REAL NAME: Kyra Anne McGowan GENDER: Female PICBASE: Margot Robbie RACE: Caucasian NATIONALITY: American D.O.B./AGE: 31 October 1991 HOMETOWN: Salem, Massachusetts RESIDES: Boston, Massachusetts
PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION
RING NAME(S): Kyra McKnight NICKNAME(S): N/A BILLED FROM: Salem, Massachusetts HEIGHT: 5’8” WEIGHT: 141 lbs TRAINED BY: New England Wrestling, Boston, Massachusetts CROWD AFFILIATION: Tweener-heel (Think like a -2 type heel--will explain below) PROFESSIONAL DEBUT: 2010 DIVISION: Either (wherever people are more needed)
WRESTLING INFORMATION
WRESTLING STYLE: An unapologetic high flyer, Kyra’s intention was to spend her time away from the ring trying to adapt to a less full-throttle moveset. In theory. In practice, what happened, is she took moves that SHOULDN’T be high-octane, and turned them into high-octane moves.
MATCH TACTICS: Stick and move, out-pace her opponents, and keep out of range. Kyra has no delusions that she doesn’t want to get into a pure wrestling exchange with most of her opponents. She doesn’t usually cheat, but she has no problem paying in kind if someone tries.
CHARACTER PERSONALITY: Fiery, angry, and arrogant. Kyra used to be something of a white-light in wrestling, almost the cliche of a hero to some extent. Various things were done to her that changed her, considerably--both in and out of the ring. When she fought back, she found she was able to accomplish more, and was happy to explore that; she became the fastest ever grand slam champion in ECWF, and that success made her aware that she wasn’t happy being second-fiddle, or being brushed to the side, as the ECWF was want to do to her. So she left--but the attitude didn’t.
CHARACTER ANALYSIS: Kyra’s a case of a villain that doesn’t enjoy being a villain--she’s a consequence of circumstance. You can only go so far past the line before you put yourself in danger. Kyra doesn’t LIKE that aspect of herself--and, to some extent, she’s trying to deal with it. At the same time, she isn’t prepared to accept being second best anymore, she isn’t prepared to accept mediocrity--and she’s prepared to do whatever she has to do to not be mediocre.
GIMMICK DESCRIPTION: Good Girl Gone Bad -- People who knew Kyra before she joined ECWF will remember her as the kind-hearted, principled revolutionary of Girl Power Wrestling. Those who met her after she became the ECWF World Champion know her as the Great Betrayer. Kyra herself exists somewhere in the middle.
PAST ACCOLADES: 2x ECWF World Championship 1x ECWF United States Championship 2x ECWF Extreme Championship 1x ECWF Tag Team Championship [with Artemis Kaiser] 1x GPW West Coast Championship 1x WCCW Haywire Championship 1x XWF Championship
2015 GPW Gift Exchange Winner 2016 ECWF War Games Winner 2017 ECWF Universal Cup Winner [with Artemis Kaiser] ECWF Triple Crown Winner (First to do it in a calendar year) ECWF Grand Slam Champion (Fastest Ever)
01. Asai Moonsault 02. DDT variations 02a. Inverted DDT 02b. Snap DDT 02c. Tornado DDT 03. Enzugiri 04. Hurricanrana into Pin 05. Jumping Leg Lariat 06. Moonsault Plancha 07. Mule Kick into Corner Followed by Dropkick to Downed Opponent (think like Jeff Hardy) 08. Overhead Kick 09. Running Shooting Star Press (into pin) 10. Slingshot Apron Leg Drop 11. Slingshot Senton from Ring Apron 12. Spinning Heel Kick 13. Springboard Dropkick 14. Springboard Meteora 15. Springboard Roundhouse Kick 16. Standing Dropkick 17. Suicide Dive 18. Suplex variations 18a. German Suplex (sometimes with a bridging pin) 18b. Northern Lights Suplex 18c. Snap Suplex 19. Tilt-a-Whirl Headscissor
ENTRANCE INFORMATION
ENTRANCE THEME: Halestorm "Mz. Hyde"
ANNOUNCER INTRODUCTION:ERIN LAMBERT: Making her way to the ring...from Salem, Massachusetts, and weighing in 141 pounds--this is KYRA...MCKNIIIIIIIIGHT!
