We’re living in a crazy time of wrestling where a WWE-lifer like Edge showed up to All Elite Wrestling during AEW WrestleDream 2023. With that, there are already questions about her wife potentially joining WWE’s rival brand. The same is also being speculated with another top star Bryan Danielson’s wife Brie Bella since she has […]
Beth Phoenix
Elizabeth Copeland, famous as Beth Phoenix, is an American professional wrestler and commentator. She is currently signed to WWE where she performs as the colour commentator on the NXT brand. Copeland started out as an amateur wrestler, before stepping into a professional wrestling ring.
Making her main rooster debut in 2006, Beth Phoenix achieved many firsts in her career, including becoming the first woman to enter both the men’s and women’s Royal Rumbles. She is a former WWE Divas Champion, a three-time WWE Women’s Champion and the youngest person to ever be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. With her combination of beauty and strength, Phoenix paved the way for many female superstars to follow in her footsteps.
After successful wrestling career in high school – winning several tournaments, Copeland was trained for the professional wrestling by the All Knights. She made her debut in May 2001 and wrestled for numerous independent promotions. In 2004, Copeland began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), while signing up a developmental contract with WWE in October 2005. In May 2006, she made her debut on the Raw brand of WWE but suffered a legitimate broken jaw the following month.
As a result, she had numerous surgeries and returned to OVW for further training. While there, she won the OVW Women’s Championship twice, although her second reign is not officially recognized by OVW.
She returned to the Raw brand in July 2007 and rose to earn a nickname – “The Glamazon” as she dominated the other WWE Divas. Phoenix won her first WWE Women’s Championship at the No Mercy pay-per-view in October, holding it for six months. By then, she had developed an on-screen relationship with Santino Marella, dubbing as “Glamarella”. Phoenix won the Women’s Championship for a second time in August 2008, holding it until January 2009. In January 2010, at the Royal Rumble, she became the second woman in the history of the event to enter the men’s Royal Rumble match.
Meanwhile, that very same year, she also won her third Women’s Championship in April, holding it for a month. In October 2011, Phoenix won the WWE Divas Championship for the first time and held it till April 2012. However, later that year in October, Phoenix retired and left WWE because of the creative frustrations with the treatment of women in WWE. She also reasoned that she wanted to focus on her family life with boyfriend – Adam Copeland, also famous as Edge in WWE (whom she later married and two daughters with).
Phoenix returned to WWE in 2017, as she was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a part of the 2017 class, also becoming a part-time colour commentator for the company. Being inducted at the age of 36, she became the youngest inductee in the history of WWE, while also becoming the quickest female to be inducted after her retirement. In 2019, she also became the first woman to be inducted in the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, a hall of fame dedicated to professional wrestlers with an amateur background. In May 2019, she was promoted to a full-time colour commentator on NXT.
Early Life
Raised by Polish parents, Elizabeth Copeland (Kociański) was born on 24 November 1980 in Elmira, New York. At the age of 11, she won a colouring contest with a prize of tickets to a television taping for the World Wrestling Federation. She credits this as the moment when she fell in love with professional wrestling, while citing Bret Hart, Sgt. Slaughter, Owen Hart, and Ted DiBiase as her favourite wrestlers. She completed her high school from Notre Dame High School in Elmira, where she played tennis and ran track. She was voted prom queen in her senior year. She graduated from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and Public Relations. While wrestling in OVW, Phoenix also worked as a waitress at a local restaurant known to Elmira natives as Lights Bakery and Coffee Shop.
Personal Life
In 2001 she was married to Joey Carolan, known by the ring name Joey Knight, but they divorced in 2010. Later, she came into a relationship with Adam Copeland, known in WWE as Edge, and on December 12, 2013 their daughter Lyric Rose Copeland was born. On 31st May 2016, they had their second daughter named Ruby Ever Copeland. The couple married on October 30, 2016.
Wrestling Career
Amateur wrestling career
Elizabeth Kociański began her wrestling career on the Notre Dame High School scholastic wrestling team, becoming the first female varsity wrestler in the school’s history. In 1999, Kociański became the North-East freestyle women’s champion, going on to win at the New York State Fair Tournament the same year. During that time, she was also a member of USA Wrestling, a freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling association. Aiming to become a professional wrestler, Kociański believed that having a solid amateur background would help her reach it.
