Welcome to the Era of Elegance!

The Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) was sure it would never happen. The IWC was confident as hell that this would never be a reality. On Sunday, August 24, we have never been so happy to see the IWC be in such a rage...at least the ignorant folks in the IWC, not everyone there. Ash by Elegance defeated Masha Slamovich and then-champion Jacy Jayne at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Heatwave to win the Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling Knockouts World Championship. Going into this event, most expected Jacy to retain her title and head into TNA Bound for Glory as TNA Knockouts World Champion or a slim chance of Masha winning the title back and bringing it home to TNA, with barely anyone thinking Ash had a chance in hell of winning the title. But thanks to some help by her girls of the Elegance Brand (Heather and M by Elegance) and a Rarified Air to Masha, Ash would go on to win her first-ever world championship on a major brand. Because she is also TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champion, she is a double champion in TNA. The only two women to do that in TNA are Gail Kim and Madison Rayne. Also it was the first time that the TNA Knockouts World Championship was ever defended on a WWE Premium Live Event (PLE) (they were formerly known as Pay Per Views).

 

The most ELEGANT champion in wrestling right now
Credit: TNAWrestling.com

To the IWC, this is gonna hurt your underdeveloped brains, but it's time to face facts...ASH IS THE REAL DEAL. She could have just went back to fitness and been okay having a fitness career again. She could have just stuck with OnlyFans and made a career out of that. She didn't. She can STILL go back to fitness competitions if she wants to. She DOES have an OnlyFans and is doing quite well with it. But she also decide to stick with wrestling and sign with TNA and she put in the work to be better as a character and in-ring performer and the company in return put THEIR trust in her (which is all she wanted from her previous employer: trust in her and her abilities) and now she along with the entire Elegance Brand (The Personal Concierge aka George Iceman, Heather by Elegance aka Heather Reckless, M by Elegance aka Maggie Lee) is one of their top acts in the company, male or female. Make no mistake, Ash was not rewarded for her longevity in the business...she was rewarded for her hard work and dedication to the business. When you make the effort to up your game, you should be rewarded for it. That is something TNA understood for Ash in far less time than WWE did during her entire run with the company. Also, TNA is in the middle of one of the most important times in their company's history with hopes of a massive television deal in the coming weeks. Do you honestly believe they would put their entire division on Ash's back if they didn't believe in her? Spoiler alert: NO, THEY WOULD NOT! Wrestling promoters put their titles, especially their main titles, on people they TRUST, whether short-term or long-term. To put both their singles AND tag titles on her (again, only two others can claim that in that company) shows that TNA has a SERIOUS amount of trust, faith, and respect in Ash. And WWE has clearly gained some respect for her as they allowed Ash's title change on their turf rather than TNA territory and even gave a shoutout to her on their flagship show, WWE RAW, the following night, which is something they are not obligated to do whatsoever, mind you. Hell, they even did a vlog piece on their YouTube channel, so clearly Ash is doing SOMETHING right these days.

The Elegance Brand, draped in GOLD
Credit: WWE.com

It's taken a while but wrestling companies are finally seeing her value, her co-workers and colleagues see her value, and other RESPECTABLE legit wrestling outlets (not I'm not talking about the dirtsheets) see her value as well. THEIR voices matter, not a bunch of uneducated clowns with access to a social media platform like X/Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram or fans that do podcasts out of their mother's basement or little boy caves thinking their voices are relevant when they are in fact the opposite. Ash will forever be known as a WORLD CHAMPION, she had EARNED the right to call herself a world champion, and no amount of crying, complaining, moaning, groaning, and bitching on social media will ever change that. Welcome to the Era of Elegance...shut up and embrace it! 

For more on Ash by 2 Belts, follow her on X/Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and OnlyFans (doing a special championship sale over there). Also click here to view more articles we've written on the Undisputed Queen of the Knockouts...and we've written quite a few over the years. 

For more on TNA, follow them on Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram and go to their new-look website at https://www.tnawrestling.com. 

From Ash(a) to Ashes to...Flowers?!

In life, everyone has an acquired taste in everything. From music to places to food to muscle preference...to professional wrestlers, ESPECIALLY professional wrestlers. Everyone who is a wrestling fan has a certain type of wrestling style, company and/or wrestler they like, and it can be multiple. Again, everyone is different. But one thing most seem to love in an underdog story or a story of someone who betted on themselves and was able to reach the mountaintop, which has been the case for several lately, more noticeably Timeless Toni Storm in AEW who completely reinvented herself after walking away from WWE and Naomi this past weekend who walked out of WWE 3 years ago, signed with TNA and took a gamble (help raising their stock in the process) and is now on the run of her life in her 2nd stint with WWE. Now I've set the stage for you, let's talk about a woman who was let go by WWE after being their for a decade, doing everything asked of her (which was unfortunately not a lot because of THEM not HER), signs to a different company, completely reinvents herself, shows how good she has become in the ring AND as a character, winning some titles in the process...but no one in the wrestling world seems to care. Of course...we are talking about one half of the current TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Champions, Ash by Elegance, formerly known as Dana Brooke in WWE.

