated by Matthews.

Melbourne City Wrestling (2011)

On 9 July 2011, at a Melbourne City Wrestling event, Tenille had her last match in Australia before heading to WWE, and was defeated by Shazza McKenzie.

WWE

Developmental territories (2011–2014)

In March 2011, Shimmer announced that Dashwood had signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In July 2011, Dashwood decided to undergo surgery for her shoulder, which had caused her problems throughout her career. In June 2012, Dashwood relocated to Tampa, Florida, and eventually reported to WWE’s developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). She made her FCW in-ring debut on the 1 August live event, participating in a battle royal. In August 2012, Dashwood revealed Emma as her new ring name.

WWE went on to rebrand FCW into NXT in August 2012. Emma made her televised debut on the 28 November episode of NXT, where she competed against Audrey Marie in a losing effort. Emma then debuted the gimmick of a clumsy dancer on the 9 January 2013 episode of NXT. From April, Emma began to rack up wins over the likes of Bayley and Audrey Marie, while becoming one of NXT’s most popular wrestlers. On the 26 June episode of NXT, Emma competed in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament to crown the inaugural champion. She defeated Aksana in the first round, and Summer Rae in the semi-finals on the 10 July episode of NXT, before losing to Paige in the finals on the 24 July episode of NXT.

On the 7 August episode of NXT, Emma won a dance competition against Summer Rae to become the number one contender for the NXT Women’s Championship, but Rae then attacked her to start a feud. In the following months, Emma teamed up with Paige to feud with Rae and Sasha Banks, collectively known as the BFFs (Beautiful Fierce Females). On the 18 December episode of NXT, Emma was challenged by Natalya for Emma’s shot at the NXT Women’s Championship, which was contested on the 1 January 2014 episode of NXT, in which Emma was victorious. On 27 February at NXT Arrival, Emma received her title match against Paige, but was unsuccessful in capturing the championship. After Paige was stripped of the championship in April, Emma lost to Charlotte in a tournament to determine the new champion. On the 5 June episode of NXT, Emma and Paige saved Bayley from an attack from Summer Rae, Sasha Banks, and Charlotte. On 12 June, Emma teamed with Paige and Bayley to defeat the BFFs.

Various storylines (2014–2015)

On the 13 January 2014 episode of Raw, Emma made her first appearance on the main roster when WWE acknowledged her appearing amongst the live audience. Emma continued to appear in the crowd on Raw and SmackDown that month, with tensions developing between her and Summer Rae.

On the 3 February episode of Raw, Emma was invited into the ring by Santino Marella to participate in a dance-off against Rae, which Emma won by a fan vote. In the following weeks, the feud between Emma and Rae continued, and Emma eventually began teasing a on-screen relationship with Marella. Emma and Rae faced off in a match on the 24 February episode of Raw, in which Emma was victorious. This led to mixed tag team match against Rae and Fandango on the 3 March episode of Raw, which Emma and Marella won. On the 25 March episode of Main Event, Emma teamed up with Natalya, The Funkadactyls (Cameron and Naomi) and Eva Marie in a losing effort to the team of Rae, Alicia Fox, Aksana, Layla and Tamina Snuka. On the 27 March episode of Superstars, Emma once again defeated Rae by submission. On April 6, Emma made her WrestleMania debut, competing at WrestleMania XXX in the 14-Diva “Vickie Guerrero Invitational match” for the Divas Championship, which was won by the defending champion AJ Lee. The following night on Raw, Emma and Marella once again defeated Rae and Fandango in a mixed tag team match, with Emma making Rae submit. On the following episode of SmackDown, Emma started a feud with Layla, when she replaced Summer Rae as Fandango’s dance partner and valet. This led to Emma using Marella’s finisher, the Cobra Strike, later dubbing it the Ven-Emma, to defeat Layla on the 21 April episode of Raw. In the beginning of July, Emma’s alliance with Marella ended after he announced his legitimate retirement from in-ring competition.