Professional Wrestling Career
Training and independent circuit (2001–2005)
Having graduated from high school in 1998, Kociański enrolled in both a professional wrestling school and Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Although her first choice for wrestling school was Stu Hart’s Dungeon, she picked up a more local school because of its location. There she was trained by the All Knighters (Joey Knight and Robin Knightwing), who themselves had trained in the Hart Dungeon. Later, she stated that Nora Greenwald, famous as Molly Holly in then-WWF, had paid for her to attend wrestling school after Carolan had given her a demo tape of her work.
Kociański made her professional wrestling debut match against Alexis Laree. She worked for various independent promotions that also included Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling and Apocalypse Wrestling, against both male and female wrestlers, acquiring the ring-name “Phoenix”. In 2002, she was one of the first wrestlers in GLORY, an independent organization for women, becoming the inaugural champion in the organization. And then, she became the only female wrestler to join Far North Wrestling (FNW), where she defeated Joey Knight and Kevin Grace in 2003 to become the FNW Cruiserweight Champion.
Later in 2003, she participated in World Xtreme Wrestling’s annual Women’s Elite 8 tournament where she made it to the final, before losing to April Hunter. She returned two years later and defeated Nikki Roxx, but was bested in the second round by eventual winner Alicia.
The following month, Phoenix appeared at the inaugural taping for the Ring of Honor sister promotion Shimmer Women Athletes. During the Volume 1, Kociański was pinned by Shimmer founder, Allison Danger but scored an upset victory in a non-title match against NWA Midwest Women’s Champion MsChif.
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2004–2007)
In May 2004, Kociański was invited to a tryout with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and then relocated to Louisville, Kentucky to work for their then-developmental territory – Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). A month later in July, she debuted on OVW television under her changed ring name – “Beth Phoenix”. Upon joining the brand, she became the on-screen girlfriend and valet of Chris Masters. However, the storyline was short-lived, and the following month Phoenix was repackaged as the manager of Aaron “The Idol” Stevens. On 20th October 2005, she signed a developmental contract with WWE, the same month that she broke her hand. The duo was then joined by Shelly Martinez, who Phoenix soon feuded within early 2006. Phoenix then stopped appearing regularly on OVW after debuting on WWE’s Raw television show.
Two years later the injury, Phoenix returned to action in OVW on August 16, 2006, defeating Serena in the process. Phoenix began regularly competing for the OVW Women’s Championship, unsuccessfully challenging the champion ODB in a battle royal and a four-way match that was won by Serena. However, at the 4th October OVW television tapings, Phoenix defeated Serena to win the championship. She lost the championship to Victoria Crawford in a gauntlet match held on October 20, winning it back the following day. However, Crawford’s title reign is not officially recognized, and as a result, neither is Phoenix’s second reign. Phoenix officially dropped the championship in a gauntlet match at the November 1 television taping, after she was eliminated by the eventual winner, Katie Lea.
On the November 6 episode of OVW, Phoenix came out with her championship and claimed to still be the women’s champion. This led to a ladder match, where the winner would become the undisputed OVW Women’s Champion. Lea won the match and was presented with the title belt on the first show of 2007. Throughout 2007, Phoenix continued to wrestle in numerous women’s matches at OVW before her last game at the August 15 television tapings where she lost to Lea in a number one contender’s match.
Trish Stratus’ ally (2006)
Phoenix debuted on WWE’s main roster on the May 8, 2006, episode of Raw as a face while attacking Mickie James who was assaulting Trish Stratus. After this incident, James berated Phoenix for “ruining everything” and questioned her appearance in the first place. A week later, Phoenix was formally introduced by Stratus and attacked a distracted James on the latter’s behalf. When James finally escaped, Phoenix claimed that James had “ruined her life”, and would not let her get away with it, before calling her a “psycho”. On the following episode of Raw, Phoenix attacked James after her match with Torrie Wilson. On the May 29 episode of Raw, Phoenix and Wilson along with Stratus, teamed together to defeat Candice Michelle and Victoria, who teamed with James.
During the June 5 episode of Raw, Phoenix suffered a legitimately fractured mandible during a match with Victoria. Despite the injury, she continued the match and emerged victoriously. Phoenix’s jaw was entirely severed and subsequent surgeries left a portion of her face permanently numb. She spent a year having surgeries and recovering, including getting a titanium plate and nine screws placed in her jaw. But she was only out of action for two months and returned to action in OVW instead of on the main roster.
