Jessica McKay (born 23 June 1989) is an Australian professional wrestler. She is known for her time in WWE, where she performed under the ring nameBillie Kay. She is also known for her time in Impact Wrestling where she performed as Jessie McKay.
McKay began watching wrestling at the age of 10 along with her brother, and started her professional wrestling career first attending to the Australianpromotion based in Sydney, Pro Wrestling Australia.[9] Prior to becoming a wrestler, McKay excelled in basketball.[4] She attended the same high school (Westfields Sports) as fellow wrestler Cassandra McIntosh.[9]
Professional wrestling career
Pro Wrestling Alliance Australia (2007–2015)
McKay was trained by Madison Eagles.[2] She debuted on 23 June 2007, on her eighteenth birthday, at PWA Australia with a win over Eagles and Aurora, wrestling under her birth name as Jessie McKay.[9][12]
On 2 August 2008, McKay defeated defending champion Kellie Skater to win the PWWA Championship for the first time.[13][14] She had one successful title defence on 8 November against Tenille Tayla.[13] On 22 November, she lost her title to Penni Lane.[13] After Lane vacated her title due to injury, McKay won the PWWA Championship for the second time in a four-way match against Kellie Skater, Sway, and Shazza McKenzie on 14 September 2009.[13] McKay had two successful title defences against KC Cassidy and Madison Eagles in March and May 2010, but lost the title to Eagles on 11 June 2010.[13]
In September 2011, McKay failed to win a three-way match for the Shimmer Championship also featuring champion Madison Eagles and Nicole Matthews.[13][15] In August 2012, in a match to crown the interim PWWA Champion, she was defeated by Evie.[13]
At Volume 33 in September 2010, McKay defeated Nicole Matthews,[21][22] after losing to Matthews earlier that year in April at Volume 30.[23][24] She followed up with an upset victory over Ayako Hamada and Sara Del Rey in a three-way match by pinning former Shimmer Champion Del Rey at Volume 34.[15][21][25] As a result, later in September 2010, McKay was granted a title match against her trainer and former tag partner, Shimmer Champion Madison Eagles at Volume 35, but failed to win.[21][26][27]
After her failed title challenge, McKay continued her feud with Nicole Matthews. At Volume 36, she teamed up with Tenille, challenging The Canadian NINJAs (Matthews and Portia Perez) for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship, but were defeated.[20][21] However, she gained a victory over the Canadian NINJAs at Volume 38 while teaming with Serena.[20][28] McKay concluded her feud with Matthews with a loss in a two-out-of-three falls match at Volume 39 in March 2011.[20][28]
In March 2012, victories over Mia Yim at Volume 45 and former Shimmer Champion MsChif at Volume 46 led to McKay receiving another shot at the Shimmer Championship,[15][29] but lost to defending champion Cheerleader Melissa at Volume 47.[30][31] At Volume 53 in April 2013, McKay was defeated by Madison Eagles in Eagles' return match.[32][33] At Volume 57, Kay defeated Mercedes Martinez.[34][35]
McKay received a tryout with WWE during their tour of Australia in August 2014[9] and became an NXT trainee on 13 April 2015.[1] McKay made her televised in-ring debut on the 10 June episode of NXT, where she competed in a losing effort against Becky Lynch under the ring name Jessie.[5] On 7 August, she was given the new ring name Billie Kay.[41] After competing in most of her matches at NXT as a face,[42][43] Kay competed on her first match as a heel on the 21 October episode of NXT, losing to Asuka.[44] Through the end of 2015, Kay started being managed by fellow wrestler, Sylvester Lefort, during multiple NXT live events,[45][46] however, it did not last for long after Lefort was released from his contract in February 2016.[47]
On the 13 January 2016 episode of NXT, Kay competed in a number one contender's battle royal for Bayley's NXT Women's Championship, which was won by Carmella.[48] Kay made her first appearance on the main roster on the 30 June episode of SmackDown, where she worked as a jobber losing to Dana Brooke.[49] Kay finally made her return to NXT television on 27 July, where she achieved her first live victory in the company by defeating Santana Garrett.[50] After asking NXT's general managerWilliam Regal for a match at TakeOver: Brooklyn II on the 17 August episode of NXT, she was granted one against the debutant Ember Moon.[51] At the event on 20 August, Kay was defeated by Moon.[52] Following a brief hiatus, Kay returned on the 21 September episode of NXT, where she defeated Aliyah.[53]
