Nikkita Lyons

Nikkita Lyons
Nikkita Lyons in 2020
Birth nameFaith Marie Jefferies
Born (1999-08-05) August 5, 1999 (age 25)[1]
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Faith
Faith Jefferies
FaithyJ
Faith the Lioness
Nikkita Lyons
Billed height5 ft 8 in (1.72 m)[1]
Billed weight154 lb (70 kg)
Billed fromLas Vegas, Nevada
Los Angeles, California
Trained bySelina Majors
DebutOctober 11, 2018[1]
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2017–present
Labels
  • Grand Jury
Websitefaithyj.com

Faith Marie Jefferies (born August 5, 1999) is an American professional wrestler, taekwondo practitioner, and musician.[2] She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand with the ring name Nikkita Lyons.

Jefferies has also worked for Women of Wrestling (WOW) as Faith the Lioness.[3]

Early life

[edit]

Jefferies was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and raised in Hollywood, California. She began practicing Taekwondo at the age of four,[3] earning a black belt by the age of 8.[2] She graduated from high school in early 2017.[3]

Professional wrestling career

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Women of Wrestling (2019–2021)

[edit]

Shortly after graduating high school in 2017, Jefferies began professional wrestling training under Selina Majors. She debuted for Women of Wrestling under the ring name Faith The Lioness.[2] In summer 2021, Jefferies attended WWE's tryout in Las Vegas, where she was offered a developmental contract.[4]

WWE (2021–present)

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After signing with WWE in late summer 2021, Jefferies' WWE debut was on the December 31, 2021 episode of 205 Live, under the ring name Nikkita Lyons, losing to Amari Miller.[5] She made her NXT debut on the February 22, 2022 episode, defeating Kayla Inlay.[6] In April, Lyons entered into a feud with Lash Legend, beating her on the April 5 and 26 episodes of NXT respectively.[7][8] At Spring Breakin', she teamed with Cora Jade to defeat Legend and Natalya in a tag team match.[9] On the May 10 episode of NXT, Lyons participated in the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament, defeating Arianna Grace in the first round.[10] On May 24, it was announced that Lyons was removed from the tournament due to an injury, revealing on her Instagram account a day later that she suffered a partial MCL tear and an MCL sprain.[11][12] Lyons returned on the June 28 episode of NXT, defeating NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose by disqualification.[13]

On the July 19 episode of NXT, Lyons competed in a 20-woman battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, eliminating Kayden Carter and Kiana James, but was eliminated by Tiffany Stratton.[14] On the August 8 episode of Raw, it was announced that Lyons would be teaming with Zoey Stark in a tournament to fill the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship that had been vacant since May.[15] On the August 19 episode of SmackDown, Lyons and her tag partner were removed from the tournament due to Stark reportedly sustaining a concussion days earlier in an NXT Women's Championship match. On September 13 at the NXT 2.0 One Year Anniversary Show, Lyons and Stark defeated James and Grace.[16] On the November 8 episode of NXT, Lyons and Stark failed to capture the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship from Carter and Katana Chance, and Lyons was taken out by Stark after the match.[17] Lyons lost to Stark on the December 20 episode of NXT and was injured by Blair Davenport on the January 24, 2023 episode of NXT. Lyons returned to NXT on the December 5 episode, attacking Davenport. On the December 12 episode, she made her return to the ring after a near year-long absence in a tag team match with Lyra Valkyria, facing Blair Davenport & Cora Jade, where her and Valkyria failed to win.

In March 2024, Lyons was revealed to have suffered another injury.[18] She returned to in-ring action at a NXT house show in Davenport, Florida, on September 27[19][20] and returned to NXT on the October 15 episode, defeating Lola Vice after interference from Jaida Parker showing signs of a heel turn.[21] On the October 29 episode of NXT, Lyons turned heel for the first time in her career, as she was revealed as Rizzo's attacker following Lyons' defeat against Kelani Jordan.[22]

Other media

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Jefferies, as Nikita Lyons, made her video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K23.[23]

She was also featured on the show One Mo’ Chance on the Zeus Network as “She-Raw.”[24]

On August 8, 2024, Jefferies, under her music stage name FaithyJ, released a music video for her song "To Be A Champion".[25] In the following month, Jefferies, as Nikita Lyons, appeared in fellow NXT wrestler Trick Williams' music video "The Realest".[26]

Discography

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Studio albums

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List of studio albums
Title Album details
Rough Cuts

Singles

[edit]
List of singles as lead artist
Title Year Album
"No Time"[28]

(featuring La Jones)

