Since taking over WWE creative duties this past summer, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been boosting up the Monday Night Raw and WWE SmackDown rosters. On the red brand, stars like Johnny Gargano, Dexter Lumis, and the entire Damage CTRL faction have made their mark while Friday nights is now home to Hit Row, Karrion Kross, and Bray Wyatt. Recent reports have indicated that Triple H is far from done with it comes to fishing in the free agent pool, and it looks like another catch may be coming soon.
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PWInsider reports that Tensile Dashwood, formerly known as Emma during her run with WWE, is backstage at SmackDown tonight. On top of that, Dashwood is “expected” to make her return on the show itself by answering SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey’s open challenge.
Dashwood spent six years in WWE before leaving the company in October 2017. While she did not capture any championships in that run, Dashwood was considered my many to be a founding pillar of the NXT women’s division. Before the four horsewomen came along, Dashwood and Paige (AEW’s Saraya) were putting on clinics over the NXT Women’s Championship.
Dashwood debuted on the main roster in January 2014 and spent her time there in a comedy pairing with Santino Marella. She would return to NXT one year later and took on a new heel persona. This run saw her reach big heights including a critically acclaimedย NXT TakeOver: London match against Asuka.ย
Many will remember the end of Dashwood’s run for the infamous Emmalina gimmick. Vignettes began airing for a repackaged Emma, going now by Emmalina, in October 2016. These vignettes continued until February 2017, when Dashwood made a singular live appearance as Emmalina, telling the crowd that it was time to makeover Emmalina back to Emma.
After being released from WWE, Dashwood hit the independent circuit. While she did not collect many titles, Dashwood scored victories over prominent wrestlers including Britt Baker, Taya Valkyrie, Deonna Purrazzo, Thunder Rosa, Madison Rayne, Jordynne Grace, and Chelsea Green. Aside from numerous indie promotions, Dashwood competed for both Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling.
If Dashwood does in fact answer Rousey’s challenge, it would be the first meeting between the two. Rousey officially debuted with WWE in January 2018, months after Dashwood exited the company.
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