Former WWE stars Jessica McKay (Billy Kay) and Cassie Lee (Peyton Royce) announced earlier this week that they were indefinitely stepping away from wrestling six months after joining Impact Wrestling. Days later director Michael Matteo Rossi announced McKay had been cast in his upcoming movie The Charisma Killers. According to IMDB, she’s lined up for two more movies — Prom Night and Maverick — which are currently in pre-production.
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The pair dropped a press release explaining their decision to leave wrestling, which read, “Former IMPACT Wrestling Knockouts World Tag Team Champions The IInspiration (Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay) confirmed today that they will be indefinitely stepping away from in-ring action.
“‘The IInspiration have been a great part of IMPACT’s Knockouts roster and wonderful to work with,’ said IMPACT Executive Vice-President Scott D’Amore. ‘Cassie and Jessie are incredibly talented performers. Everyone at IMPACT wishes them every success in the future.’
“The IInspiration issued a joint statement: ‘We first want to thank Scott D’Amore and the entire IMPACT family. We have had such an amazing experience, working with the incredible IMPACT staff and roster. We will cherish these IMPACT memories forever. We are excited to start a new chapter in our lives and explore other opportunities that may come our way.’”
McKay made her pro wrestling debut in 2007 for Pro Wrestling Alliance Australia and would work for a number of promotions — most notably Shimmer, CZQ, Ring of Honor, Chikara and Shine before becoming an NXT trainee in April 2015. She began teaming with Royce in 2016 as the IIconics and the pair were brought up to the main roster in April 2018. They’d hold both the WWE and Impact Knockouts Women’s Tag Team Championships during their years as a team.
“We found a home because that’s how it really felt. We wanted it to feel like the best decision and it really did, it fits so well. We were so happy,” McKay told TalkSports’ Alex McCarthy last year a month after debuting in Impact. “We’re just incredibly grateful to be part of IMPACT and The Knockouts Division I’m super stoked. That’s all I have to say.”
