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!

The Wrestlemania Debut of Trish Stratus: A Mainstream Muscle Cult Favorite

As most of you know by now, this year is the 25th anniversary of Trish Stratus being part of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, used to be known as the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF for short). Trish build her reputation as being one of the top female performers in WWE history, many say she is THE best female performer in WWE history and one of the best ever regardless of gender. Today marks the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania 2000. Since we are a female muscle platform and not a pro wrestling platform, we are not going to talk about the actual Wrestlemania event but rather talk about Trish making her first-ever appearance at Wrestlemania and why it has become a favorite mainstream muscle moment amongst some fans.

As stated before, Trish made her Wrestlemania debut 25 years ago today. Now consider Trish debuted in WWE only TWO WEEKS AGO prior. You wouldn't think someone who debuted just a couple of weeks ago would make an appearance at WWE's biggest show of the year THIS early in their career, but that's exactly what happened. And the first look of Trish we get at Wrestlemania? Her famous "puppies" front and center as she escorts Test (R.I.P.) and Albert (known as T&A) for their tag team match against Steve Blackman and Al Snow (who had their mascot Chester McCheeserton (don't ask) with them) aka Head Cheese. Head Cheese entered the match first and then T and A and Trish made their way to the ring. Here's where the muscle part comes in. 

Trish powerwalked to the ring with big boss energy accompanying her team with her soon-to-be trademark cowboy hat and trench coat, but her usual outfit of a top and skirt was replaced with a silver sports bra and booty shorts, an outfit that paid tribute to her fitness modeling days and working at expos. It was pretty obvious Trish was proud of the physique she had build for the last few years as her quads kept bulging with each step she made during the team's entrance. Pretty sure she had a quick gym session or pump similar to competitors before going out there but I can’t confirm that. Trish was definitely in Quadzilla mode that night probably more than any other night in her WWE career. The muscle jiggle is ever more impressive when the entrance is slowed down. Look below and see for yourself:

Trish's physique has not completely transitioned into wrestling mode just yet so her fitness modeling look was still there, so many fans that were not familiar with Trish from her MuscleMag magazines got to see a different type of body and this no doubt contributed to her popularity amongst male fans and it wouldn't surprise me if this help contributed to a few more women hitting the weight room. These days, a physique like Trish had back then is more acceptable and widespread (Thank God) but back then it was a rarity and I believe Trish had a small role in changing the norm with it came to strong, feminine bodies. Before muscle mommies, there was the fitness models aka the muscle mommies before muscle mommies were cool. Yet another reason to say...THANK YOU TRISH! 

For more of Trish, go to https://www.trishstratus.com and don't forget to follow her on all her platforms:

Facebook

X (Twitter)

Instagram

Threads

TikTok

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

Putting Respect on the Name of Mandy Rose

October 26, 2021.

NXT Halloween Havoc.

Mandy Rose defeated Raquel Rodriquez (then known as Raquel Gonzalez) to win the NXT Women’s Championship, her first championship in WWE. Many folks expected her to be a transitional champion and her reign would be very short. Today is September 4, 2022 and she’s STILL in her first reign as NXT Women’s Champion and by the end of the day today, she just might be the Unified and Undisputed NXT Women’s Champion by unifying her title with the NXT UK Women’s Championship, currently held by Meiko Satomura. Mandy, Meiko, and Blair Davenport will compete in a Triple Threat Title Unification Match for the NXT Women’s and NXT UK Women’s Championships later on today at NXT Worlds Collide. 

NXT Halloween Havoc 2021…the beginning of greatness
Photo credit: WWE.com

Many look at Mandy and for some reason can’t fantom how a woman with her looks can be one of the most dominating champions in NXT and WWE history, but that’s exactly what she has done. Her reign is the 3rd longest in the history of the title, with only Asuka and Shayna Baszler having longer reigns. The list of people she has beaten is a who’s who of some of the best talent the NXT brand has ever had: Raquel, Dakota Kai, IYO SKY (Io Shiari), Alba Fyre (Kay Lee Ray), Cora Jade, Wendy Choo, Roxanne Perez, and Zoey Stark. Should she beat two of NXT UK’s greatest stars in Meiko and Blair later on today, there is no reason why Mandy should NOT be called the greatest NXT Women’s Champion of all time. 

Like every good champion, she uses her environment and smarts for any advantage she can find, which of course includes her Toxic Attraction buddies Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne. But she has not been shy to show off her strength as well, especially in her latest battles, utilizing her built physique and surprising strength to her advantage. Well, her strength is surprising to those that don’t follow her on social media, because those that DO follow her (and based off her numbers, who doesn’t) knows that she takes very good care of herself and puts in serious work in the gym. You don’t look like a action figure without putting in the work. But it goes beyond what she goes in the gym for Mandy. It’s how she has presented herself and has elevated the people around her. The NXT Women’s division is the most competitive (and honestly the most muscular) it’s been in quite some time, and Mandy is a big reason for that. While we absolutely personally LOVED her tag team on the main roster with Dana Brooke (another woman which we’ll be talking about soon…stay tuned), no way would have that gotten her the attention or success as a performer that she has right now. Mandy is on the run of her career and has put her in prime position to be a major player on either RAW or Smackdown when she is eventually called up back to the main roster.