Ash was let go from WWE in September 2023 to the delight of a lot of folks in the dreaded and ignorant as hell IWC (internet wrestling community). She would not be gone from wrestling for long as she would sign with TNA and would appear in the first event under their rebrand to their original name (they were known as Impact Wrestling for a time) at TNA Hard to Kill. No longer Dana, she was now Ash by Elegance with her own Personal Concierge (George Iceman). She only appeared for a few seconds but folks wasted no time calling her a cheap ripoff of Timeless Toni Storm. But we would find out real quick that she was anything but a timeless ripoff. But many folks still don't buy it to this day,  so it is what it is at this point. In her first few months in TNA, they positioned her to be THE top heel for their company as it was evident that she would eventually collide with then-Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace, which is exactly what happened at Slammiversary 2024 in an underrated match that should have never been underrated in the first place. This was no carry job as both ladies had their working boots on that night. Had that match been Jordynne vs just about anyone else in pro wrestling, folks would have showered it with praise and even had it a Match of the Year candidate, but because it was Ash, folks couldn't care less. The dirtsheets and bloggers who LOVE pointing out when Ash "botches" had absolutely nothing to say regarding what those who DID watch it as Ash's best match of her career. It's like that match never existed. Don't believe us? Search for yourself, Google is free, people. All they will say it Jordynne retained her title that night. Their rematch on August 24 of last year on TNA iMPACT, which was a Match by Elegance (a hardcore match with various elegant objects), was dare I say even better! Check out the match below in its entirety:

After this, Jordynne would move on to other challengers and after dropping the title to Masha Slamovich at Bound for Glory 2024 would eventually sign with WWE, while Ash would take another step in her TNA journey by having Heather Reckless (now Heather by Elegance) join her and eventually winning the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championships and adding Maggie Lee (now M by Elegance) to officially form The Elegance Brand. And...as expected, folks began to call them a cheap imitation of The Beautiful People, even though both factions are different. They have clearly jelled well as a cohesive unit and have put on some very good tag team matches. The biggest issue is they seemingly only let them have a real feud with one team, Spitfire (Jody Threat and Dani Luna) who are actually not a team anymore. TNA has not done a good job in establishing a Knockouts tag division during the Elegance Brand's time as champions and but should their opponents on Sunday at Slammiversary 2025 (The Iinspiration aka Cassie Lee and Jessica McKay) become the new tag team champions, something tells me the company will put a bit more effort for THEM than they have for the Elegance Brand, which is not far to Ash, Heather, or M at all. 

Now, her TNA stint isn't the only thing that has elevated her though. She is currently the Boca Raton Championship Wrestling (BRCW) Women's Champion. BRCW is an independent wrestling promotion out of Boca Raton, Florida. But it's her run in World Series Wrestling (WSW), a wrestling promotion in Australia, that has been nothing but all hits and no misses, which includes some of the most brutal matches of her career and in WSW history. If anything, what her TNA run has done is elevated her as a character while her WSW run has elevated her as an in-ring performer. Below are two matches from her WSW run thus far, the first one was when she won the WSW Women's Championship last year for the 1st time and ended up setting the record for longest reign for that title and the 2nd one was when she would begin her 2nd run with the title after losing it (for about 24 hours) earlier this year:

As I've mentioned before, I get that everyone has their preference in pro wrestling. But for the life of me, I have no idea why the majority of fans are flat out AGAINST her. Not her character...the person herself. Seriously...BEING A FAN OF ASH DOES NOT MAKE YOU ANY LESS OF A WRESTLING FAN. IT"S OKAY TO BE A FAN OF HER OR AT BARE MINIUMN APPRECIATE HER WORK! Jordynne Grace has called her "criminally underrated" on social media. Gail Kim has showered her with nothing but praise, calling her a locker room leader and veteran for the TNA Knockouts roster. Others such as Natalya, Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Fallon Henley and others have said nothing but good things about her. Yet the IWC refuses to budge. The dirtsheets, podcasters, bloggers...NONE OF THEM HAVE HER BACK despite her showing these past few years why she is one of the most improved and reliable performers in wrestling right now. We wish wrestling fans would actually THINK for themselves and actually watch her stuff and let their own eyes judge her rather than listen to wrestling podcasters and just take their word for how "bad" she is rather than form their own opinions about her.  I know, I know...I'm asking WAY too much from wrestling fans these days. But for those that actually HAVE watch Ash's career (especially these last couple of years) and can see how far she has come over the past decade, you know she has more than earned her flowers. And we at FitGems Nation are more than happy to give them to her while she is alive and still putting in that work, and we will keep those flowers as nourished and full of life as possible...even if no one in wrestling or wrestling media will. 

For more on Ash, follow her on X/Twitter, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and OnlyFans (doing free subscription right now, BTW). Also click here to view more articles we've written on Ash over the years.

For more on TNA, follow them on Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram and go to https://www.tnawrestling.com and don't forget to watch TNA Slammiversary this Sunday at 8pm Eastern/7PM Central where the Elegance Brand (Ash and Heather by Elegance) will defend the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Championships against the Iinspiration in what many are calling the most important night in TNA history!