In October, Kay started an alliance with Peyton Royce, later dubbed The Iconic Duo,[54] and later entered a feud with Liv Morgan with the duo attacking and defeating Morgan in singles matches.[55][56][57] This ultimately led to a six-women tag team match at TakeOver: Toronto, which was taped and aired for the 23 November episode of NXT, in which Aliyah, Ember Moon, and Morgan defeated Kay, Royce, and their partner Daria Berenato.[58][59] In the end of December, Kay and Royce were placed in a brief feud with the NXT Women's Champion Asuka after the latter stated there is no competition for her.[60][61][62][63] This resulted in a fatal four-way match, which also involved Nikki Cross, at the TakeOver: San Antonio event on 28 January 2017, in which both Kay and Royce failed to capture the NXT Women's Championship.[64]
Kay and Royce, now dubbed The IIconics, made their main roster debut on the 10 April 2018 episode of SmackDown Live attacking then SmackDown Women's ChampionCharlotte Flair, whilst she was cutting a promo about her match at WrestleMania 34.[65] Week later, Kay lost to Flair.[66] In their first match together as part of the main roster, The IIconics racked up their first victory against Asuka and Becky Lynch.[67] Throughout the next few months, Kay competed in various singles and tag team matches but ended up on the losing end.[68][69][70][71][72] In August, The IIconics started their first feud on the main roster, with Naomi, and the two were able to defeat her in singles matches.[73][74] Eventually, Naomi teamed up with Asuka but lost to the IIconics at the Super Show-Down on 6 October, held in the latter's homeland of Australia.[75][76][77][78] Three weeks later, both Kay and Royce took part in WWE's first all-women's pay-per-view, Evolution; they were the first two eliminated from a battle royal for a future women's championship match.[79]
After a brief hiatus, Kay and Royce made their return on the 11 May 2020 episode of Raw, interrupting WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. They later defeated the champions in a non-title match. They would unsuccessfully challenge for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships multiple times throughout the summer. They would begin a feud with Ruby Riott mocking her backstage for not having any friends. They would go on to trade victories as Kay and Royce defeated Riott while Riott defeated Kay. At Payback, The IIconics were defeated by Riott and her newly reunited tag partner Liv Morgan.[88] The following night on Raw, The IIconics were forced to disband after losing to The Riott Squad per stipulation.
Final storylines (2020–2021)
As part of the 2020 Draft in October, Kay went undrafted and was subsequently signed as a free agent to the SmackDown brand.[89] Kay would then begin a storyline on SmackDown where she would offer Superstars such as the Street Profits and Big E to look at her resume only to be rejected by them.[90] On the 1 January 2021 episode of SmackDown, she helped The Riott Squad defeat Natalya and Tamina, much to their dismay.[91][92] Over the next few weeks, Kay would try to persuade The Riott Squad to add her to their group as she accompanied them to the ring during their matches and attempted to interfere in matches on their behalf, seemingly turning face for the first time since October 2015.[93][94][95] However, Kay resumed as a heel when she teamed with Carmella for a tag team turmoil match on Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, which was won by Natalya and Tamina. This would in turn be Kay's final appearance in WWE as she (along with her former partner Peyton Royce) were released from their WWE contracts on 15 April 2021.[96]
On 29 April 2022, the filmmaker Michael Matteo Rossi confirmed that McKay would star in his upcoming film The Charisma Killers.[104] It was also revealed that McKay's character in the film would be Swinger Wife Claire.[105]
In 2015, she married the boyfriend that she had since she was 19 years old, however, both kept it hidden for many years for privacy. On 9 June 2023, she announced her pregnancy.[110][111] Their son, Cooper, was born on 20 December 2023.[112]