Throughout the year, Emma racked up victories over the likes of Cameron and Alicia Fox, but also lost to them, and to the likes of Nikki Bella, Summer Rae and Paige. In November, at Survivor Series, Emma took part of a four-on-four elimination tag team match, where she eliminated Summer Rae before her team won the match with a clean sweep. While returning to NXT in early 2015, Emma competed in various matches on the main roster, including a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the Divas Championship, which was won by Paige.

Alliance with Dana Brooke (2015–2016)

On the 28 January 2015 episode of NXT, Emma announced that she would be returning to NXT, stating that her tenure on the main roster was not working out. The following week on NXT, Emma was defeated by Carmella in her return match. In March, Emma turned heel after criticizing Bayley in a backstage segment which prompted a match between the two on the 1 April episode on NXT, which Emma lost. Emma continued her feud with Bayley, when she provided a distraction during Bayley’s match with Dana Brooke, ensuring Brooke the victory and forming an alliance with her in the process. On the 6 May episode of NXT, after Emma was defeated by Charlotte and later attacked by Bayley, a tag team match was made between Emma and Brooke and Bayley and Charlotte at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, which Emma and Brooke lost. On the 27 May episode of NXT, Emma got retribution over Bayley, and after the match, Emma and Brooke attacked Bayley and Charlotte.

Emma ended her feud with Bayley when the latter returned from injury in mid-July, and defeated Emma. On the 26 August episode of NXT (which was taped at the NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn event), Emma won a fatal four-way match against Becky Lynch, Charlotte, and Dana Brooke. In mid-September, Emma and Brooke were involved in a feud with newcomer Asuka, and confronted her during a contract signing with William Regal, which led to a match between Brooke and Asuka at NXT TakeOver: Respect on 7 October, where Emma was attacked by Asuka after attempting to interfere.

Throughout November, Emma started provoking Asuka, including an attack planned by Emma and Brooke, which occurred on the 25 November episode of NXT, resulting in a match between her and Asuka at the NXT TakeOver: London event on 16 December, which Emma lost, despite interference from Brooke. On the 13 January 2016 episode of NXT, Emma competed in a number one contender’s battle royal, which was won by Carmella. On the 23 March episode of NXT, Emma main evented in a match against Asuka, which she lost and would be her last one on her NXT return.

On the 22 March episode of Main Event, Emma made her return to the main roster alongside Summer Rae by attacking Alicia Fox and Natalya during a match between Paige and Naomi, distracting Paige, and subsequently aligning herself with Team B.A.D., Lana and Rae, after a reconciliation between Lana and Summer. The following week, in her return match, Emma defeated Paige on the 28 March episode of Raw, after being helped by Lana. Post-match, she along her allies, attacked Brie Bella, Natalya, Alicia Fox and Paige, before a returning Eva Marie cleared the area. As a result, a 10-Diva tag team match between the Total Divas team (Brie, Fox, Natalya, Eva and Paige) and the newly dubbed team B.A.D. & Blonde (Naomi, Tamina, Lana, Emma, and Rae) was announced for the WrestleMania 32’s pay-per-view pre-show. At the event on 3 April, they were defeated by team Total Divas after Naomi submitted to Brie Bella. After WrestleMania, Emma began a feud with Becky Lynch, and defeated her on the 2 May episode of Raw, however, she lost to her and Natalya in a tag team match the 5 April episode of Smackdown. On the 9 May episode of Raw, Emma and her NXT tag team partner Dana Brooke assaulted Lynch during a backstage segment. On 16 May, WWE announced that Emma had suffered a back injury during a live event that would require surgery, causing her to go on hiatus. Brooke would later be partnered with Charlotte as a result.

Emmalina (2016–present)

On the 3 October episode of Raw, a repackage vignette was shown, teasing about a “makeover of Emma to Emmalina”. After airing various vignettes, it was announced that Emmalina would debut on the 12 December episode of Raw. However, she did not appear on the episode and another vignette teasing her debut played instead.

Other media

Dashwood regularly appeared in the WWE web series The JBL and Cole Show, until its cancellation in June 2015. In September 2015, Dashwood began a short-lived cooking show on YouTube entitled Taste of Tenille.

