Beth Phoenix

Elizabeth Kocianski (November 24, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and commentator under the ring name Beth Phoenix. In World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) she is a former WWE Divas Champion & WWE Women's Champion.
==Career==
===Amateur wrestling career===
Kocianski began wrestling on the Elmira, New York Notre Dame High School scholastic wrestling team. She was the first female varsity wrestler in her high school's history. She became the North-East freestyle women's champion (72 kg weight class) in 1999. She also became the women's champion (72 kg weight class) at the New York State Fair Tournament in 1999. At the time she was also a member of USA Wrestling, a freestyle wrestling association. Her life goal was, according to her, to become a professional wrestler, and she believed that having a solid amateur background would help her reach it.
===Professional wrestling career===
====Training====
After graduating from high school in 1998, she enrolled in both a professional wrestling school and Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Her first choice for wrestling school was Stu Hart's Dungeon, but because of the location, she decided on a more local school. At the school, she was trained by the All Knighters (Joey Knight and Robin Knightwing), who themselves had trained in the Hart Dungeon. Her professional wrestling debut match was against Alexis Laree. She then competed with various independent promotions, including Cleveland All Pro Wrestling and Apocalypse Wrestling, against both male and female wrestlers, using the name "Phoenix". In 2002, she was one of the first wrestlers in GLORY, an independent organization for women, and was the inaugural champion. She then joined Far North Wrestling (FNW), and was the only female wrestler in the promotion. She defeated Joey Knight and Kevin Grace in 2003 to become the FNW Cruiserweight Champion. Later in 2003 she took part in World Xtreme Wrestling's annual Women's Elite 8 tournament where she made it to the final, before losing to April Hunter. She returned two years later and defeated Nikki Roxx but was bested in the second round by eventual winner Alicia. The following month, Phoenix appeared at the inaugural taping for the Ring of Honor sister promotion Shimmer Women Athletes; during Volume 1 she was pinned by Shimmer founder Allison Danger but scored an upset victory in a non-title match against NWA Midwest Women's Champion MsChif.
====Ohio Valley Wrestling (2004–2007)====
She was invited to a tryout with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2004, and then relocated to Louisville, Kentucky to work for their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). She debuted on OVW television in July 2004, having expanded her ring name to "Beth Phoenix", and became the on-screen girlfriend and valet of Chris Masters. The storyline was short lived, and the following month Phoenix was repackaged as the manager of Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. She signed a developmental contract with WWE on October 20, 2005, the same month that she broke her hand. The duo was then joined by Shelly Martinez who Beth soon feuded with in early 2006. Phoenix then stopped appearing regularly on OVW after debuting on WWE's Raw television show.
On August 16, 2006, Phoenix returned to action in OVW, defeating Serena. Phoenix began regularly competing for the OVW Women's Championship, unsuccessfully challenging the champion ODB in a battle royal and a four-way match, which was won by Serena. At the October 4, 2006 OVW television tapings, however, Phoenix defeated Serena to win the championship. She lost the championship to Victoria Crawford in a gauntlet match on October 20, and won it back the next day; however, Crawford's title reign is not officially recognized, and as a result, neither is Phoenix's second reign. Phoenix officially dropped the championship in a gauntlet match at the November 1 television taping, after she was eliminated by Lea, who eventually won the match.
On the November 6 episode of OVW, Phoenix came out with her own championship, and claimed to still be the women's champion. As a result, a ladder match was set up, where the winner would become the undisputed OVW Women's Champion. Lea won the match and was presented with the title belt on the first show of 2007. Throughout 2007, Phoenix continued to wrestle in numerous women's matches in OVW. Beth made her last appearance in OVW at their August 15, 2007 TV tapings where she lost to Lea in a number one contenders match.
