Beth Phoenix

Beth Phoenix
Phoenix in 2011
Born
Elizabeth Kociański[1]

(1980-11-24) November 24, 1980 (age 43)[1]
Elmira, New York, U.S.[1]
Spouses
Joey Knight
​
​
(m. 2001; div. 2010)​
​
(m. 2016)​
Children2
Ring name(s)Beth Phoenix
Fabulous Firebird[2]
Firebird[1]
Phoenix[2]
Billed height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)[3][4][5]
Billed weight150 lb (68 kg)[2]
Billed fromBuffalo, New York[5][6]
Trained byRon Hutchison[2]
Joey Knight[1]
Robin Knightwing[1]
Ohio Valley Wrestling
DebutMay 2001[2]

Elizabeth Copeland (née Kociański; born November 24, 1980), better known as Beth Phoenix, is an American professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she is a former WWE Divas Champion and a three-time WWE Women's Champion.

Kociański had a successful amateur wrestling career in high school, winning several tournaments before being trained for professional wrestling by the All-Knighters. After her debut in May 2001, she wrestled for numerous independent promotions. She also appeared at the inaugural Shimmer Women Athletes shows. In 2004, she began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and signed a developmental contract with WWE in October 2005. She debuted on WWE's Raw brand in May 2006 but suffered a legitimate broken jaw the following month. As a result, she had numerous surgeries and returned to OVW for further training. While there, she won the OVW Women's Championship twice, although her second reign is not officially recognized by OVW.

She returned to the Raw brand in July 2007, and was heavily pushed, dominating the other WWE Divas and gaining the nickname, "The Glamazon". She won her first WWE Women's Championship at the No Mercy pay-per-view in October, and held it for six months. She then developed an on-screen relationship with Santino Marella, dubbed "Glamarella", and won the Women's Championship for a second time in August 2008, holding it until January 2009. In January 2010, at the Royal Rumble, she became the second woman in the history of the event to enter the men's Royal Rumble match, and went on to win the Women's Championship for the third time in April, holding it for a month. In October 2011, Phoenix won the WWE Divas Championship for the first time and lost it in April 2012. Phoenix retired and left WWE in October 2012 due to creative frustrations with the treatment of women in WWE, and to focus on her family life with boyfriend and later husband Adam Copeland, famous in WWE as Edge, with whom she subsequently had two daughters.[7]

In 2017, Phoenix returned to WWE upon being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2017 class, also becoming a part-time color commentator for the company; her induction made her the quickest female to be inducted after her retirement and the youngest inductee in history at age 36.[8][9][10] In 2019, she also became the first woman to be inducted in the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, a hall of fame dedicated to professional wrestlers with an amateur background.[11] Phoenix has wrestled on a part-time basis since her return, notably at WrestleMania 35; she also took part in the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match in 2018, making her the first wrestler to have participated in both the men's and women's matches. From May 2019 to December 2021, she was a full-time commentator on NXT.

  1. ^ a b c d e f Roopansingh, Jaya. "Beth Phoenix". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference OWW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Beth Phoenix". WWE. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  4. ^ Lynch, Bill (July 12, 2008). "In the ring with WWE diva Beth Phoenix". The Charleston Gazette. Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference encyclopedia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  7. ^ Wortman, James (November 13, 2014). "From Glamazon to super mom: Beth Phoenix on life after WWE". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  8. ^ Melok, Bobby (February 27, 2017). "Beth Phoenix to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2017". WWE. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  9. ^ "Beth Phoenix named in Hall of Fame class of 2017". Talksports.com. February 28, 2017. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  10. ^ "Beth Phoenix Announced For WWE Hall Of Fame Class Of 2017". Tope Rope Press. February 27, 2017. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  11. ^ Museum, Dan Gable (December 21, 2018). "Ceiling Shattered! @TheBethPhoenix will be the first woman inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. All-access passes are available for only $100 through the end of the year. Contact the @wrestlingmuseum at 319-233-0745 or [email protected]/lV4kfzzSkx". Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2019.