Emma has appeared in three WWE video games. She made her in-game debut at WWE 2K15 as a DLC and appears in WWE 2K16 and WWE 2K17.

Filmography

Television

Personal life

Dashwood grew up in Boronia, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. Dashwood has an older brother named Jake, who introduced her to wrestling. She cites Stone Cold Steve Austin and Trish Stratus and Lita as her inspirations in wrestling. In 2002, at the age of 13, she met Stratus at the WWE Global Warning tour in Melbourne, and Dustin Rhodes in 1997.

On 30 June 2014, Dashwood was arrested in Hartford, Connecticut. She did not appear on the episode of Raw that aired live that night. Police released her after she agreed to appear at Hartford Community Court, which she did the following day on 1 July. Her lawyer claimed that she forgot to pay for an iPad case when using a self-checkout machine at a Walmart. The court ordered her to perform community service and an online course, after which the charge would be dismissed. This initially led to WWE releasing Dashwood, but they reversed their decision hours later.

In August 2014, Dashwood was reported to be a relationship with former NXT wrestler William McNamee, and they lived together in Denver, Colorado. In May 2015, Dashwood announced on Twitter that she had left Colorado on her own to live in Orlando, Florida. In January 2016, she confirmed being in a relationship with Matthew Cardona, known on-screen as Zack Ryder.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Diving crossbody – 2014; used as a signature move thereafter
  • Emma Lock (Muta lock, preceded by a hair-pull stomp to the opponent’s back)
  • VenEmma (Right–handed thrust to the opponent’s throat or face, with theatrics) – 2014; adopted from Santino Marella
• Signature moves
  • Bodyscissors, sometimes transitioned into a pin
  • Dil-Emma (Rope hung Boston crab)
  • Double underhook suplex, sometimes into the ring turnbuckle
  • Emma-mite Sandwich (Running crossbody, to an opponent seated in the corner)
  • Emma-plane (Airplane spin) – 2014
  • Full nelson
  • Hair-pull snapmare, sometimes done repeatedly in succession or preceded by a shoot kick to the opponent’s back
  • Low dropkick to the head, side, midsection, front or back of a bent over, kneeling or seated opponent
  • Multiple pinning variations
    • Backslide
    • Inside cradle
  • Repeated shoot kicks to the back of a tree of woe hung opponent
  • Rope hung rolling wheel kick
  • Somersault arm wringer evasion, transitioned into a modified sitting armbar stretch
  • Short-arm clothesline
• Managers
  • Dana Brooke
• Wrestlers managed
  • Carlo Cannon
  • Dan Myers
  • Dylan Knight
  • Santino Marella
  • Scotty Mac
  • Stephen James and Foxx
• Nicknames
  • “The Dancing Queen”
• Entrance themes
  • “Feedback” by Janet Jackson (Independent circuit)
  • “#Emmalution” by Brian Randazzo (NXT/WWE; 2013 – 2015)
  • “Chemical Mind” by Jason Davis (NXT; 27, May 2015 – 22, July 2015)
  • “Real Deal” by CFO$ (NXT/WWE; 1, July 2015 – 3, October 2016)
  • “Real Deal (Remix)” by CFO$ ft. Jim Johnston (WWE; 12, December 2016 – present)