Ash: From Heartbreak to Elegance...and why the journey is far from over

Ever since her WWE release exactly one year ago today (September 21, 2023), TNA (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling) Knockout Ash by Elegance (fka Dana Brooke in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)) has been putting in work in her character development and in-ring skills and has surpassed how she was portrayed in WWE, in our honest opinion. It was never made clearer than during her first-ever World Series Wrestling tour in Australia and during Slammiversary in her first opportunity at a major women's championship in her career. During her WSW tour, she would compete in a singles match on Night One, have a mixed tag match on Night Two, win the vacant World Series Wrestling Women's Championship on Night Three in a fatal-4-way match, and would defend the title in a brutal No Disqualifications (No DQ) match. At TNA Slammiversary in front of the biggest crowd TNA has had in over a decade, Ash would get her first crack at a major women's championship, the TNA Knockouts World Championship, taking on Jordynne Grace, who has been on an historic run since early January. She would fail to win but would win over a lot of folks that have hated and/or doubted her for years...or at least the folks that decided to pay attention to Ash. Yes, despite putting on a four-day, four city tour overseas and having a Match of the Year candidate a few days after, the majority of wrestling fans STILL don't view Ash as a legit performer, and quite frankly, we're getting sick and tired of how the internet fans keep devaluing her. In fact, Ash would have ANOTHER Match of the Year candidate in a Match by Elegance and rather than giving both ladies props, the focus of the majority of the IWC focused on Jordynne. In no way are we talking down on Jordynne, as she is incredible and deserves all the praise she has received this year...we just wish folks would give Ash some praise as well.

2024 was the year of an ELEGANT comeback
Photo credit: TNA Wrestling

If you have followed Ash throughout her career, it has been no secret that she has had a hard time trying to win over the IWC. They constantly putting her down in various ways, from her wrestling to her look. It's like she can't win with them no matter what she does. But we aren't that ignorant. We have seen the hard work Ash has put in in her decade-plus in pro wrestling, whether it be in WWE or now in TNA. Now, can you say she's a late bloomer? Yeah, it's fair to say that she has taken longer to pick up on wrestling that others, but no need to vilify her for that. She has been given crap and has done her best to make it as entertaining as possible. Hell, she made a silly green title in WWE (the 24/7 Championship) have some value in it before they discontinued it under the TKO regime.

We honestly have no clue why the hate for her is so deep when all she has wanted to do is prove that she belongs in pro wrestling. You would THINK that would be appreciated among wrestling fans, but NOPE! They shun her because she didn't go through the traditional way aka "paying your dues in the indies" and it's not right. She has put in the work since her WWE release last year and completely reinvented herself as Ash by Elegance. If you can look at it from a unbiased look, Ash lowkey has had one of the best breakouts years of a non-WWE wrestler due to her character development and match catalog, especially with Jordynne and the WSW tour. We don't know what will awaits her for the rest of 2024 and beyond, but we do hope that one day, folks will stop hating on Ash because it's the cool thing to do and actually THINK for themselves and come to the realization that Ash isn't as bad as dirtsheets and podcaster CLAIM she is. Among the hate and venom she gets, we are proud to give Ash her flowers right now so she has the chance to smell them. 

More elegance to come! The fight is far from over!
Photo credit: TNA Wrestling

For more on Ash, follow her on X and Instagram

Ash By Elegance: TNA Knockout

Credit to the original owners of the photos

 

When Ashley Sebera (formerly known as Dana Brooke in WWE) was released from her WWE contact, we would hope that if she wanted to continue wrestling, she would go to Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling (TNA) as their women’s division (known as the Knockouts division) is viewed by most wrestling fans to be the best women’s division in mainstream wrestling and the REAL birthplace of the women’s revolution in pro wrestling (not WWE like they claim to be). On January 17, 2024, it was made official that Ashley did indeed sign to TNA. 

Her first appearance for the company took place at TNA Hard to Kill under the name Ash by Elegance. During the premium live event (PLE), a blonde woman (whose face was not shown) stepped out of a vehicle and walked into the arena. A lot of speculation was made, and some folks discovered the shoes the mystery woman wore were the same shows Ashley wore in an Instagram photo from her Fantime site. Because of SPECULATION ONLY, her WWE name Dana Brooke trended on Twitter/X throughout Hard to Kill, even being talked about just as much as the event itself. Right before the TNA Knockouts World Championship match between then-champion Trinity and now-champion Jordynne Grace, it was revealed that Ashley was indeed the mystery woman, now going by Ash by Elegance. She even had a manager with her now, George Iceman. For those that watched Impact Wrestling before the TNA relaunch, he was part of BTI (Before the Impact) and would give insider scoops on what to expect on Impact shows and premium events. With BTI now a thing of the past, it looks like Iceman will be Ash’s manager going forward, which could do her wonders. 

While not even making a promo or being in the ring, her look caused some folks to think she copied Timeless Toni Storm in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The problem with the comparison is folks are judging Ash by less than 30 seconds of footage from a PLE where she did not speak, nor did she get in the ring. In due time (maybe as early as tonight’s TNA iMPACT), we will get our answers. 

One thing we can say is that Ash is ready to unleash her untapped potential that WWE refused to let out. TNA has done wonders for women who wanted to take their careers to the next level: Gail Kim, Taryn Terrell, Brooke Tessmacher, Tara, Deonna Purrazzo, Mickie James, and most recently Trinity, among others. If Ash gets her way, we can very well add her to that list. We said whoever gets her was gonna get a hell of a worker. TNA is about to find out why we sing her praises and will continue to do so for as long as we can. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the era of Total Nonstop Ash by Elegance! 

Follow Ash on the following social media accounts and her own premium website:

Twitter/X

Instagram

Threads

TikTok

Fantime site

Follow Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling at https://www.tnawrestling.com

Goodbye Dana Brooke…and Thank You

WARNING: This blog post contains NSFW (not safe for work) language. Please read with caution. 