The Glamazon (2007–2008)
On the July 9, 2007, episode of Raw, Phoenix returned as the villainous, when Melina claimed to be injured. She replaced Melina in a tag team match as Jillian Hall’s partner, both losing to Candice Michelle and Mickie James. At the SummerSlam pay-per-view, Phoenix won the Inter-promotional Divas battle royal to become the number one contender for Michelle’s WWE Women’s Championship. She was then pushed as a dominating Diva, dubbing herself “The Glamazon” while attacking James, Hall, and Michelle on the September 10 episode of Raw. However, at Unforgiven, Phoenix failed to capture the Women’s Championship from Michelle. Their storyline rivalry continued when Phoenix pinned Michelle during a non-title mixed tag team match on Raw on September 24.
At No Mercy in October, Phoenix defeated Michelle and won her first WWE Women’s Championship. She retained the title on the October 22 episode of Raw in a two out of three falls match, where she injured Candice Michelle who fell off of the top turnbuckle, breaking her clavicle as Phoenix shook the rope. During a 10-Diva tag team match at Survivor Series, Phoenix’s team lost after Melina was pinned by Mickie James. On the November 26 episode of Raw, James defeated Melina in a number one contenders match for Phoenix’s Women’s Championship. This set up a title match between the two at Armageddon, where Phoenix successfully defended her Women’s title. And then again on New Year’s Eve 2007, Phoenix successfully defended her title in a Triple Threat match against Melina and James, after pinning Melina.
Phoenix, along with her then-ally Melina, participated in the Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match at WrestleMania XXIV, defeating the team of Ashley and Maria. On April 14, 2008, Phoenix faced Mickie James with her Women’s Championship title on the line and lost, ending her reign as champion. Phoenix received a rematch on the May 5 episode of Raw in a lumberjill match but lost after Melina unintentionally hit her in the face with her boot. On the May 12 episode of Raw, Melina and Phoenix partnered to face Maria and James. During the match, Melina unintentionally knocked Phoenix off of the ring apron.
As a result, Phoenix abandoned Melina which allowed James and Maria to pick up the win. Meanwhile, this also led to a brawl between the two in a backstage segment that night which ended their alliance. At Judgment Day, Phoenix failed to regain the Women’s Championship in a Triple Threat match after James pinned Melina to retain the title. Phoenix defeated Melina in the first women’s “I Quit” match held at One Night Stand in WWE history.
The next night on Raw, Phoenix teamed with Katie Lea Burchill to defeat Melina and James in a tag team match. She was pinned by James one week later in a non-title match and was once again attacked by Melina post-match.
Glamarella (2008–2009)
After a month of absence from television, Phoenix returned on the July 14 episode of Raw, defeating Santino Marella after he issued an open challenge to any WWE wrestler backstage. The storyline continued the following week after Marella lost to the returning D-Lo Brown. Phoenix confronted Marella after the match, and they briefly grappled with each other before unexpectedly sharing a kiss, to which both expressed considerable confusion.
After this, the two of them became an on-screen power couple, the pair later became known by the portmanteau Glamarella. Within the team, she acted as the “straight-woman” of sorts, berating Marella or reacting in disbelief to his over-the-top, embarrassing antics. At SummerSlam, the couple defeated Kofi Kingston and Mickie James in an intergender tag team match. Phoenix pinned James, winning the Women’s Championship, while Marella won Kingston’s Intercontinental Championship. She successfully defended the Women’s Championship against Candice Michelle at No Mercy. At Survivor Series in November, Phoenix was team captain of the victorious Raw Diva team which defeated the SmackDown Divas in a five-on-five elimination match. In the match, she eliminated Maryse while being the sole survivor of the team.
On December 8, 2008, Phoenix received the “Slammy Award” for Diva of the Year. Phoenix then began feuding with Melina, who had returned from injury in November. This storyline included the debut of Rosa Mendes, who was introduced as Phoenix’s “superfan”.
At the Royal Rumble in January 2009, Phoenix lost the Women’s Championship to Melina. At WrestleMania XXV, Phoenix competed in the 25-Diva “Miss WrestleMania” battle royal and despite scoring 12 eliminations, more than any other participant, Phoenix lost when Marella last eliminated her. After WrestleMania, Glamarella separated, as Phoenix was unhappy with Santino pretending to be “Santina”. Phoenix had a brief scripted rivalry with both “Santina” and Marella, and challenged “Santina” for the “Miss WrestleMania” title at Backlash, but was unsuccessful.