====Trish Stratus's ally (2006)====
Phoenix debuted on the May 8, 2006 episode of Raw as a face by attacking Mickie James while James was assaulting Trish Stratus. After this incident, James berated Phoenix for "ruining everything" and questioned why she even showed up in the first place. A week later, Phoenix was formally introduced by Stratus and then battered a distracted James on Stratus's behalf. When James finally escaped, Phoenix claimed that James had ruined her life and would not let her get away with it, before calling her a "psycho". On the following episode of Raw, Phoenix attacked James after her match with Torrie Wilson. Then, on the May 29, 2006 episode of Raw, Phoenix and Wilson (with Stratus in their corner) teamed together to defeat Candice Michelle and Victoria, who had James in their corner. During the June 5, 2006 episode of Raw, Phoenix suffered a legitimately fractured mandible during a match with Victoria, but was able to continue the match, and ended up victorious despite the injury. She spent a year having surgeries and recovering, including getting a titanium plate and nine screws placed in her jaw, but she was only out of action for two months, as she returned to action in OVW instead of on the main roster.
====The Glamazon (2007–2008)====
On the July 9, 2007 episode of Raw, Phoenix returned as a heel when Melina claimed to be injured. Phoenix replaced Melina in a tag team as Jillian Hall's partner, and the two lost to Candice Michelle and Mickie James. At the SummerSlam pay-per-view, Phoenix won the Interpromotional Divas battle royal to become the number one contender for Michelle's WWE Women's Championship. Phoenix was then pushed as a dominating Diva, calling herself a "Glamazon" and attacking Mickie James, Jillian Hall and Michelle on the September 10 episode of Raw. At Unforgiven, however, she failed to capture the Women's Championship from Candice Michelle. Their storyline rivalry continued when Phoenix pinned Michelle during a non-title mixed tag team match on Raw on September 24.
At the No Mercy pay-per-view in October, Phoenix defeated Michelle to win her first WWE Women's Championship. She retained her belt on the October 22 Raw in a two out of three falls match, in which Candice Michelle was injured by Phoenix shaking the rope, causing her to fall off the top turnbuckle and legitimately break her clavicle.
During a 10-Diva Tag match at Survivor Series, Phoenix's team lost after Melina was pinned by Mickie James. On the November 26 episode of Raw, James defeated Melina in a number one contenders match for Phoenix's Women's Championship, setting up a title match between the two at Armageddon, a match in which Phoenix successfully defended her Women's title. On New Year's Eve 2007, Phoenix successfully defended her title in a Triple Threat match against Melina and James, after pinning Melina.
Phoenix, along with then-ally Melina, took part in the Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match at WrestleMania XXIV where she defeated Ashley and Maria by pinfall. On April 14, Phoenix faced Mickie James with her Women's Championship on the line and lost, ending her reign as champion. Phoenix also had a rematch on the May 5 episode of Raw but lost after Melina unintentionally hit her in the face with her boot. On the May 12 episode of Raw, Phoenix and Melina partnered up to go against James and Maria. During the match, Melina unintentionally knocked Phoenix off of the ring apron, resulting in Phoenix abandoning Melina and James and Maria picking up the win. Later that night, in a backstage segment, Melina and Phoenix fought with one another, ending their alliance. At Judgment Day, Phoenix failed to regain the Women's Championship in a Triple Threat match after James pinned Melina to retain the title. At One Night Stand Phoenix defeated Melina in the first ever Divas "I Quit" match. The next night on Raw, Phoenix teamed with Katie Lea Burchill to defeat Melina and James in a tag team match. She, however, was pinned by James one week later in a non-title match and was once again attacked by Melina post-match.
====Glamarella (2008–2009)====
After little over a month off television, Phoenix returned on the July 14 edition of Raw, where she defeated Santino Marella after he issued an open challenge to any WWE Superstar backstage, pinning him with a roll-up. The storyline continued the following week after Marella lost to the returning D-Lo Brown. Phoenix confronted Marella after the match, and they briefly grappled with each other before unexpectedly sharing a kiss, to which both expressed considerable confusion.
The two then became an onscreen supercouple, and the pairing of The Glamazon and Marella later became known by the portmanteau Glamarella. Within the team she acted as the "straight-woman" of sorts, berating Marella or reacting in disbelief to his over the top, embarrassing antics. At SummerSlam, they defeated Kofi Kingston and Mickie James in an intergender tag team match. Phoenix pinned James, winning the Women's Championship, while Marella won Kingston's WWE Intercontinental Championship. She successfully defended the Women's Championship against Candice Michelle at No Mercy.
