Tiffany Stratton | |
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![]() Stratton in 2024 | |
Birth name | Jessica Woynilko [1] |
Born | [1] Prior Lake, Minnesota, U.S. [1] | May 1, 1999
Alma mater | St. Catherine University |
Partner | Ludwig Kaiser (2022–present) [1] |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Tiffany Stratton [2] |
Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) [3] |
Billed weight | 143 lb (65 kg) [3] |
Billed from | Minneapolis, Minnesota [2] |
Trained by | |
Debut | November 16, 2021 [3] |
Jessica Woynilko (born May 1, 1999) [1] is an American professional wrestler and former gymnast. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Tiffany Stratton and is the current WWE Women's Champion in her first reign. She is also a former one-time NXT Women's Champion and a former holder of the Women's Money in the Bank contract.
After winning weightlifting and bodybuilding championships, Woynilko's parents wanted her to become a professional wrestler and had her trained by Greg Gagne. She signed with WWE in August 2021 and debuted in November, taking on a gimmick of a glamorous woman. While in the developmental brand NXT, she won the NXT Women's Championship once. She was then promoted to the main roster on SmackDown in February 2024.
Jessica Woynilko was born on May 1, 1999 in Prior Lake, Minnesota. [7] She graduated from St. Catherine University. She practiced trampoline gymnastics for several years. [7] 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]
On August 30, 2021, Woynilko was the only woman announced in a new group of recruits who would be training at the WWE Performance Center. [8] During a taping of the November 16 episode of 205 Live , she made her professional wrestling debut under the ring name Tiffany Stratton, defeating Amari Miller. [9] On December 28, she debuted as a heel on WWE's developmental brand, NXT, with a spoiled rich girl gimmick, defeating Fallon Henley. [10] In March 2022, she began a feud with Sarray, attacking her for rejecting her offer to replace her grandmother's necklace with one that she would give to her. [11] Over the following weeks, Sarray would cost Stratton her matches against Henley and Ivy Nile, [12] [13] leading to a match between the two on the April 19 episode of NXT, which Stratton won, ending their feud. [14] On May 24, Stratton was part of the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament, replacing Nikkita Lyons after she suffered an injury, defeating Henley in the semifinals before losing in the finals to Roxanne Perez. [15] [16] In June, Stratton started a feud with Wendy Choo, defeating her at NXT: The Great American Bash on July 5. [17] [18] [19] On the August 23 episode of NXT, she lost to Choo in a lights out match, during which she suffered a head injury that took her out of action. [20] [21]
Stratton returned 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. [22] On the March 21 episode of NXT, Stratton defeated Indi Hartwell to qualify for a ladder match for the NXT Women's Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver on April 1, but failed to win the title. [23] [24] Stratton then took part in an eight-woman single-elimination tournament, in which she defeated Gigi Dolin in the quarterfinals, [25] Roxanne Perez in the semi-finals, [26] and Lyra Valkyria in the finals at NXT Battleground on May 28 to win the NXT Women's Championship, marking her first title in her career. [27] On June 27, at NXT: Gold Rush, Stratton made her first successful title defense against Chase University's Thea Hail. During the match, Hail submitted Stratton, however, the referee was distracted by Drew Gulak, before Stratton ultimately won the match. [28] This led to a rematch on July 30 at NXT The Great American Bash in a submission match, where Stratton once again retained her title after Andre Chase threw in the towel when Stratton locked Hail in a submission. [29] [30] On the September 12 episode of NXT, Stratton lost the title to Becky Lynch, ending her reign at 107 days. [31] She failed to regain the title from Lynch in an Extreme Rules match in the main event of NXT No Mercy on September 30. [32]
On the November 7 episode of NXT, Stratton defeated Fallon Henley to qualify for the Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline on December 9, which was won by Blair Davenport. [33] [34] At NXT: New Year's Evil on January 2, 2024, Stratton faced Henley in a "ranch hand or servant for a day" match, but was defeated, thus she had to work on Henley's ranch for a day during the following week. [35] [36] 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 fellow representative Roxanne Perez before being eliminated alongside Bianca Belair by the eventual winner Bayley. [37]
On the February 2 episode of SmackDown , Stratton officially signed with the SmackDown brand. [38] Stratton defeated Zelina Vega on the February 16 episode of SmackDown to qualify for the women's Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber: Perth. [39] At the event on February 24, Stratton received loud support from the Australian crowd, eliminating Naomi before she was eliminated by Liv Morgan, which lead to heavy boos from the audience. The crowd also chanted her "Tiffy Time" catchphrase during the men's chamber match later in the show. [40] She competed for the WWE Women’s Championship in a triple threat match at Backlash France, but was unsuccessful. [41] She then formed an alliance with Queen of the Ring winner and WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax. [42] [43] On July 6, Stratton won the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake event. [44] [45] At Survivor Series WarGames on November 30, Stratton participated in her first WarGames match alongside Jax, Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez and Candice LeRae against Naomi, Bayley, Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky in a losing effort. [46] On the January 3, 2025 episode of SmackDown, Stratton cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on Jax (after assisting the latter in her title defense against Naomi and subsequently turning on both Jax and LeRae) to win the WWE Women's Championship. [47] On the January 17 episode of SmackDown, Stratton defeated Bayley to retain the title in her first title defense. [48]
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. [49] Her wrestling persona is inspired by Paris Hilton, the character of Sharpay Evans from the movie High School Musical and, more recently, Sabrina Carpenter. [50] [51]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | WWE SuperCard [52] | Tiffany Stratton | |
2023 | WWE 2K23 | Tiffany Stratton | Pretty Sweet Pack DLC [53] |
2024 | WWE 2K24 [54] | Tiffany Stratton |
Woynilko cites Charlotte Flair as her inspiration for becoming a professional wrestler. [55] Woynilko has been in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Marcel Barthel, better known as Ludwig Kaiser, since 2022. [56]
Event | Date | Location | Place and Sport |
---|---|---|---|
2016 Winter Classic | February 20, 2016 | Battle Creek, Michigan | 2nd-DM [57] (Open) |
2016 Elite Challenge | May 7, 2016 | Colorado Springs, Colorado | 4th-TR [58] (Open); 5th-DM [59] |
2016 USA Gymnastics Championships | June 12, 2016 | Providence, Rhode Island | 7th-TR (Open); 3rd-DM [60] |
2017 Winter Classic | February 25, 2017 | Battle Creek, Michigan | 7th-DM [61] |
2017 Elite Challenge | May 20, 2017 | Colorado Springs, Colorado | 7th-TR [62] (Open) |
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Tiffany Stratton won female star of the year.