Tiffany Stratton

Last updated
Tiffany Stratton
Birth nameJessica Woynilko [1]
Born (1999-05-01) May 1, 1999 (age 24) [1]
Prior Lake, Minnesota, U.S.
Alma mater St. Catherine University
Partner Ludwig Kaiser (2022–present)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Tiffany Stratton [2]
Billed height5 ft 7 in (170 cm) [1]
Billed weight143 lb (65 kg) [3]
Billed fromPrior Lake, Minnesota
Trained by
DebutNovember 16, 2021 [3]

Jessica Woynilko (born May 1, 1999) is an American professional wrestler and former gymnast. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Tiffany Stratton. She is a former one-time NXT Women's Champion.

Contents

Woynilko made her professional wrestling debut in 2021 after being trained by Greg Gagne and debuted in December of that year taking on a gimmick of a glamorous woman. She went on to win the NXT Women's Championship, her first championship, which lasted for 107 days. [7]

Early years

Jessica Woynilko was born on May 1, 1999. [8] She graduated from St. Catherine University in 2019. She practiced gymnastics for several years. [8] Before trying out with WWE, Woynilko's mother contacted Greg Gagne, a former wrestler best known for his time at American Wrestling Association (AWA), to train Woynilko. [5]

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2021–present)

NXT (2021–2024)

On August 30, 2021, Woynilko was the only woman announced in a new group of recruits who would be joining the WWE Performance Center to work in WWE as professional wrestlers. [9] [10] During tapings of a November 16 episode of 205 Live , she made her professional wrestling debut under the ring name Tiffany Stratton, defeating Amari Miller. [11] The meeting between the two was broadcast three days later. [12]

She debuted on WWE's developmental brand, NXT as a heel, taking on a spoiled rich girl gimmick, where on December 28, 2021, she would defeat Fallon Henley. She would start a feud with Sarray which would cost each other victories thus giving a match between them. The feud would culminate on the April 19, 2022, episode of NXT , where Stratton was victorious, thus ending the feud. [13] On May 26, Stratton was part of the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament, replacing Nikkita Lyons after she suffered an injury, defeating Fallon Henley in the semifinals. However, she was defeated in the finals by Roxanne Perez. [14] Stratton then started a feud with Wendy Choo, defeating her at The Great American Bash but lost to her in a lights out match on the August 23 episode of NXT.

After a time out of action due to a head injury reported in October 2022, [15] [16] Stratton made her return on January 10, 2023, at NXT: New Year's Evil, where she cut a promo showing an affirmative attitude to her rich girl persona, though she dropped the 'daddy's girl' part of her gimmick. [17] In her first match back, she picked up a victory over Indi Hartwell on the January 24 episode of NXT. [18] After defeating Hartwell again, [19] Stratton qualified for a ladder match for the NXT Women's Championship, which took place at NXT Stand & Deliver on April 1, although she was unsuccessful in capturing the title. [20] In May, Stratton took part in an eight-woman single-elimination tournament, in which she defeated Gigi Dolin in the quarterfinals, [21] Roxanne Perez in the semi-finals, [22] and Lyra Valkyria in the finals at NXT Battleground to win the NXT Women's Championship, marking her first title in her career. [7] On June 27, at the second week of Gold Rush, Stratton successfully defended her title in her first title defense against Chase University's Thea Hail. [23] [24] During the match, Hail submitted Stratton, however, the referee was distracted by Drew Gulak, before Stratton ultimately won the match. [24] This led to Stratton to defend the title against Hail on July 30 at The Great American Bash in a submission match, where Stratton once again retained her title after Andre Chase out of Chase University threw a towel where Stratton locked Hail in a half crab. On the September 12 episode of NXT, Stratton lost the title to Becky Lynch, ending her reign at 107 days. [25]

At NXT: New Year's Evil on January 2, 2024, Stratton faced Fallon Henley in a "ranch hand or servant for a day" match. Stratton lost the match, thus had to work on Henley's ranch for a day during the following week. [26] This would mark Stratton’s final NXT appearance. On January 27 at Royal Rumble, she entered the women’s Royal Rumble match at number 29 as one of two representatives from NXT. She eliminated Roxanne Perez before being eliminated alongside Bianca Belair by the eventual winner Bayley. [27]

SmackDown (2024–present)

On the February 2, 2024 episode of SmackDown , Stratton officially signed with the brand becoming a member of the main roster. [28] That same night, Stratton defeated “Michin” Mia Yim in her main roster debut. Two weeks later, Stratton defeated Latino World Order's Zelina Vega to qualify for the women's Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber: Perth. [29] She would, however, fail at the event after being eliminated by Liv Morgan despite having eliminated Naomi beforehand. [30]

Professional wrestling style and persona

With her trampoline gymnastics background, Woynilko uses a variation of the triple jump moonsault using the ropes, called the "Prettiest Moonsault Ever", as her finishing maneuver. [31]

Woynilko's wrestling persona is inspired by Paris Hilton and the character of Sharpay Evans from the movie High School Musical . [32] [33]

Other media

Woynilko made her video game debut in the Pretty Sweet Pack DLC for WWE 2K23 . [34] She is also in WWE SuperCard , and WWE 2K24.