On December 8, 2008, she received the "Slammy Award" for Diva of the Year. Phoenix then began feuding with Melina, who returned from injury in November 2008. This storyline included the debut of Rosa Mendes, who was introduced as Phoenix's superfan. At the Royal Rumble in January 2009, Phoenix lost the Women's Championship to Melina. At WrestleMania XXV, Phoenix competed in the 25 Diva battle royal, but was eliminated by Marella, who competed in drag, claiming to be his twin sister "Santina". After WrestleMania, Glamarella split as Phoenix was unhappy with Santino pretending to be his twin sister 'Santina'. Phoenix had a brief scripted rivalry with both 'Santina' and Marella, and challenged 'Santina' for the "Miss WrestleMania" title, but was unsuccessful.
After a brief hiatus, Phoenix returned on the July 27 episode of Raw, teaming with Alicia Fox and Rosa Mendes in a losing effort to Mickie James, Gail Kim, and Kelly Kelly. Phoenix had her first opportunity for the WWE Divas Championship being narrowly defeated by the defending champion, Mickie James, on the August 31 episode of Raw, after winning a number one contenders battle royal that same night.
====Feud with LayCool (2009–2011)====
On the October 12 episode of Raw, it was announced that Phoenix had been traded to the SmackDown brand for the first time in her career. Phoenix made her in-ring debut for the brand on the October 30 episode of SmackDown, defeating Jenny Brooks, an "enhancement talent". In January 2010, at the Royal Rumble, she entered the Royal Rumble match, eliminating The Great Khali, before she was eliminated by CM Punk. With her entry, she became only the second woman in history to enter the Royal Rumble match, with the first being Chyna.
After being told by Vickie Guerrero, the SmackDown consultant, that she would not be receiving a championship opportunity Phoenix saved Tiffany from an attack by Guerrero, Michelle McCool and Layla on the March 12 episode of SmackDown, in doing so becoming a face Diva. She then went on to defeat Michelle McCool and Layla in a tag team match involving Tiffany. The feud with McCool continued at WrestleMania XXVI, where they were on opposing teams in a 10-Diva tag team match, which Phoenix's team lost, although they won a rematch the following night on Raw. Phoenix received a match for the Women's Championship against McCool at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view in April, and defeated McCool in an "Extreme Makeover" match to win her third Women's Championship. On the May 6 episode of WWE Superstars, Phoenix tore her ACL in a match against Rosa Mendes, and as a result, one week later on SmackDown, McCool invoked her rematch clause to face Phoenix in a two-on-one handicap match along with Layla. Layla pinned Phoenix to become the new WWE Women's Champion.
She returned from her injury at November's Survivor Series pay-per-view, and attacked the former co-Champions Michelle McCool and Layla, after they lost the Divas Championship to Natalya. Phoenix and Natalya then formed an alliance and at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view in December, Phoenix and Natalya defeated Lay-Cool in the first Diva's Tag Team Tables match in WWE history.
====Divas of Doom and Divas Champion (2011–2012)====
As part of the 2011 supplemental draft on April 26, 2011, Phoenix returned to the Raw brand. On the August 1 edition of Raw, Phoenix won a battle royal to become the #1 Contender for the Divas Championship, and later attacked then-Divas Champion Kelly Kelly after the match, turning Phoenix heel. She later declared she was tired of the "perky bimbos" that comprised the rest of the Divas Division, and went on a mission to mock them. Just four days later, Phoenix was joined by Natalya to form a tag team known as the Divas of Doom. She ended up losing to Kelly Kelly at SummerSlam in a Divas Championship match. In September, she feuded with Kelly and Eve Torres on Raw and The Chickbusters (Kaitlyn and AJ Lee) on SmackDown. Phoenix again challenged for the title at Night of Champions but again was unsuccessful.