If you haven’t noticed via our social media, we think very little of WWE these days in a positive light. They have done more to make us hate them then love them, especially when the piece of shit known as Vince McMahon slithered his way back to the company as Executive Chairman after being ousted around summer 2022 due to sexual allegations. Anyone with a brain knew he would find a way to screw it up for so many people if he ever got any power back. Hell, his own daughter Stephanie McMahon, who served as co-executive chairperson once he was gone, stepped down once the snake returned. And in quite a bit of shows, we’ve seen his unfortunate influence. We also knew that with him back, some people were unfairly going to lose their jobs, especially due to his orchestrating merging with his buddies Dana White of UFC and Ari Emanuel of Endeavor to form TKO Group. Last week, over 100 WWE office employees lost their jobs due to the merger and you knew the talent would be next. On September 21, talent cuts were made…and unfortunately Dana Brooke was one of several that got the ax.

A woman who has so much more to give in the world of professional wrestling.

She had about a year left in her current contract so OF COURSE the pieces of shit in WWE would not honor that. They demoted her to NXT because they “didn’t have anything for her on RAW”, which we all know is a fucking lie. But it’s WWE, what did you expect from them? Honesty?! 🙄Anyways, her time in NXT let her to rediscover herself as she ended up seemingly feeling rejuvenated, having not only pretty good matches with the NXT roster, but having a STORYLINE and CHARACTER that was interesting, as well as teaming up with a new member of the roster in Kelani Jordan. Things were getting very interesting with Dana seemingly losing her grip on reality and possibly turning on Kelani soon. Unfortunately thanks to the son of a bitch Vince, we will never know what will go down. Every time Dana has had SOMETHING seeming to go her way (turning on Charlotte which was setting up for a massive baby face push, Sexy Muscle Friends with Mandy Sacs (Rose) that was setting up a WWE Women’s Tag Team title opportunity, her 24/7 title shenanigans that seemingly could have paved the way for a women’s midcard title), WWE would cut off her legs right when it was about to get good. And with this, they cut off her legs for good by releasing her (along with several others). But it’s not just Vince that has been a punk ass bitch to Dana. Sam Roberts mentioned on commentary during a match Dana had with Tamina about Tamina being in a bad mood (she’s always in a bad mood, character-wise) but Sam said for no reason that you would be in a bad mood if you had to wrestle Dana. Corey Graves said a couple of years ago right on commentary that Dana needed to get a pink slip a long time ago. And do I even NEED to get into the putrid NXT crowd?! How Dana survived a decade of disrespect and NOT break down…we’ll never know. But we commend her for it.

December 21st will be the day she can sign to any company she chooses to. If it were up to us, we would love to see her go to Impact Wrestling. They have the BEST women’s division in pro wrestling. Everyone means something there and they care about their product, their employees, their roster, and their fans. She can work fewer days and be home with her husband and stepson more while being in a company that actually gives a damn, unlike WWE. She doesn’t have to deal with an old ass piece of shit like Vince and can be who she wants to be. She would have a legit chance to sink or swim on HER OWN TERMS. She would probably be around better fans as well, because that fucking NXT crowd did her no favors. Should she go to Impact, she would have at least two people she knows she can work with: Trinity and Mickie James. Maybe a third if Emma/Tenille Dashwood goes back there. If she wants a brighter spotlight, obviously All Elite Wrestling or Ring of Honor would be the way to go for her. At the moment, we trust ROH more than AEW, but either would be better for WWE for Dana. Hell, ANYTHING is better than WWE at this point.

To us, WWE never deserved Dana Brooke but she deserved an opportunity from them which she never properly got. But now the ball’s in her court. She is no longer part of a company that should have died a long time ago. As of Christmas, she will be free to go where she wants to go and sign with whoever she wants to sign with. For Dana Brooke, playtime is over. But for Ashley Sebera-Diaz, her WWE departure is only the beginning for one of the most hardworking women in the game today.

The world is yours now, Ashley. Take it all! 

Please continue to follow and support Dana/Ashley on Twitter/X and Instagram.

Dana Brooke's Instagram Story Q and A Recap

It's no secret to anyone who has followed us for a while that we are huge fans/supporters of WWE Superstar Dana Brooke. With no disrespect to anyone else in the WWE women's division on Raw and Smackdown Live, we feel that Dana just might be the most underrated woman in WWE right now. For some reason, WWE hasn't pulled the trigger on letting Dana get to be the star we feel she can be. We don't expect any wrestling media to have her back, so we feel being part of the family that gave her a break in the first place (the fitness family), we want to show our support however we can, especially via out social media platforms. While we are aware of the trolls that comment on our stuff saying things like "she is no good", "she sucks", "why don't WWE release her already" and other crap like that, we are thankful for her fans who back her up while not necessarily are fans of OUR industry. Much respect to all the Dana Brooke fans out there.