Whoever made the call to send Mandy to NXT deserves all the flowers in the world, as Mandy has taken the title and brand to new heights, making the NXT Women’s Championship one of the most sought-after titles in the WWE Women’s division and Mandy one of its most dominant champions. Whether folks want to admit it or not, it’s way past time to PUT SOME RESPECT ON HER NAME. And if you haven’t by now…you might have no other choice once Worlds Collide reached its conclusion. 

Body of a champion!
Photo credit: Mandy’s Instagram

For more on The Attraction of NXT, follow Mandy on Facebook (WWE-ran), Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. NXT Worlds Collide takes place today at 4PM Eastern time, with the kickoff at 3:30PM Eastern time, streaming on Peacock in the USA and other countries and on the WWE Network everywhere else. Go to https://www.peacocktv.com/wwe for more info. 

Paige VanZant: An ELITE Acquisition

(All photos credited to All Elite Wrestling)

Professional wrestling for YEARS has belonged to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, for short) when WCW and ECW went down and were purchased by Vince McMahon. Despite independent wrestling seeing decent numbers, the televised wrestling world has felt…stagnant and a bit too complacent for a lot of fans’ taste. For the most part, it’s not the performers’ fault. But where you’re the only game in town from a national TV standpoint, it can get pretty boring pretty quickly when your shows aren’t producing compelling television. 

Enter All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

To many internet fans, AEW has been the breath of fresh air that they felt they needed as wrestling fans, with their storylines and approach to the business feeling like a throwback to arguably the most successful and popular time to be a wrestling fan: The Attitude Era. The last year, they have signed talent after talent after talent from WWE’s past to shape up AEW’s future. AEW has proven in their short history that they are here for the long haul. Many fans see them as the alternative to WWE they have craved, and many have gone to say that they are THE new place for professional wrestling and have sworn off WWE forever (and in some instances, we don’t blame the fans one bit…but that’s for another day). But for all the signings they have had, they have not had that one signing that could be a game changer as far as mainstream appeal is concerned, which is important to the growth and significance of any wrestling company that even wants to ATTEMPT of dethroning Vince’s WWE as the number one company in the world.

Enter Paige VanZant…date March, 9, 2022. 

On AEW’s signature show, Wednesday Night Dynamite, after Scorpio Sky defeated Sammy Guevara to win the TNT Championship, VanZant attacked Tay Conti and signed her AEW talent contract on Conti’s back (more specifically her butt), officially making the former UFC star and current Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship competitor All Elite. Her signing was picked up by ESPN, the New York Post, SB Nation, MMA Junkie, MMA Fighting, and more. This is exactly what AEW was hoping when the signing became official, and if this goes as well as they hope it does, she could do what Ronda Rousey did for the women’s division in WWE, put more eyes on their talent and their product. It’s already done wonders for Tay Conti, who looks like will be PVZ’s first feud in the company. I would not be surprised if the ladies face off at AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV on Memorial Day Weekend (May 29 to be exact) either in a singles match or in a mixed tag match involving Sammy and Scorpio. (I know it’s a ways off, but competing in their biggest arena yet…the T-Mobile Arena, which holds about 20,000 people…they are gonna need big draws to get a sell-out, and PVZ can do that) (EDIT: Paige VanZant will make her official in-ring debut at AEW Double or Nothing this Sunday in a Mixed Trios match with Ethan Page and TNT Champion Scorpion Sky (with Dan Lambert in their corner) against Tay Conti, Sammy Guevara, and Frankie Kazarian). 

Her Hollywood looks, fitness-model physique, and her overall toughness (maybe not her record) as a fighter has made her among the most popular in the fighting world…as well as the most hated. The way she has been portrayed leading up to her official signing suggests she will be a heel (bad person). From what she has displayed in her time in AEW thus far, she can talk a good game and obviously get physical. If she’s even HALF as good as Ronda was at picking up how wrestling works, AEW has got a goldmine in PVZ. Many folks had her linked to wrestling for quite some time, even going as far as WWE potentially bringing her in a few years ago for Summerslam. While that ship has sailed for now, never say never for PVZ to go to WWE one day if her AEW stint goes well. But for now, PVZ is calling AEW home. And who knows, maybe by the end of 2022, we might be saying TBS Champion Paige VanZant or AEW Women’s World Champion Paige VanZant! But for now, lets see what Paige does in her new home of professional wrestling, and more specifically All Elite Wrestling.