Feud with LayCool (2009–2011)
After a brief hiatus, Phoenix returned on the July 27 episode of Raw and teamed with Alicia Fox and Rosa Mendes in a losing effort against Mickie James, Gail Kim, and Kelly Kelly. Phoenix had her first opportunity for the WWE Divas Championship, on the August 31 episode of Raw. She was narrowly defeated by the defending champion Mickie James, after winning a number one contender’s battle royal that same night.
On the October 12 episode of Raw, it was announced that Phoenix had been traded to the SmackDown brand. A few days later, on the 30th October episode of SmackDown, Phoenix made her in-ring debut for the brand and defeated Jenny Brooks in an “enhancement talent”. In January 2010, at the Royal Rumble, she entered the Royal Rumble match and eliminated The Great Khali, before she was eliminated by CM Punk. With her entry, she became the second woman in history to enter the Royal Rumble match, the first being Chyna.
After being told by Vickie Guerrero, the SmackDown consultant, that she would not be receiving a Women’s Championship opportunity, Phoenix turned face after saving Tiffany from an attack by Guerrero and LayCool (Michelle McCool and Layla) on the March 12 episode of SmackDown. She went on to defeat McCool and Layla in a tag team match that involved Tiffany. The feud with McCool continued at WrestleMania XXVI, where they were on opposing teams in a 10-Diva tag team match, which Phoenix’s team lost. On the April 23 episode of Smackdown, Phoenix teamed with Mickie James to face McCool and Layla.
After the match, LayCool beat down Phoenix and smeared make-up on her face and body while she was unconscious. This led to Phoenix receiving a match for the Women’s Championship against McCool at Extreme Rules. In the match, she defeated McCool in an “Extreme Makeover” match to win her third Women’s Championship. On the May 6 episode of Superstars, Phoenix tore her ACL in a match against Rosa Mendes. As a result, one week later on SmackDown, McCool invoked her rematch clause to face Phoenix in a two-on-one handicap match along with Layla, where Layla pinned Phoenix to become the new Women’s Champion.
Phoenix returned from her injury at November’s Survivor Series pay-per-view, and attacked the former co-Champions Michelle McCool and Layla after they lost the WWE Divas Championship to Natalya. Phoenix and Natalya then formed an alliance, and at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December, Phoenix and Natalya defeated LayCool in the first Divas Tag Team Tables match in WWE history.
Divas Champion and departure (2011–2012)
As part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft on April 26, 2011, Phoenix returned to the Raw brand. On the August 1 episode of Raw, Phoenix won a battle royal to become the number one contender to the WWE Divas Championship. And afterwards, she attacked the champion Kelly Kelly to provoke a feud, turning heel in the process. Later, Phoenix declared that she was tired of the “perky bimbos” that comprised the rest of the Divas division. She stated that she was on a mission to make a mockery of the other Divas, and was joined by Natalya to form The Divas of Doom.
Phoenix went on to challenge Kelly in a losing effort for the championship at SummerSlam. Throughout September, The Divas of Doom (Natalya and Phoenix) feuded with Kelly and Eve Torres on Raw and The Chickbusters (AJ and Kaitlyn) on SmackDown. Phoenix challenged Kelly for the Divas Championship again at Night of Champions but was unsuccessful. At Hell in a Cell in October, Phoenix defeated Kelly with the help of Natalya, winning the Divas Championship for the first time. In a rematch on the October 14 episode of SmackDown, Phoenix successfully retained the championship. At Vengeance, Phoenix successfully defended the championship against Eve Torres, with both Natalya and Kelly banned from ringside. She successfully retained her championship against Torres again at Survivor Series on November 20 in a Lumberjill match, and then against Kelly at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 18.
And then the following year, she went on to successfully defend her title against Torres on January 30, 2012, episode of Raw and Tamina Snuka at Elimination Chamber on February 19. After this, Phoenix competed only sporadically for a few months, including a tag team match at WrestleMania XXVIII, where she and Eve Torres were defeated by Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos. On the April 6 episode of SmackDown, Phoenix lost to Nikki Bella in a non-title match, following Kelly’s interference. On the April 23 episode of Raw, Phoenix lost her Divas Championship to Nikki Bella in a Lumberjill match, after suffering a storyline ankle injury.