Photo credit: Dana's Instagram

On March 5th, Dana did a Q and A (question and answer) for her followers on Instagram and she brought up some things we knew and some things we didn't know, so we decided to do a recap of her impromptu Q and A. This is her fifth year as a WWE Superstar (combining both NXT and WWE runs). She was blessed to have a great childhood with her parents and sisters, and the support has been with her ever since. BTW, she loves herself some chocolate. As a kid, she used to wrestle with her dad and stuff animals. Her dad and uncle had wrestling on at the time (wasn't on the Q and A, but I believe she mentioned at one point that Goldberg is one of her favorites. Dana can correct us if we're wrong on that). She was approached to join WWE and doesn't want any "what ifs" in her life, and she feels joining WWE has brought her closer to her dad. Her current favorite moments (memories) thus far is being the first person (male or female) under WWE contract to compete at the Arnold (and doing it twice), Triple H asking her to be Asuka's first opponent in NXT, dressing up at Ric Flair at Extreme Rules 2015, and last year's historic Evolution PPV, the first all-female PPV put on by WWE. Like many NXT alumni, she does miss the brand for the memories she made there, for the late, great Dusty Rhodes, and for simply being "a total badass there". She also would love to compete in the Arnold again and one day step on the Olympia stage. But as of now, her focus is on WWE and hoping to make a name for herself there. Speaking of making a name for herself, she was ask when she would get a shot at the Raw Women's Championship (currently held by Ronda Rousey). She jokingly (but not entirely joking, unfortunately) said that you would need to play as her in a video game (might we suggest WWE 2K19) for her to win it. But she is "hoping and praying after Wrestlemania doors open for her" or she'll "knock them down." (Personally, we hope she goes to Smackdown next month in the Superstar Shakeup and be in the Smackdown Women's title picture. We think she would thrive on Smackdown Live because she is going nowhere on Raw right now with Ronda, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch taking all the spotlight).

Her inspiration was (and we believe still is) Natalya. On Natalya, she said that she's "her biggest inspiration coming into WWE", someone that "always portrayed someone strong and humble". In fact, her first (and favorite) attire (black and pink), was inspired by Natalya and Trish Stratus, another person she looks up to. Trish felt honored when she found that out and give Dana a seal of approval on her Instagram. If Dana had the choice to face anyone at this year's Wrestlemania, it would be current Smackdown Women's Champion Asuka, mainly because she hasn't had her rematch from NXT: Takeover: Respect (yeah, we're not going to mention THAT one time from a couple of years ago that...well, can we even call that a match?!). Prior to WWE, she was a gymnast for 18 years, a diver for 2 years, and a pro fitness competitor for 8 years. She still talks to Tenille Dashwood (her former WWE tag partner Emma) quite a bit. According to Dana, she will always have a special place in her heart. As a matter of fact, she was beside her when she got the news that her boyfriend at the time, Dallas McCarver, passed away. Nice to hear that they still have a tight relationship even after Emma was let go from WWE.

Speaking of Dallas, his passing apparently did affect her more than just the obvious sorrow. She revealed for the first time that she has dealt with body-related self-esteem issues. As mentioned before, she has competed in the fitness division for nearly a decade, and one of the downsides to competing for several people is never feeling good enough. Her end to her fitness competition journey (for the time being, anyways) and the passing of Dallas was too much for her to take, and she did put on weight as a result. She wasn't feeling comfortable in her own skin despite being her heart and soul being the same and her caring for others the same as well. Obviously, she has found herself again as far as fitness is concerned and is looking the best she's had in a long time. Mentally, she has gotten better as well. She was a routine freak (and with her past, you can't really blame her). But she has now adjusted herself to be open for anything and be ready on the fly. She has also found love again, in the form of current NBA star (and aspiring WWE Superstar) Enes Kanter of the Portland Trail Blazers. She enjoys Turkish food and admires his faith, which is something she is deep on herself. In addition to that, they love to workout, do fun sporting activities, eat at healthy restaurants, lay in bed and laugh at silly jokes.

Photo credit: Enes's Instagram

She was asked for advice to give a new wrestler, and she said, "Always try new things! Think of the physiology behind things and story telling of the match! Make the moves mean something" (BTW, she is absolutely correct. Anyone can do a lot of power moves or endless flips, but if they don't push the objective of the storyline, then what's the point?! Make the fans give a damn about what you are going in the ring.) Also she gave advice to those that WANT to be wrestlers: make sure to get an education, which is something she still implements in WWE, especially for training.

What you see with Dana Brooke is what you get with her real-life persona, Ashley Sebera. Strong as they come, mentally and physically with "never ever stop trying" attitudes. The best things that have happened to her have been her toughest moments in life because of what she has learned about herself. In her own words: "Losing someone but learning how strong I was to overcome it! Then giving the strongest love I have in my soul to someone knowing it's ended, but feeling so happy doing it! Being so passionate about a job that sometimes doesn't go your way, but learning perseverance". She was asked in closing "Deep down are you happy" and her response was "I am extremely happy! I'm healthy, I have the best support & living the live God gives me, as long as He wakes me up, we will get through it!"

The fact she has this kind of spirit despite EVERYTHING shows what kind of woman she is and why have no problem supporting her. We do hope that wrestling fans get to know Dana like the fitness world has gotten to know her. To any wrestling sites, if you plan on using any of this article, please credit Dana's Instagram story, not us. We just put it together.

Photo credit: kimberlasskick on Instagram

Don't forget to follow Dana on the following links:

Her WWE Superstars page: http://www.wwe.com/superstars/dana-brooke
Dana's WWE-ran Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WWEDanaBrooke/
Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanaBrookeWWE
Her Instagram: https://instagram.com/ashasebera_danabrooke
Her Snapchat: Asha_danabrooke

The Evolution of Dana Brooke

Dana has EVOLVED...and we couldn't be more proud of her!
Photo credit: WWE.com

Evolution: the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form.

This weekend's WWE pay-per-view titled WWE Evolution is exactly that. What felt like a dream for fans of the female superstars in WWE is now a reality. For the first time in WWE history, the female superstars get their own pay-per-view. No, we're not stupid, things could have been a TAD bit better in building the event, but the fact that it's even happening in the first place is a big win for the women. While a lot of people have talked about the evolution of the division and some of its top stars, we want to take a little time to focus on someone who we feel is underrated and underappreciated by the wrestling fans and wrestling world as a whole...someone we consider one of our own, Dana Brooke.