For more on Paige VanZant, visit her Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and exclusive fan site. For more on All Elite Wrestling, follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and their main website. 

The Fittest Female WWE Superstar of All Time Is...

 All summer long, we hosted a tournament with 64 of the fittest women to ever grace WWE. Ranging from the most muscular to the comic-book heroine looks, from Crossfitters to fitness champions, it was an amazing tournament from start to finish with surprising upsets throughout in the quest to crown the Fittest Female WWE Superstar of All Time.

After weeks and weeks of voting, we have finally been able to crown a winner. Congratulations to Lita on winning our tournament and being named the Fittest Female WWE Superstar of All Time! She beat Mandy Rose by ONE VOTE. When one looks at her physique and focuses on her fitness level, it's not hard to see why. To do what she had done in WWE, you have to have an extreme level of fitness to pull off her moveset, including her world famous moonsaults. In the consoulation round (which was just as tight), Chyna defeated Naomi to claim third place. 

So the final results are as followed:

Winner: Lita
Runner-up: Mandy Rose
3rd Place: Chyna
4th Place: Naomi

Congrats to Lita, Mandy, Chyna (R.I.P), and Naomi on making it as far as you did and to all the women that made the tournament, thank you all for inspiring the WWE Universe and beyond, not just in the ring but in the gym as well. We hope to do more fun tournaments like this down the line. Hope you all enjoyed this one! 

#FittestFemaleWWESuperstarEver FINALS and CONSOLATION ROUND

Earlier this summer, we began a tournament to crown the Fittest Female WWE Superstar of All Time. It was hard but we were able to select who we felt were the 64 fittest women in WWE history (thus far). There were some suprises and upsets throughout the tournament, but now we have made it to the Finals of our tournament. 

On one side, you have Mandy Rose, a former WBFF Bikini World Champion who has brought a physique  to WWE that is not only pleasing to the eyes of many in the WWE Universe but has a lot of power behind it that most men WISHED they had. On the other side, you have Lita, who is known for her rebel style and attitude in the ring, but behind her in-ring attire lies a strong, asthetic physique in her own right that wowed fans in various bikini productions in WWE. One of these two will be crowned the Fittest Female WWE Superstar of All Time. Old school vs new school. The Queen of Xtreme vs God's Greatest Creation. Who takes the title?!

Also, we have a third-place consolation battle between Chyna (the most muscular competitor in the tournament) and Naomi (who may be the best pure athlete in WWE today, male or female). Who will take third place? 

Both polls will go on until Midnight Eastern time this Friday. To everyone that has voted and been part of this event, we can't thank you enough for your support. We hope to do more things like this in the future. Best of luck to the remaining competitors! 

#FittestFemaleWWESuperstarEver: FINAL FOUR

For the first time in the entire tournament, we didn't need a runoff! Congratulations to the Final Four: Mandy Rose, Naomi, Lita, and Chyna. The winners of these matches will move on to the Championship next week while the losers will meet in a consolation match next week for 3rd place. Voting ends this Friday at MIDNIGHT instead of 10pm this time. 

Mandy Rose vs Naomi

Lita vs Chyna

#FittestFemaleWWESuperstarEver Round of 32 Runoff

Congratulations to those that made the Sweet 16 in the #FittestFemaleWWESuperstarEver tournament:

Trish Stratus
Sasha Banks
Mandy Rose
Jacqueline
Nikki Bella
Bianca Belair
Santana Garrett
Tori
AJ Lee
Dana Brooke
Lita
Beth Phoenix
Chyna
Carmella
Maryse

Due to many ties in the original voting deadline, we extended the voting for the Round of 32. Because of that, we were able to take care of all the ties from earlier EXCEPT FOR ONE. Until Midnight Eastern Time tonight, you can vote in our runoff poll between Charly Caruso and Naomi. The winner moves on to the Sweet 16 which begins on Monday.

#FittestFemaleWWESuperstarEver Round of 32 Voting

Congratulations to all those that advanced to the Round of 32 in the Fittest Female WWE Superstar of All Time Tournament! Voting in this round is now open and will end  this Wednesday at 10pm Eastern Time.

Peyton Royce

vs

Trish Stratus

Zelina Vega

vs

Sasha Banks

Toni Storm

vs

Mandy Rose

Jacqueline

vs

Liv Morgan

Nikki Bella

vs

Ivory

Eve Torres

vs

Bianca Belair

Santana Garrett

vs

Sonya Deville

Charly Caruso

vs

Naomi

Tori

vs

Jamie Keyes

AJ Lee

vs

Torrie Wilson

Dana Brooke

vs

Shaniqua

Lita

vs

Christy Hemme

Lacey Evans

vs

Beth Phoenix

Alexa Bliss

vs

Chyna

Carmella

vs

Tiffany

Terri Runnels

vs






Maryse