On the September 26 edition of Raw, Beth pinned Kelly in a tag team match earning herself a Divas Championship Match at Hell in a Cell. At Hell in a Cell in October, Phoenix defeated Kelly to win the Divas Championship for the first time with help from Natalya. In a rematch on the October 14 episode of SmackDown, Phoenix successfully retained the championship against Kelly, ending the feud. At the Vengeance pay-per-view, Phoenix successfully defended the championship against Torres. Phoenix successfully retained her championship against Torres again at the Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 20 in a Lumberjill match, and against Kelly at Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 18. On the December 19 edition of Raw, after losing to Alicia Fox in a singles match, Phoenix received a minor injury. Phoenix returned to action on the January 26, 2012 episode of WWE Superstars, defeating Brie Bella. At the Royal Rumble, Phoenix teamed up with Natalya and The Bella Twins to defeat Kelly Kelly, Eve, Alicia Fox and Tamina in a eight diva tag team match. On the January 30 episode of Raw, Beth Phoenix successfully defended her Divas Championship against Eve. She then began complaining that she had no competition and that she would be Divas Champion forever. At Elimination Chamber, Phoenix successfully retained her title against Tamina Snuka. Afterwards, Beth was rarely seen on television, competing sporadically on WWE Superstars, defeating several Divas such as Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox in singles matches. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Beth and Eve lost to Kelly and Maria Menounos in a tag team match.
On the April 6 edition of SmackDown, Nikki Bella defeated Beth Phoenix in a non-title match after interference of Kelly Kelly, thus earning a title opportunity. On the April 23 episode of Raw, Phoenix lost her Divas Championship to Nikki Bella in a lumberjill match, after suffering an ankle injury (kayfabe), thus ending her 204-day reign. At Extreme Rules, Phoenix was scheduled to face Nikki in a rematch for the Divas Championship, however she was not medically cleared to compete and was replaced by the returning Layla, who ended up winning the title. On the May 14 episode of Raw, Beth entered in a feud with Layla after Phoenix proceed to attack Alicia Fox after their match but was stopped by Layla. Phoenix made two unsuccessful attempts at regaining the Divas Championship from Layla, first at Over the Limit in May and second at No Way Out in June.
====Various Feuds and Departure (2012)====
On the September 10 episode of Raw, Beth, Natalya and Alicia Fox lost in a tag team match against Eve, Layla and Kaitlyn. On the September 14 episode of SmackDown, Beth lost to Kaitlyn. On the September 17 episode of Raw, Eve defeated Beth. On the September 24 episode of Raw, Beth teamed up with Eve to defeat Layla and Alicia Fox in a tag team match after Eve pinned Alicia. After the match, Kaitlyn (who was injured at the Night of Champions pay-per-view returned and announced that her attacker was a blonde, leaving Beth to be suspicious. Eve would go onto attack Beth, leaving Beth in the process of a face turn. On the September 28 episode of SmackDown, Beth defeated Natalya in her home town of Buffalo, New York, officially showing her face turn. Immediately subsequent to the match, Eve suspended Beth, pending investigation of Kaitlyn's attack. Minutes later, SmackDown General Manager Booker T reversed Beth's suspension with apologies, much to the dismay of Eve. On the following Raw, Eve defeated Beth Phoenix with her finishing move.
On the October 18 edition of Superstars, Beth turned heel once again while competing in a losing effort against Kaitlyn in a singles match. During the match, the villainous Beth snarled at Kaitlyn for not believing that she didn't attack her at Night of Champions, and also demanded respect from Kaitlyn. On the October 29 edition of Raw, Beth was defeated by AJ Lee in a singles match, but after the match was restarted by Vickie Guerrero, Beth defeated AJ. Later in the program, Beth was fired by Vickie after she could not defeat AJ fast enough on Raw.
However, her firing was part of a storyline since her WWE contract had expired.