Real name Ashley Sebera, Dana will be competing in the Evolution Battle Royal, featuring former champions (Asuka, Nia Jax, Ember Moon), rising stars (such as Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, the IIconics) and former competitors (such as Ivory, Kelly Kelly, and Michelle McCool) with the opportunity at a future Women's Championship down the line. While obviously we hope Dana wins, we want to take some time to mention why as we focus on Dana's OWN Evolution.

Dana begin her journey to WWE as an aspiring gymnast (part of the Junior Olympics, last we checked) and unfortunately injuries and surguries took her out of actively pursuing that further. She went into diving and was pretty damn good at it, but in her own words, "there was nowhere to go for her" in terms of diving, and let's be real, there wasn't. From there, she discovered the bodybuilding world, more spefically the bikini division. While that was cool for her...she wanted more because of her own competitive nature. From there she decided to enter the fitness division and found her niche. She would end up competing in the National Physique Committee (NPC) for a short time before competing as a pro in the International Federaion of Bodybuilders (IFBB). While she never competed on the Olympia stage, she ended up being good enough to compete on the Arnold stage (which is invite-only) two times. While competing at the Arnold multiple times is an honor in itself, it's the fact that she is the first (and as of now only) person (male or female) to do it while under a WWE contract. She did it in 2015 while in NXT, and she did it last year on the main roster. In fact, it was during her time in the fitness division where WWE would discover her.

Dana began her WWE journey at the Performance Center in July 2013 and would make her NXT debut shortly after. We do have to be honest, her debut was definitely less an ideal, but that was to be expected with most of her class having prior wrestling experienece in the indies and Dana having none before coming to the Performance Center. She definitely posessed one of the best finishers of any woman to come out of NXT up to that point, the Samoan Driver, and it got her quite a few victories, including one over one of the Four Horsewomen, Bayley. During her short time in NXT, she aligned herself with Emma and both ladies benefitted from it for a bit. It would end up benefitting Emma moreso than Dana in a way, as unfortunately Dana would suffer an injury that would limit her time in NXT as a competitor. In fact her last televised NXT match was at NXT Takeover: Respect against the debuting Asuka, who pretty much beat Dana handily that night. Everyone focuses on Asuka while no one seemed to have given Dana any credit for hanging with a Japanese legend, but as Dana would soon find out...it would be the story of her career in WWE thus far.

In May 2016, after healing from her injuries, Dana would make her main roster debut rejoining her buddy Emma, but this time with the name EnD (Emma and Dana). It lookes like they were going to attept to recreate or even surpass their NXT run, but injuries plaged it again, but THIS time, it was Emma would be sidelined, leading to Dana being directionness, until Extreme Rules 2016 where Dana showed up dressed as Ric Flair to distract Natalya and help Charlotte retain the Raw Women's Championship. Dana and Charlotte would end up being a pretty cool duo with Charlotte as the champion (and would begin her Queen transformation during that time) and Dana as the protege/lackey). Their relationship strained to the point where we THOUGHT there would be a breakup at some point but it weirdly disappeared. Then it came back for a bit and then broke up shortly before Wrestlemania 33, where they had one match against each other, Charlotte won, and it didn't go any further than that for whatever reason. Emma would return from injury and thought she would have Dana back as her buddy, but Dana was fed up with alliances so she declined the team-up. It looked like it was going to be a feud between Emma and Dana but once again...nothing came out of it. For some odd reason, at some point, it looked like a partnership was brewing between Dana and Mickie James, but again...nothing came out of it. In 2017, she was used sparringly in matches but showed improvements in her matches. After arguably the most embarrasing match (if you want to call it a match) of her career with a blink-of-an-eye defeat by the hands of Asuka, she joined Titus and Apollo (Titus Worldwide) as their statician. In all honestly, THAT went nowhere for her as she spent most of her time accompnaying them to the ring in secretary outfits holding a clipboard. Not even getting physically involved, just...well...holding a damn clipboard.

For someone with her skills, it was bothersome to see someone like Dana being wasted like this. Hell, up until recent, she was used LESS this year in matches than in 2017 despite, again, making serious improvements since her NXT days. We don't understand the logic of WWE of not using Dana in the best way possible, especially as someone who has not been shy of wanting to be in the ring more and wanting to work with children. But one thing no one, not even her haters and detractors, can deny is that Dana does her best to make due with what she has. She never makes excuses for what the cards bring in her life. That was never more clear than when she lost her boyfriend Dallas McCarver last year and she took minimum time off of WWE to mourn and came back and dedicated her matches for the remainer of 2017 and her matches this year, especially the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania Battle Royal, to Dallas (Click here to check out her touching tribute to Dallas during the Royal Rumble this year) Thankfully she has finally found love again in big-time WWE fan and current center for the New York Knicks, Enes Kanter, who is on his own path to making a name for himself in the sports world.

A thankless individual in the wrestling world
Photo credit: WWE.com

Throughout it all, good and bad, thick and thin, we have seen Dana evolve from to the NPC/IFBB to NXT and Breaking Ground to the main roster in WWE. She has suffered more loss than wins, but it has not lessen her as a person or a performer. In fact, it has made her stronger than ever before. To us, she is the most underrated WWE performer no one is talking about, and that's fine. It will make her eventual rise to the top that much sweeter. We've rooted for you for years, Dana, and we're not about to stop now. In fact, we're more in your corner now than ever before. Which is why a win at Evolution will truly be the defining win of not only her career but her life.

