Kayla Braxton

Kayla Becker is an American sports broadcaster. She is signed with WWE, where she appears under the name Kayla Braxton. She is a former My Way reporter for WESH 2 News and former host of Nashville View.

Kayla Braxton
Birth nameKayla Becker
BornJune 7, 1993 (age 27)
Wadley, Alabama, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Billed fromWadley, Alabama
DebutOctober 20, 2016

Early life and education

Braxton was born in Wadley, Alabama. She grew up in a foster home after her mother went to prison when she was 9 years old. As a teenager, Braxton participated in public speaking competitions. At 17, she visited the White House and spoke in front of President George W. Bush. Braxton graduated from Belmont University with a degree in broadcast journalism. During her time in college, she started creating content for the web and had a couple digital entertainment shows for the school and for the city of Nashville, Tennessee. Six months later after she graduated, she began hosting her own entertainment web and TV segment in the top-20 television market in Orlando, Florida.[1][2]

Career

WWE (2016–present)

Braxton signed with the American professional wrestling promotion WWE in October 2016, where she was given the ring name Kayla Braxton.[1] She debuted on the October 20, 2016 episode of NXT held in Lakeland, Florida as a host and ring announcer.[3][4] She appeared on her first pay-per-view as a backstage interviewer during Backlash on May 21, 2017 and followed it up with appearances at Battleground 2017, SummerSlam 2017, Hell in a Cell 2017 and more PPVs.[5][6] While working as a ring announcer on NXT, Braxton appeared on Raw, 205 Live and SmackDown where she would act as ring announcer and backstage interviewer. She permanently left NXT on August 17, 2019 to the main roster and was replaced by Alicia Taylor the following week.[7][8][9] Braxton is currently a backstage interviewer on SmackDown and co-host of The Bump. Since August 22, 2020, she has been the host of Talking Smack alongside Paul Heyman.[10][11]

Personal life

Becker is mixed-race (black and white).[12] On June 25, 2020, she announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time, once in March and June.[13] On July 9, 2020, she recovered from the virus.[14][15]

References
  1. Byron Saxton (April 20, 2017). "Exclusive Q&A: Inside Kayla Braxton's journey to WWE and NXT". WWE. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  2. "Kayla Braxton". WWE. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  3. Fernandes, Steven (October 20, 2016). "NEW TALENT DEBUTS AT TONIGHT'S NXT EVENT, NEW ROLE FOR SHAWN MICHAELS, WWE DECLARES DIVIDEND". PWInsider. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  4. Twiss, Andrew (October 21, 2016). "ASUKA VS. EMBER MOON, SANITY, WOMEN'S BATTLE ROYAL, GARGANO, SWANN, CIAMPA, ARIES AND MORE: 10/20 WWE NXT IN LAKELAND, FLORIDA LIVE REPORT". PWInsider. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  5. Salgado, Sebastian (May 21, 2020). "WWE Backlash 2017 - Kickoff: Video, coverage and results - Superfights". Súper Luchas. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  6. Salgado, Sebastian (July 23, 2020). "WWE Battleground 2017 - Kickoff: Video, Coverage and Results - Superfights". Súper Luchas. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  7. Moore, John (April 17, 2020). "The Bella Twins Explain Reasoning Behind Attack On Ronda Rousey (VIDEO)". Prowrestling.net. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  8. Ryan Satin (October 8, 2018). "The Bella Twins Explain Reasoning Behind Attack On Ronda Rousey (VIDEO)". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  9. Jeremy Peeples (August 21, 2018). "WWE 205 Live results: Lucha House Party vs. Murphy & Nese". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  10. Lambert, Jeremy (August 21, 2020). "Talking Smack To Return On 8/22, Xavier Woods And Kayla Braxton To Host". Fightful Wrestling. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  11. Morgan, Nick (September 5, 2020). "9/5 WWE TALKING SMACK: Kayla joined by Xavier Woods, Alexa zones out as she twirls her expanding dreds, Jey talks about Heyman and facing Reigns, Cesaro talks about relating to Big E's frustrations". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  12. Upton, Felix (January 14, 2019). "Kayla Braxton Fires Back At Fan For Calling Her "The Whitest Black Girl" He's Ever Seen". Ringside News. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  13. Ryan Satin (June 25, 2020). "Kayla Braxton Reveals She Has COVID-19 For The Second Time". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  14. Jordan, Paul (July 20, 2020). "Kayla Braxton confirms that she is fully recovered". Súper Luchas. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  15. Jordan, Paul (July 20, 2020). "KAYLA BRAXTON COMMENTS ON HER HEALTH AFTER CONTRACTING COVID-19 TWICE". PWInsider. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
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