Nicole Matthews and Portia Perez initially began teaming together in Shimmer Women Athletes in October 2007.[1] They met for the first time shortly before their debut, bonding over a meal at Denny's.[1] Their first match together was a win against Ashley Lane and Lorelei Lee on Volume 15, and their second match was a loss against Ariel and Josie at Volume 16.[1] Matthews and Perez named their tag team The Canadian NINJAs (National International Nation of Jalapeño Awesomeness) in March 2008.[1]
In early 2009 Matthews and Perez took part in the first season tapings of Wrestlicious, which began airing in March 2010. In the promotion, Matthews used the name Hope and Perez used the name Faith, and the duo's tag team name was The Naughty Girls. They debuted on the fifth episode on March 31 in a losing effort against the team of Charlotte and Paige Webb.[8]
On September 23, 2011, the Canadian NINJAs made their Japanese debut for the Universal Woman's Pro Wrestling Reina promotion in the Reina World Tag Team Championship tournament, defeating Mia Yim and Sara Del Rey in their first round match.[9] The following day, Perez and Matthews were defeated in the finals of the tournament by La Comandante and Zeuxis.[10]