2017 Non-album singles
"Baby U"[29] 2020
"To Be a Champion"[30] 2024

References

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  1. ^ a b c World Wrestling Entertainment CageMatch
  2. ^ a b c "'Quartship' Episode 6: Contestant With Perfect Score Gets Virtual Date With Crush Faith Jefferies". Maxim. September 21, 2020. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Meet Faith Jefferies". VoyageLA. July 6, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  4. ^ Guzzo, Gisberto; Salcedo, Denise (August 19, 2021). "Faith Jefferies And Isaac Odugbesan Offered WWE Developmental Contract During Las Vegas Tryout". Fightful. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  5. ^ Chik, Jon (December 31, 2021). "WWE 205 Live results: Chen remains undefeated with hard-earned win over Anthony". WWE. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  6. ^ "WWE NXT results: Feb. 22, 2022". WWE. February 22, 2022. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  7. ^ Moore, John (April 5, 2022). "4/5 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of the Stand & Deliver fallout edition with Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs. Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, Nikkita Lyons vs. Lash Legend". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 25, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  8. ^ Moore, John (April 26, 2022). "4/26 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Tony D'Angelo vs. Von Wagner, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro, and Elektra Lopez vs. Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen, and Fallon Henley, Nikkita Lyons vs. Lash Legend, Solo Sikoa vs. Trick Williams, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter vs. Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon, Nathan Frazer debuts". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  9. ^ Moore, John (May 3, 2022). "5/3 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Spring Breakin' with Bron Breakker vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Title, Cameron Grimes vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Solo Sikoa for the NXT North American Title, The Viking Raiders vs. The Creeds, Cora Jade and Nikkita Lyons vs. Natalya and Lash Legend, Nathan Frazer vs. Grayson Waller, Tony D'Angelo and Santos Escobar meeting". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  10. ^ Moore, John (May 10, 2022). "5/10 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Cora Jade vs. Natalya, NXT Tag Team Champions Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne vs. Roxanne Perez and Wendy Choo, the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament begins". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  11. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (May 24, 2022). "Nikkita Lyons Removed From Women's NXT Breakout Tournament Due to Injury". 411Mania. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  12. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (May 25, 2022). "Nikkita Lyons Reveals Extent of Injury, Says She Has Partial MCL Tear & MCL Sprain". 411Mania. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  13. ^ Moore, John (June 28, 2022). "6/28 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of NXT Champion Bron Breakker and Cameron Grimes meet face to face, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade for a shot at the NXT Women's Tag Titles, Sanga vs. Xyon Quinn, Kiana James vs. Indi Hartwell, Giovanni Vinci vs. Ikemen Jiro". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  14. ^ Moore, John (July 19, 2022). "7/19 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of a 20-woman battle royal for a shot at the NXT Women's Title, JD McDonagh vs. Cameron Grimes, Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs vs. Pretty Deadly for the NXT UK Tag Titles, Roderick Strong vs. Damon Kemp, Axiom debuts, The Schism reveals their identities". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  15. ^ Rose, Bryan (August 8, 2022). "WWE reveals bracket for Women's Tag Team title tournament". F4WOnline.com. Archived from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  16. ^ Moore, John (September 13, 2022). "9/13 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Pretty Deadly vs. The Creed Brothers in a cage match for the NXT Tag Titles, Carmelo Hayes defends the NXT North American Title against the winner of a fan poll, Axiom vs. Nathan Frazer in the second match of their best of three series, Zoey Stark and Nikkita Lyons vs. Kiana James and Arianna Grace". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  17. ^ Tessier, Colin (November 8, 2022). "Zoey Stark Turns On Nikkita Lyons On 11/8 WWE NXT". Fightful. Archived from the original on November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  18. ^ "Nikkita Lyons To Be Out Of Action For Several Months With Latest Injury". Cultaholic Wrestling. March 19, 2024. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  19. ^ "Nikkita Lyons Returns from Injury at NXT Live Event After Eight-Month Absence". Ringside News. September 28, 2024. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  20. ^ "Nikkita Lyons makes in-ring return at WWE NXT house show". f4wonline.com. September 28, 2024. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  21. ^ Moore, John (October 15, 2024). "NXT TV results (10/15): Moore's review of Ethan Page vs. Wes Lee vs. Je'Von Evans for a shot at the NXT Championship at Halloween Havoc, Stephanie Vaquer vs. Wren Sinclair, Halloween Havoc Wheel". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  22. ^ Alexander, Brady (October 29, 2024). "Kelani Jordan Defeats Nikkita Lyons, Adrianna Rizzo Attacks". BodySlam.net. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  23. ^ Wilson, Ben (February 20, 2023). "WWE 2K23 roster reveal with every confirmed wrestler". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  24. ^ "One Mo' Chance (TV Series 2020–2021) - Faith Jefferies as She-Ra - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  25. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (August 8, 2024). "Nikkita Lyons (Faithy J) Releases Music Video For 'To Be A Champion' | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  26. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (September 2, 2024). "Trick Williams Drops Diss Track Aimed At Pete Dunne | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  27. ^ Rough Cuts by FaithyJ on Apple Music, June 28, 2024, retrieved October 21, 2024
  28. ^ No Time (feat. La Jones) - Single by FaithyJ on Apple Music, January 27, 2017, retrieved October 21, 2024
  29. ^ Baby U - Single by FaithyJ on Apple Music, October 30, 2020, retrieved October 21, 2024
  30. ^ To Be a Champion by FaithyJ on Apple Music, August 8, 2024, retrieved October 21, 2024
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