ENTRANCE DESCRIPTION: Will do ASAP.
CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRANCE DESCRIPTION: Will do ASAP.
BIOGRAPHY
That Kyra McKnight was born on Halloween probably served as a precursor to a lot of the 26 year old's luck to this point. Originally born Kyle Andrew McGowan, Kyra's youth was a mix of well-to-do, and troubled at the same time. She realized from a young age that she didn't relate to the boys in her school, and over time began to associate herself more as a female. As she got older and the prospect of coming out began to creep into her mind, she fell into several dark habits to cope with the fear, stress, and generalized self-loathing--not the least of which was a cocaine habit she developed at age 16, that ultimately saw her get arrested at 17. Massachusetts law saw her as a felon, and Kyra's life flipped upside-down; her mind got darker, and she attempted suicide just before turning 18, only saved by her younger sister finding her bleeding and calling 911. Ultimately, this led to Kyra's coming out as both transgender and bisexual to her family. She was helped through rehab and transition, although she opted to pay any surgical costs herself, resulting in a large amount of debt, and eventually turned her sights to a passion from when shew as younger--professional wrestling.
She moved away from Massachusetts after training, to New Jersey, wrestling throughout New England for a few years, before moving to Chicago and debuting for Second City Wrestling. She was only there a short period before the company ultimately closed, though. She moved further west, to California, and competed for Girl Power Wrestling from January 2015, where she won the Gift Exchange battle royal on her debut, through the company's closing in August 2015. On the final show, she won the West Coast Championship by defeating Salem Cartier and Hana Park in a ladder match, her only title under the GPW banner. During this time, she wrestled one match with West Coast Championship Wrestling, winning the Haywire Championship in another ladder match, but the company folded soon after. She also got discovered by the East Coast Wrestling Federation, and was signed and assigned to their XWF training brand--a homecoming to Boston, where she was largely hailed as a hero. She was part of Katie Keller's "Team XWF" that won War Games in 2015, then won the XWF Championship in February 2016, before going head to head with ECWF World Champion Lacey Allen in another ladder match, eventually claiming the title.
During this time, her past was brought to light--Lacey Allen's wife, Mia Scott, held the new ECWF Champion to ransom, threatening to reveal information about Kyra unless she forfeits the title back to Lacey; when Kyra refused, her debt record and transition was revealed. When the ECWF not only didn't punish Mia for the revelation, but rewarded Lacey with no less than 3 opportunities to win the ECWF Championship back, Kyra joined the rival West Coast Wrestling Federation's faction, taking the title with her, earning herself the colloquial nickname of the Great Betrayer. The WCWF faction helped Kyra retain the title against both Gwen Massey and Lacey Allen, before sweeping a War Games match with a representative group for the ECWF, before Kyra was ultimately cost the title in an Elimination Chamber, a decision she still publicly questions. Her relationship with Katie Keller rapidly imploded during this time, as it was gradually revealed that Kyra was attacked after ECWF's Invasion event in 2016, tazed, assaulted, and eventually forcefully given heroin, to exploit the drug history. Keller had left Kyra in England, claiming necessity, and by July 2016, the two were irreconcilably divided, culminating in a cage match for Keller's United States Championship, which Kyra won. Less than a month later, she was cost the title in a 4 way tables match; despite putting Justin Spirit through a table by throwing Gwen Massey onto him, Massey was awarded the championship.
Kyra eventually rejoined the ECWF, under the condition that her contract contains one clause: that she be allowed a match, anytime, anywhere, for anything. She held the clause close, passing several opportunities to ease her back into being World Champion, but specifically referencing a "bigger plan;" while she waited, she won the newly reactivated Tag Team Championships with Artemis Kaiser, by winning the 2017 Universal Cup. She would eventually use the clause, almost 18 months after receiving it, at Revolution 2018, in January. After Mia Scott survived the Elimination Chamber to become ECWF Champion, Kyra revealed the clause and took the championship from the Londoner--and immediately forfeited it to Zoey Adler, and legitimately quit the company.
Since January, she's largely been out of the ring, only wrestling occasionally while she recovers from what she's called "personal matters," but has decided to make her full-time return with NEO.