==== Post-Retirement (2012-present) ====
Beth Phoenix made her return to WWE when she was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame. She joined the announce team for Mixed Match Challenge, along with Michael Cole and Corey Graves. She entered the first ever women's Royal Rumble match with entry number 24 but was eliminated by her former tag team partner, Natalya. She returned again in 2019 to challenge for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship with Natalya, engaging in a feud with Nia Jax and Tamina. Alongside Bayley and Sasha Banks, Natalya and Beth defeated The IIconics, Nia Jax and Tamina in an Eight Woman Tag Team match on Raw. She made her WrestleMania return at WrestleMania 35, unsuccessfully teaming with Natalya in a Fatal Four Way Tag Team match which was ultimately won by the IIconics.
Beth has done commentary on various WWE events such as the Mae Young Classic 2018, Evolution, Elimination Chamber 2019 and WWE NXT.
==Other media==
Phoenix, along with Candice Michelle and Layla El, appeared in the February 2009 issue of FLEX Magazine.
==Personal life==
Kocianski was raised in Elmira, New York. When she was eleven years old, she won a coloring contest with a prize of tickets to a television taping for World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Kocianski credits this as when she fell in love with professional wrestling. She cites Owen Hart and Ted DiBiase as her favorite wrestlers. As well as wrestling, Kocianski played tennis and ran track in high school. Kocianski is a graduate from Canisius College with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. While wrestling in OVW, Kocianski also worked as a waitress at a local restaurant. It was rumored that she was married to Joey Knight of the All Knighters, however, she has since denied being married. She now resides in Asheville, North Carolina with husband Adam Copeland (aka Edge) and 2 daughters (Lyric and Ruby).
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
**Beth Valley Driver (Fireman's carry Michinoku driver II) – independent circuit
**Chokebomb – OVW
**Delayed Fisherman's Suplex 2007–mid 2008
**Down in Flames – 2006
**Elevated double chickenwing – 2007
**Glam Slam
*Signature moves
**Pendulum backbreaker
**Cloverleaf
**Military press transitioned into either a slam or a drop
**Missile dropkick
**Slingshot suplex
*Managers
**Trish Stratus
**Santino Marella
**Rosa Mendes
*Wrestlers managed
**Aaron "The Idol" Stevens
**Brent Albright
**Chris Masters
**Santino Marella
*Nicknames
**"The Glamazon"
**"The Total Package of Women's Wrestling"
**"The Über Diva"
**"The 20th Century femme fatale"
**"Firebird"
*Wrestlers trained
**Mastiff
*Tag teams and stables
**Glamarella
**The Divas of Doom
*Entrance music
**"Glamazon" by Jim Johnston (WWE)
**"Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé (SHIMMER)
==Championships and accomplishments==
===Amateur wrestling===
*North-East Wrestling
**Women's Champion (72 kg weight class) (1999)
*New York State Fair
**Women's Champion (72 kg weight class) (1999)
===Professional wrestling===
*Far North Wrestling
**FNW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
*GLORY Wrestling
**GLORY Championship (1 time)
*Ohio Valley Wrestling
**OVW Women's Championship (2 times)
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI ranked her #2 in the 2008 PWI Top 50 Females
**PWI ranked her #7 in the 2009 PWI Top 50 Females
**PWI ranked her #7 in the 2010 PWI Top 50 Females
**PWI ranked her #7 in the 2011 PWI Top 50 Females
**PWI ranked her #2 in the 2012 PWI Top 50 Females
*World Wrestling Entertainment
**WWE Women's Championship (3 times)
**WWE Divas Championship (1 time)
**Slammy Award for Diva of the Year (2008)
**WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)
*The Wrestling Clothesline
**TWC ranked her #3 of the best 50 female independent wrestlers in 2004
==External links==
* Profile
*
pl:Beth Phoenix
pt:Beth Phoenix
Category:American wrestlers
Category:Ohio Valley Wrestling alumni
Category:SHIMMER Women Athletes alumni
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni
Category:1980 births
Category:2001 debuts
Category:OVW Women's Champions
Category:WWE Divas Champions
Category:WWE Women's Champions
Category:WWE Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Female wrestlers
Category:New York wrestlers
Category:2012 retirements
Category:Living people
Category:Frank Gotch Award Winners
Category:Former amateur wrestlers
Category:Commentators
Category:WWE NXT alumni