In her own words...PLAYTIME...IS OVER!!!!

Follow Dana at the following links:
Twitter: @DanaBrookeWWE
Instagram: ashasebera_danabrooke

Make sure to buy her merchandise at WWE Custom Tees: https://customtees.wwe.com/collections/raw/dana-brooke?sort_by=

Also, check out videos from UpUpDownDown to get to know the woman behind the character:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCcwZncNVLE
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR98S2RtN-Q

Check out our other articles about Dana here:
Our thoughts on her NXT debut: http://fitgems.blogspot.com/2015/04/our-take-on-dana-brookes-debut-on-nxt.html

Why Dana competing at the Arnold is significant: http://fitgems.blogspot.com/2017/02/why-wwes-dana-brooke-competing-at.html

Why WWE's Dana Brooke Competing at the Arnold is Significant

DISCLAIMER: All photos belong to their original owners.

Slowly but surely changing the game (no offense, Triple H)

Photo credit: WWE

It's one thing to be in shape for wrestling.
It's another thing to be in shape for a fitness competition.
Try to do both at the same time.

Yeah, that sounds like torture and pure madness. Why on Earth would anyone put their body at risk to do both instead of choosing one? If you just happened to be named Dana Brooke, the answer for her is in the form of a question...WHY NOT?!

This weekend (Friday to be exact), Dana Brooke (real name Ashley Sebera) will be stepping on stage among some of the best fitness competitors in the world at the 2017 Fitness International during the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio. The brand split has let WWE Superstars be able to do more things outside WWE with schedules being a tad easier than in the past. Chris Jericho has his podcast and band outside WWE. Seth Rollins is enrolled in the Crossfit Games as an active competitor (as soon as he's healed up). And John Cena is freaking EVERYWHERE in Hollywood and still has an active role in WWE. And it looks like Dana will be able to be a fitness competitor while still under contract with WWE, which is unheard of. She did it in 2015 as part of the NXT roster, when she hadn't made it on TV yet and was only doing house shows in Florida. She competed in her first Arnold Classic that Friday and the very next day (as well as that Sunday) she wrestled against Bayley (current WWE Raw Women's Champion) and Carmella (Smackdown Live competitor) as part of the first-ever WWE Experience at the Arnold (Side note: she won both matches).

Most of you know what fitness competitors go through to get ready for one show. The diet, the training, the practicing of the routines...it's stressful weeks of prep but rewarding for that one show. Now, consider that this is the Arnold we're talking about, and you're talking about the biggest show on the schedule NOT named the Olympia. Most that compete have regular jobs and don't take bumps in a wrestling ring and get tossed around like ragdolls. That's where Dana is different from every other competitor competing at the Arnold this weekend. Taking bumps in a wrestling ring and get tossed around like a ragdoll IS her job and a job she loves dearly. She has stated on multiple occasions that she wants to be among the best in WWE history, but she also realizes what brought her to the dance in the first place...the fitness world. She wants to give back and everyone (whether you like her or not) should give her credit and respect for not forgetting her roots, which is something that sadly most people tend to forget once they make it big. While others have the indies to thank for their road to WWE, Dana has the fitness world to thank for her road to WWE, which we personally hope doesn't end anytime soon, as we feel we've yet to see the best from her. Dana at the Arnold (to us) helps close the gap between the fitness industry and WWE, hopefully bring in more male and female talent for NXT, Raw, Smackdown Live, 205 Live, and other aspects of WWE.

Potentially paving the future for others to compete in fitness shows while being part of WWE at the same time.

Photo credit: Getty Images

If some of the guys can do it all and still be active members of WWE, why can't Dana?! It's only fair. We hope what Dana is doing paves the way for others to follow ALL their dreams. In this day and age, you CAN do it all if you put your mind to it! Cena is, Seth is, Jericho is. Now...It's Dana's turn. For the IFBB AND WWE...PLAYTIME IS OVER!!!!

For more on Dana's Arnold journey (and other random stuff from WWE's resident Queen of Flex City), follow her on Snapchat at asha_DanaBrooke, on Twitter at @DanaBrookeWWE, and her Instagram at ashasebera_danabrooke . Be sure to watch the Arnold Sports Festival on their new home on Generation Iron at http://generationiron.com/ this Friday and Saturday. Good luck Dana Brooke! We're rooting for you! :)

Our Take on Dana Brooke's NXT Debut

(All photos are from WWE.com)

This week on NXT, the NXT and WWE Universe was formally introduced to the newest Diva, Dana Brooke. Fitness fans have known her for quite some time in the fitness industry as Ashley Sebera. She has been a fan of WWE for quite some time and at one point she was actually rumored to have already signed with NXT (that was the time when current NXT Diva Alexa Bliss (Lexi Kaufman) and former prospect Christina Vargas were signed). That turned out to be false at the time, but she would later on be offered a developmental contact several months later and has been doing her thing on NXT live events.

Welcome to Brooke City, Blue Pants!

As mentioned earlier, Dana would make her official debut on the April 15^th edition of WWE NXT on the WWE Network. Right away, she came out doing a flip here and there and showing off what she worked on building for years. Arrogance, cockiness…if you got enough of that, I don’t care how beautiful you are, you’re gonna get booed. So mission accomplished on getting her character down pat. Now on to the match itself…not everything is gonna be perfect on your first match. I’m sorry, it’s not gonna happen. It was obviously she was a bit “green” (that’s the term used for those that aren't as experienced in the ring), but she showcase her strength quite a bit, which helped make up for her greenness, which WILL improve with patience and dedication. Speaking of power, her finisher is NASTY!! That’s something you would expect a guy to do, so major kudos to Dana for having a unique finisher. It’s definitely not S-A-W-F-T…SAWFT! (You’re welcome, Enzo and Big Cass).

