Maddie Knisley

About Maddie Knisley

Maddie Knisley's journey began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her early education took place at Pivik Elementary School in Plum Borough, and she honed her athletic skills in gymnastics at a facility in Monroeville.

Her professional wrestling career launched in 2021 with an appearance in All Elite Wrestling. On September 28th, she debuted on Dark as enhancement talent under the ring name Nikita Knight, facing Thunder Rosa. A second match on Dark, against Julia Hart on October 24th, also ended in defeat.

In 2022, Knisley transitioned to WWE, joining 14 other recruits at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, on March 17th. Her in-ring debut for the company occurred on April 8th, on NXT Level Up, as Thea Hail, losing to Ivy Nile. A vignette aired on May 31st during NXT 2.0, depicting Hail achieving a 4.0 GPA and symbolically choosing Chase University over major universities. This marked her official alignment with the group. She secured her first victory on the June 17th episode of Level Up, with Duke Hudson and Bodhi Hayward accompanying her, defeating Arianna Grace. Her first singles match on the NXT brand was on October 11th against Kiana James. During this bout, James' manager, Mr. Stone, interfered with a promo, leading to Hail executing a back body drop and driving him from the ring. James capitalized on the distraction to win.

The early months of 2023 saw further developments. On the February 7th NXT episode, Hail confronted Tiffany Stratton regarding a contentious TikTok video. Following this, Ava emerged, escorting Hail away. Two weeks later, on February 21st, Chase and Hudson defended Hail's honor against The Dyad, with Ava in their corner. While Ava pursued Hail around the ring, Chase became entangled in an argument with her, allowing Fowler and Reid to deliver a double codebreaker to Hudson, costing Chase University the match. At Stand and Deliver on April 1st, Hail, Hudson, Andre Chase, and Tyler Bate triumphed over Schism in an eight-person mixed tag team match, solidifying their control over Chase University. On June 6th, Hail earned a shot at Stratton's NXT Women's Championship by winning a battle royal. The title match at Week Two of Gold Rush on June 27th proved unsuccessful. She challenged Stratton again at The Great American Bash on July 30th in a submission match but lost when Chase threw in the towel on her behalf. In response, the following week on NXT, Hail reciprocated by throwing in the towel during Chase's match against Baron Corbin, though Corbin recovered to win by pinfall. On August 15th, Hail lost to Jacy Jayne due to interference from Jayne's stablemates. At Heat