Kay Lee Ray


Kayleigh Rae, spelled Kay Lee Ray professionally, is a Scottish professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on its NXT UK brand, where she is the current NXT UK Women's Champion; she is first holder of the title to actually be from the United Kingdom.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2009–2019)

Kay Lee Ray made her professional wrestling debut at SWA Battlezone on 30 May 2009, losing a Battlezone Rumble to determine the number one contender for the NWA Scottish Heavyweight Championship. Her first singles match was a loss to Vyper on 26 March 2010. On 9 August 2014, Ray defeated Martin Kirby to win the SWE Speed King Championship. On 28 February 2015, she defeated Candice LeRae, Nixon Newell and Saraya Knight to win the SWE Queen of Southside Championship. On 24 October 2015, Ray lost the championship to Newell in a tag team match where Jimmy Havoc, Newell's tag team partner, defended his Speed King Championship against El Ligero, Ray's tag team partner. On 27 December 2015, she was defeated by Ligero in a Loser Leaves Southside match. On 7 August 2016, Ray won the Queen of Southside Championship in a three-way match against Alex Windsor and Jade, a title that she lost two months later to Melina. On 16 June 2017, at WCPW Built to Destroy, Ray won the WCPW Women's Championship from Viper, who replaced Bea Priestley in the match.

Insane Championship Wrestling (2011–present)

Ray made her Insane Championship Wrestling debut at The Notorious I.C.W. on 6 February 2011, defeating Carmel. At Luke...Who Yer Da? on 4 May 2013, she defeated Vyper in a tournament final to win the Fierce Females Championship, her first championship victory. On 27 July 2014 at Shug's Hoose Party, Ray and Stevie Boy unsuccessfully challenged for the vacant ICW Tag Team Championship in a match that was won by BT Gunn and Chris Renfrew. On 29 May 2015, she lost the Fierce Females Championship, now called the Scottish Women's Championship, to Vyper in a 20-Woman Rumble, ending Ray's reign at 755 days. On 15 November 2015, Ray faced Nikki Storm and Viper in a three-way match for the inaugural ICW Women's Championship, a match that was won by Viper. On 20 November 2016, Ray won the ICW Women's Championship by defeating Viper and champion Carmel Jacob in a three-way match at Fear & Loathing IX. On 29 July 2017 at Shug's Hoose Party IV, Ray lost the ICW Women's Championship to Kasey Owens in 37 seconds. She won it back at 1 October Fight Club tapings. She lost the title the next month to Owens at Fear & Loathing X on 19 November in a three-way steel cage match also involving Viper. At Fear and Loathing XI on 2 December 2018, Ray won the Women's Championship from Viper in a Queen of Insanity match.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2014–2015)

Ray appeared for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2014 on the second season of TNA British Boot Camp. Her first match on the show was taped on 16 August, where she lost in a four-way match won by Nikki Storm and also involved Kasey Owens and Leah Owens. Her second match was a loss taped on 6 September in an eight-person tag team match alongside Al Snow, Grado, and Mark Andrews against Angelina Love, Dave Mastiff, Rampage Brown, and Noam Dar. On the finale, taped on 7 December, she was revealed to be in the top three competitors, after which she faced Gail Kim in a losing effort. Andrews won the show and the TNA contract. Ray later appeared on two episodes of TNA Xplosion taped in the United Kingdom, with the first being a victory alongside Noam Dar against Gail Kim and Rampage Brown on 29 January 2015, and the other on 31 January in a victory alongside Andrews, Dar, and Crazzy Steve against Brown, Dave Mastiff, Madison Rayne, and Samuel Shaw.

WWE (2015–2017)

Ray made her one-off WWE debut at the 8 October 2015 tapings of NXT, losing to Nia Jax. She would compete in WWE again in 2017 as one of 32 competitors in the inaugural Mae Young Classic, where she lost to Princesa Sugehit in the first round on 13 July. The next night, she competed in a six-woman tag team match alongside Jazzy Gabert and Tessa Blanchard where they defeated Marti Belle, Santana Garrett, and Sarah Logan.

World of Sport (2018–2019)

At the 5 May 2018 tapings of the newly-revived World of Sport Wrestling, Ray won the vacant WOS Women's Championship in a three-way match against Bea Priestley and Viper. She successfully defended the title on subsequent episodes in a battle royal and a singles match against Viper. On 19 January 2019, on a WOS house show tour, Ray lost her title in a three-way match when she was successfully pinned by Viper.

Return to WWE (2019–present)

At on 12 January 2019, Ray and Jazzy Gabert appeared at ringside. It was later confirmed that the two had signed with WWE, marking Ray's first contract with WWE. On 13 March, Ray made her NXT UK in-ring debut, defeating Candy Floss. On the 19 June episode of NXT UK, Ray won a battle royal to earn an opportunity to face NXT UK Women's Champion Toni Storm at a time of her choosing. On the 3 July episode of NXT UK, Ray said she will face Storm at. At TakeOver: Cardiff, Ray defeated Storm to win the NXT UK Women's Championship, becoming the first British-born wrestler to hold the title.
On the 13 November 2019 episode of NXT, Ray interfered during a "WarGames Advantage" ladder match between Shayna Baszler's team member Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley's team member Mia Yim, helping Shirai win the match and revealing herself as the fourth member of Shayna Baszler's team in the first ever Women's WarGames Match. Ripley's team would go on and defeat Baszler's team at.
At the 16 November 2019 taping of NXT UK, it was announced that Ray would defend the NXT UK Women's Championship against Toni Storm and Piper Niven in a triple threat match at. On the 20 January 2020 taping of NXT, Ray teamed with Bianca Belair and Io Shirai in a six-woman tag team match against Storm, Rhea Ripley and Candice LeRae in a losing effort. Ray would go on to retain her title against Storm and Niven at TakeOver: Blackpool II.

Personal life

Rae is in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Stevie Boy.

Championships and accomplishments