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.
Anya
Anna Bogomazova was born in Voronezh, Russia in 1990. At a very early age, Bogomazova took up martial arts and by age 14, was competing in kickboxing tournaments. She would become a kickboxing world champion at the age of 18 years old. Anna also holds a black belt in Taekwondo. At the age of 20, Anna graduated law school with a degree in civil law.
It was athletics and competition that Bogomazova was most interested in. Anna, who was not a wrestling fan, saw WWE on TV and thought she might try to become a wrestler. She sent her resume to WWE and within a day got a call to try out. With both her beauty and impressive appearance standing 6 ft 1 in tall and weighing 180 pounds…the WWE was impressed. She was signed to a WWE developmental deal in 2012 and assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).
Bogomazova was renamed the Anya the Russian Bruiser. Anya was trained by Steve Keirn and eventually moved over to NXT once FCW dissolved. The WWE apparently had a few ideas to bring Anya up to the main roster including a women’s faction (that consisted of Anya, Summer Rae and Paige) as well as a sort of Xena Warrior Princess type gimmick. Unfortunately, Anya broke her arm during training in early 2013. She was ultimately released from her contract…something she said was a complete shock.
That led to Anna filing a lawsuit against her trainer Steve Keirn and WWE that was documented here. The case was eventually dropped. Since her WWE release, Anna Bogomazova enrolled in acting school and has appeared in some TV roles. She is also trying her hand at stand up comedy and goes by her stage name of ‘Anya Zova.’ She currently resides in the Miami, Florida area.
Ring the Damn Bell 