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You may be hearing the name Aliyah a lot more, now that she is officially a Monday Night RAW superstar. She recently moved from NXT, where she has been performing for the past five years.
Born in Toronto, Aliyah is of Syrian and Iraqi descent and made her official pro-wrestling debut in 2013, wrestling with local independent promotions. She possesses a wealth of talent, and can be seen on WWE Network's original series, Breaking Ground, being trained at the WWE Performance Center.
Now, let's take a look at five things you may not know about Aliyah.
#5. Aliyah's first NXT house show match featured Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, Carmella and Peyton Royce
After training at the WWE Performance Center, Aliyah made her first in-ring NXT appearance in June 2015 at a house show in Lakeland, Florida.
She competed in a six-woman tag team match, with her team claiming victory on the night. Interestingly, Aliyah teamed up with Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax against Carmella, Peyton Royce and Devin Taylor.
A match that would now be considered a star-studded tag team match on national television made its way onto an NXT live event. The show also featured names like Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin, Sasha Banks and Apollo Crews.
#4. Appeared as part of Tyler Breeze's entrance in NXT
Tyler Breeze's initial run on the NXT brand was something to behold. He was doing a supermodel gimmick and brought a selfie stick to the ring with him before every match. Breeze's character was much loved by the NXT fans.
At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable in May 2015, Breeze faced Finn Balor in a No.1 Contenders match with the winner getting a shot at the NXT title. Breeze was known for his over-the-top entrance, this time featuring Aliyah as a model doing a selfie catwalk before Breeze made his way to the ring.
Sadly, Breeze went on to lose the match, with Balor advancing to claim a shot at the NXT Championship.
#3. She was inspired by Beth Phoenix and Mickie James
Before getting involved in professional wrestling, many wrestlers are inspired by who they see performing at that time. It gives them the itch to want to be involved in the business.
That was no different for Aliyah, who was inspired by a match she saw between Mickie James and 'The Glamazon' Beth Phoenix on an episode of Monday Night RAW in May 2008. Despite sitting in the nosebleed seats, Aliyah knew what she wanted to do with her life. After seeing those two legends of WWE perform, she ultimately pursued her dream.
#2. Aliyah lost to Carmella on an episode of SmackDown in 2017
During Carmella's rise in 2017 on SmackDown, with her ally James Ellsworth, she faced NXT star Aliyah on an episode of SmackDown LIVE. Carmella was lucky to come away with the victory as she had some assistance from Mr Ellsworth to seal the win.
The match marked Aliyah's first-ever match on the main roster, performing on the blue brand. It was a solid showing for Aliyah against the confident Princess of Staten Island. Aliyah, of course, would not be seen on the main roster again until a few years later.
#1. She made her televised NXT debut in January 2016
Aliyah's dream of becoming a WWE superstar came true when she signed in 2015, and then realized her dream when she made NXT television debut in January 2016. She competed in a Battle Royal to crown a new No.1 Contender for the NXT Women's Championship.
A couple of months later she made her singles television in-ring debut in a match against Carmella, in a losing effort. Since then, Aliyah has been a mainstay on the NXT, but has recently been moved to the Monday Night RAW, in which there was an apparent swap for Mandy Rose to return to NXT.
It'll be interesting to see where Aliyah goes now that she is officially on the main roster, and what WWE has planned for her moving forward.
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