BROOKE...SMASH! 

Here’s where I get mean…not to Dana, but to her detractors. Most internet dirtsheets want the wrestlers to be perfect from the word go and will lash out on anyone who isn't, and that does double for the ladies…especially those who don’t come from an independent wrestling background. Dana is from the fitness world, so you know they picked her apart piece by piece, as well as those in the IWC (internet wrestling community). Take a look at sites such as Bleacher Report and others to see what I’m talking about. Is it fair? HELL NO. Do they care?! HELL to the NO. Is it fun to make them eat crow. OH…HELL…YEAH!! And I truly feel Dana will make every single one of those haters eats it by the plateful sooner than later. Last I checked, Trish wasn't the best when she started, and looked how she turned out. I will say this, most people see that Dana has SOMETHING special that you just can’t teach, no matter what type of tools you have at your disposal (looking at you WWE Developmental Center…even though I would love to go there on a weekend just to try it out.). Once all the stars aligned, I think most haters and critics will see that WWE/NXT has something special with Dana.

With AJ’s retirement, now’s the time for the Divas division to step up and for someone to take over as the new face of the Divas division. Dana Brooke isn't there yet, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if one year from now, we see Dana on top of the NXT women’s division as their champion or maybe even on the main roster in the Divas Championship title hunt or as Divas Champion. We have Dana’s back. We support Dana and wish her the best of success. So to those that want to see her fall, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news…you don’t get to win this round. Dana Brooke is on her way to do major things in NXT and WWE. WHEN (not if) she does succeed, we’ll make sure to send you some crow and humble pie to eat on…and in honor of Dana, we’ll make sure it’s low in fat and high in protein. ;) 

Keep hating, haters. Her fun has only just begun!

For more on Dana, follow her on Twitter at @DanaBrookeWWE as well as on Instagram, and make sure to see her and all the NXT talent on the WWE Network ($9.99 a month, no commitment) Wednesday nights at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central.

NXT Diva Competing at the 2015 Arnold

DISCLAIMER: All photos used belong to their original owners. 

As you all probably know by now, the lists for the 2015 Arnold on the pro side have been released, with the biggest and best names in the industry competing for top honors in one of the biggest shows of the year. One name that stood out to me was Ashley Sebera for the fitness side, known as the Fitness International. Some of you probably know her by a different name...Dana Brooke. Yes, THE Dana Brooke from NXT, WWE's developmental brand. My initial thought about this was..."Was this a mistake? The committee knows she's part of WWE, right? Do they even ALLOW this? But after seeing the retweets from Triple H (WWE's COO) and Sara Amato (NXT trainer), that's when it hit me. A WWE performer is going to represent the entire wrestling world in one of the largest fitness competitions in the world.

Former WWE Divas Aksana (real name Živilė Raudonienė) and Kaitlin (real name Celeste Braun) were former IFBB and NPC figure competitors who stopped competing to become WWE Divas. Torrie Wilson and Lisa Maria Varon were fitness competitors before entering the world of professional wrestling. So how and why is Dana (we'll be using her WWE name going forward in this article) able to compete in one of the top fitness shows in the world AND still be a WWE/NXT Diva? Better question is...why not?

Dana is one of the top prospects in NXT who has not (as of this writing) made it to the TV roster (or NXT's home, the WWE Network...$9.99 a month, no commitment needed. I know, cheap plug). Known as the Killa Barbie, she has shown a lot of promise as a tough-as-nails performer who could be one of the next top female powerhouses in WWE, based off fans who have seen her perform during NXT live events. SO...back to the point of "What's the big deal of Dana making the Arnold list?"

If memory serves me right, this will mark the first time in WWE history that a WWE performer UNDER CONTRACT will compete in a fitness event. The ladies I mentioned earlier competed in fitness competitions but stopped after entering WWE. This practically guarantees big opportunities for the WWE and IFBB to showcase their companies to new people. IFBB, while big, doesn't have nearly the mainstream media power that WWE has. Can you imagine the exposure the IFBB can get if some of the Arnold was shown on WWE programming? WWE, in turn, will have a massive amount of fit talent (male and female) they can look at and scout for the next breed of Superstars and Divas for WWE and NXT. The company will be like kids in a candy store trying to see who can one day lead their company.

What's in it for Dana? To bring two words together and show both audiences why she's one of the top athletes on the planet. The thought of a good deal of the crowd chanting "NXT! NXT! NXT!" during her swimsuit round and fitness routine round brings a tear and a smile to my face knowing one of our own is returning home to represent everything she loves: fitness and pro wrestling. For more reasons than you know, Dana is already a winner.

2015 is her year...she makes history on March 6th. 

We would like to publicly wish Dana the best of luck as she prepares to represent pro wrestling in one of the biggest stages in the fitness industry and we would like to thank Paul Levesque (Triple H), Sara Del Ray (Sara Amato), and WWE/NXT for giving Dana the opportunity to make history. Good luck Dana! FYI, you can follow Dana on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DanaBrookeWWE and Instagram at http://instagram.com/ashasebera_danabrooke

The 2015 Arnold Sports Festival is March 5-8 at the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, with the Fitness International Prejudging and Finals on March 6th. Click here for ticket information.