Personal life

Woynilko cites Charlotte Flair as the one who inspired her to become a professional wrestler. [35] Woynilko has been in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Marcel Barthel, better known as Ludwig Kaiser, since 2022. [36]

Championships and accomplishments

Gymnastics

EventDateLocationPlace and Sport
2016 Winter ClassicFebruary 20, 2016 Battle Creek, Michigan 2nd-DM [37] (Open)
2016 Elite ChallengeMay 7, 2016 Colorado Springs, Colorado 4th-TR [38] (Open); 5th-DM [39]
2016 USA Gymnastics ChampionshipsJune 12, 2016 Providence, Rhode Island 7th-TR (Open); 3rd-DM [40]
2017 Winter ClassicFebruary 25, 2017Battle Creek, Michigan7th-DM [41]
2017 Elite ChallengeMay 20, 2017Colorado Springs, Colorado7th-TR [42] (Open)

Professional wrestling

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References

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  2. ↑ "Tiffany Stratton". WWE. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
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  4. ↑ "Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy) Reflects On Training Gable Steveson: He Can Do Great Things". Fightful. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  5. 1 2 DeFelice, Robert (July 24, 2023). "Tiffany Stratton Reflects on Training with Greg Gagne and the Advice He Gave Her". Fightful. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  6. ↑ Mutter, Eric (May 22, 2023). "Tiffany Stratton Praises WWE NXT Coaches Sara Amato, Fit Finley, Norman Smiley". WrestlingInc. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Moore, John (May 28, 2023). "NXT Battleground results: Moore's live review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship, Tiffany Stratton vs. Lyra Valkyria for the vacant NXT Women's Title, Gallus vs. The Creeds for the NXT Tag Team Titles, Wes Lee vs. Tyler Bate vs. Joe Gacy in a Triple Threat for the NXT North American Title, Noam Dar vs. Dragon Lee for the NXT Heritage Cup". Prowrestling.net. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Jessica Woynilko". Archived from the original on December 4, 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Second-generation hopefuls among new WWE Performance Center recruits". 30 August 2021. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
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  12. ↑ "WWE 205 Live results: Nov. 19, 2021". November 19, 2021. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  13. ↑ Moore, John (April 19, 2022). "4/19 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Santos Escobar vs. Carmelo Hayes, Tiffany Stratton vs. Sarray, Natalya vs. Tatum Paxley, Grayson Waller vs. Sanga, NXT Tag Champions Pretty Deadly appear". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 20, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  14. ↑ Moore, John (June 7, 2022). "6/7 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Roxanne Perez vs. Tiffany Stratton in the NXT Breakout Tournament final, Josh Briggs vs. Von Wagner, Tatum Paxley vs. Alba Fyre, fallout from NXT In Your House". ProWrestling.net. Archived from the original on June 8, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
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  17. ↑ Aftab, Manik (January 10, 2023). "TIFFANY STRATTON RETURNS WITH NEW GIMMICK DURING NXT NEW YEAR'S EVIL". Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  18. ↑ Moore, John (January 24, 2023). "1/24 NXT TV results: Moore's review of the NXT Women's Championship Summit with Roxanne Perez, Gigi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter vs. Alba Fyre in a handicap match for the NXT Women's Tag Team Titles, Tiffany Stratton vs. Indi Hartwell, Elektra Lopez vs. Wendy Choo, Thea Hail award ceremony". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  19. ↑ Moore, John (March 21, 2023). "3/21 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh, Tiffany Stratton vs. Indi Hartwell and Lyra Valkyria vs. Ivy Nile in NXT Women's Championship ladder match qualifiers, Chase U and The Schism meet in a debate". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  20. ↑ Chiari, Mike. "Indi Hartwell Wins NXT Women's Title vs. Roxanne Perez, More at Stand & Deliver". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
  21. ↑ "Tiffany Stratton And Lyra Valkyria Advance In NXT Women's Title Tournament On 5/9 WWE NXT". Yahoo Entertainment. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
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  23. ↑ Berge, Kevin. "WWE NXT Gold Rush Week 2 Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  24. 1 2 Moore, John (June 27, 2023). "6/27 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Gold Rush night two featuring Carmelo Hayes vs. Baron Corbin for the NXT Title, Tiffany Stratton vs. Thea Hail for the NXT Women's Title, Nathan Frazer vs. Dragon Lee for the NXT Heritage Cup". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  25. ↑ Moore, John (July 30, 2023). "NXT Great American Bash results: Moore's live review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Title, Dominik Mysterio vs. Wes Lee vs. Mustafa Ali for the NA Title, Tiffany Stratton vs. Thea Hail in a submission match for the NXT Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  26. ↑ Applegate, Colby (2024-01-03). "Tiffany Stratton Must Be Fallon Henley's Ranch Hand Following NXT New Year's Evil". Wrestlezone. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  27. ↑ "Royal Rumble Match stats 2024 | WWE". www.wwe.com. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  28. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (February 2, 2024). "Tiffany Stratton Joins WWE SmackDown | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  29. ↑ Miller, Haley (February 16, 2024). "Tiffany Stratton Qualifies for the Women's Elimination Chamber on WWE SmackDown". ComicBook. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  30. ↑ Powell, Jason (February 24, 2024). "WWE Elimination Chamber results: Powell's live review of Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax for the Women's World Championship, Elimination Chamber matches, Grayson Waller Effect with Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
  31. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (May 9, 2023). "Tiffany Stratton Would Like To Add A Twist To Her 'Prettiest Moonsault Ever'". Fightful. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  32. ↑ "Under The Ring: NXT's Tiffany Stratton on her fast rise in pro wrestling, the NXT women's championship, how she went from elite gymnast to pro wrestler" (Podcast). May 22, 2023. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  33. ↑ Russell, Skylar (May 24, 2023). "Tiffany Stratton Says She Draws Inspiration For Her Character From Sharpay Evans & Paris Hilton". Fightful. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  34. ↑ Lara, James (6 March 2023). "WWE 2K23 Season Pass, DLC Wrestlers and Release Dates Revealed". Mp1st.com. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
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