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• ^ Richard, Trionfo (2 March 2016). “WWE NXT REPORT: FINN BALOR VERSUS NEVILLE, EMMA IN ACTION, NEW MATCH FOR TORONTO, TGMTEL GETS A RUDE INTRODUCTION TO NXT, AND MORE”. PWInsider. Retrieved 3 March 2016. 
• “Hey @mslayel… My new friend #VenEMMA says it was nice to meet you! 😉 #WWE #RAW #WWEBaltimore #EMMAlution”. 
• “Emma vs. Layla: Raw, April 21, 2014”. 
• Trionfo, Richard (8 July 2015). “WWE NXT REPORT: HIGHLIGHTS OF OWENS/BALOR, THE BFFs ARE BACK FOR ONE NIGHT, WHO ARE THE NUMBER ONE CONTENDERS FOR THE TAG TITLES?”. PWInsider. Retrieved 3 March 2016. 
• Trionfo, Richard (1 July 2015). “WWE NXT REPORT: FINAL PART OF THE FINN BALOR VIDEO PACKAGE, JOE AND OWENS VERSUS BALOR AND RHYNO, BULL VERSUS A VENDING MACHINE, EVA WORKS OUT, AND MORE”. PWInsider. Retrieved 2 July 2015. 
• Jason, Namako (30 September 2015). “WWE NXT Results – 9/30/15 (Final TakeOver: Respect hype)”. WrestleView. Retrieved 1 October 2015. 
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• ^ Richard, Trionfo (16 March 2016). “WWE NXT REPORT: NUMBER ONE CONTENDERS FOR TAG TITLES, WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH ANNOUNCED, ZAYN HAS AN OPPONENT WHO KNOWS STRONG STYLE, AND MORE”. PWInsider. Retrieved 17 March 2016. 
• ^ Trionfo, Richard (20 January 2016). “WWE NXT REPORT: THREE POSSIBLE NUMBER ONE CONTENDERS IN ACTION, CHAMPION AND CHALLENGER AS A TAG TEAM, AN NXT DEBUT, AND MORE”. PWInsider. Retrieved 21 January 2016. 
• David, Stephens (17 February 2014). “WWE RAW Results – 2/17/14 (Randy Orton vs. Sheamus)”. WrestleView. Retrieved 17 March 2016. 
• Justin, James (27 March 2014). “JAMES’S WWE SUPERSTARS RESULTS 3/27: Emma vs. Summer Rae, another round of 3MB vs. Truth & Woods”. Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 24 July 2015. 
• Greg, Parks (14 April 2016). “4/14 WWE Smackdown – Parks’s Complete, Real-Time Report”. Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 6 May 2016. 
• Bobby, Melok. “WWE NXT results – July 22, 2015: Finn Bálor & Kevin Owens sign TakeOver contract, Eva Marie returns to ring”. WWE.com. Retrieved 24 July 2015. 
• Jason, Namako (11 June 2015). “WWE NXT Results – 6/10/15 (Samoa Joe in-ring debut)”. WrestleView. Retrieved 3 September 2015. 
• James, Justin (4 September 2014). “JAMES’S WWE SUPERSTARS REPORT 9/4: Sin Cara vs. Justin Gabriel main event, Emma gets A. Fox”. Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 24 July 2015. 
• Richard, Trionfo (4 September 2014). “WWE SUPERSTARS REPORT: AN ‘NXT’ MAIN EVENT; DIVAS REMATCH; VIDEO PACKAGES REMATCH”. Retrieved 24 July 2015. 
• Namako, Jason. “WWE Main Event Results – 7/15/14 (Sheamus-vs. The Miz)”. Wrestleview. Retrieved 14 September 2014. 
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• Adam, Martin (3 February 2016). “WWE NXT Results – 2/3/16 (Balor vs. Crews headlines)”. Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 7 February 2016. 
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• “Emma SHIMMER theme song”. Cagematch. Retrieved 7 February 2016. 
• “WWE: #Emmalution (Emma) – Single”. iTunes. Retrieved 7 February 2016. 
• “Chemical Mind (Guitronica)”. firstcom MUSIC. Retrieved 29 May 2015. 
• “WWE: Real Deal (Emma) – Single”. iTunes. Retrieved 19 August 2015. 

Championships and accomplishments

• Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
  • ECCW Women’s Supergirls Championship (2 times)
• Pro Wrestling Alliance Queensland
  • Queen of the Warriors (2009)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 33 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2016

• “ECCW Women’s Championship history”. 
• Ciara. “Angrymarkette Spotlight: Tenille Tayla”. Retrieved 24 July 2015. 
• Magazine, Pro Wrestling Illustrated (November 28, 2016). “Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) Female 50 for 2016”. The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved December 1, 2016.