Brian Damage
The WWF/WWE has had some type of developmental system for years now. Whether it was the USWA, Ohio Valley, Power Pro, Heartland, Deep South, Florida Championship Wrestling or NXT…many of the company’s top superstars got their start in at least one of them. While some developmental names like John Cena, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, The Miz, Brock Lesnar and Charlotte Flair all made big stars of themselves by first training in developmental, others never got to see the light of day. This series will focus on those wrestlers…the ones that at some point were a lock to get called up to the main roster and never quite made it. What once was hot, suddenly became a “not” as a WWE superstar.
Kendall Skye
Kendra Smith was a former Hollywood stuntwoman who worked on various films and TV shows including Mad Max: Fury Road and Wonder Woman. She stood 6 feet tall and had a slim, but very athletic look to her. Smith also had over sixteen years training in Muay Thai, kickboxing and dabbled in MMA. She was trained to become a pro wrestler under the guidance of Joey Munoz and the Santino Brothers Wrestling Academy in Southern California.
Smith was signed to a WWE developmental deal in late 2012 along with other female wrestlers like the future Bayley and Sasha Banks and assigned to NXT. She was a part of a group of women’s wrestlers signed to try and change the negative ‘Divas’ stereotype that was beginning to hurt WWE. Kendra Smith’s ring name was ‘Kendall Skye’ and she wrestled various matches against and with other future talents as Paige, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Bayley and Emma.
According to reports, Kendall Skye was excellent on promos and had a natural charisma. She was a bit green in the ring, but WWE management felt that it wasn’t anything that they couldn’t fix with additional training. Skye was rumored to be called up to the main roster to be used as the bodyguard to AJ Lee. An injury sidetracked her career and was used as NXT’s ring announcer until she healed.
In September of 2014, Kendall Skye was released from her developmental contract. It was her that had requested the release and not WWE’s decision. Kendra Smith currently owns and operates her own studio called Forge Studio where she teaches self defense classes and overall fitness training in the Los Angeles, California area.
Ring the Damn Bell 