At Extreme Rules, Phoenix was scheduled to face Nikki in a rematch for the Divas Championship. However, she was not medically cleared to compete and was replaced by the returning Layla, who ended up winning the title. Phoenix made two unsuccessful attempts at regaining the Divas Championship from Layla at Over the Limit in May and at No Way Out in June, respectively. And after that, she lost 19 times against Divas champion Layla in various live events.
In September, Kaitlyn was attacked by an unknown assailant before her championship match at Night of Champions. Upon her return, she announced her assailant had blonde hair, and Assistant SmackDown General Manager Eve Torres accused Phoenix before they attacked her. On the September 28 episode of SmackDown, after defeating Natalya, Phoenix was suspended by Torres, only to be reversed by the SmackDown General manager Booker T.
On the October 1 episode of Raw, Phoenix lost to Torres. She turned heel again on the October 18 episode of Superstars, when she berated Kaitlyn for thinking that Phoenix attacked her and demanded respect from Kaitlyn, before losing to her in a singles match. On the October 29 episode of Raw, Phoenix was defeated by AJ Lee in a singles match, but the match was restarted by Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero, allowing Phoenix to win. After the match, in the storyline, Guerrero fired Phoenix for her poor performance. In reality, Phoenix had given her notice to WWE in September and had decided to leave the company. Before leaving, she originally claimed that she had to leave to focus on her family. But in September 2019, Phoenix revealed that she had been “really frustrated with where the women were at from a company standpoint, and the investment that was being made in us. I felt in my heart I had done my best, and I’d try hard to change things but, at some point, I just got frustrated.”
Return to WWE
Hall of Fame and part-time commentator (2017–2019)
On February 27, 2017, WWE announced that Phoenix would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the 2017 class. This made her the quickest female to be inducted after her retirement, as she had retired only five years prior, and the youngest wrestler to be inducted as she was 36 years old. Phoenix and her husband Edge became the first real-life couple to both be inducted.
Starting in 2018, Phoenix became a part-time colour commentator for WWE, mainly for women-related events. Starting from January 16 to April 3, 2018 for the first season of the WWE Mixed Match Challenge, she commented during the tournament each week alongside Michael Cole and Corey Graves. On January 28, 2018 at the Royal Rumble event, she made a one-night wrestling return as a face for the first time since 2012. She entered in the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match as a competitor, making her the first person to appear in both a men’s and women’s Royal Rumble. She entered at number 24 and lasted over two minutes before being eliminated by Natalya.
Phoenix went on to continue to work as a guest commentator at various events and mainly women’s matches such as – the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34, the 2018 Mae Young Classic, the women’s Royal Rumble match at the 2019 Royal Rumble event, and the Elimination Chamber match to determine the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions at the 2019 Elimination Chamber event.
On March 10, 2019, at the Fastlane pay-per-view, Phoenix acted as a commentator on the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match between defending champions The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection (Bayley and Sasha Banks) and Nia Jax and Tamina. After their defeat, Jax and Tamina attacked Bayley and Banks. Phoenix came to their aid, soon joined by Natalya, but the four were still overpowered by Jax and Tamina. The following day on Raw, Phoenix accompanied Natalya to her match against Jax, eventually causing a disqualification by attacking Jax.
On the March 18, 2019, episode of Raw, Phoenix announced that she was coming out of retirement. She and Natalya reformed their 2011–2012 tag team The Divas of Doom and challenged The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection for a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania 35. However, Tamina ambushed Phoenix after a distraction from Jax during a one-on-one match between Natalya and Banks.
On the April 1 episode of Raw, Phoenix wrestled her first match in nearly seven years and teamed with Natalya, Bayley and Banks to face off against Jax, Tamina, and The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce). Eventually, Phoenix’s team emerged victorious after she pinned Royce following a Glam Slam. At WrestleMania, Phoenix and Natalya lost to The IIconics during a fatal four-way tag team match for the Women’s Tag Team Championship, when, after Phoenix performed a Glam Slam from the second rope on defending champion Bayley without realizing that The IIconics’ Billie Kay had tagged Phoenix out, was thrown outside the ring by Kay’s partner Peyton Royce, who allowed Kay to successfully pin Bayley.
Full-time NXT commentator (2019–present)
On May 15, 2019, Phoenix joined the commentary team of NXT alongside Mauro Ranallo and Nigel McGuinness, replacing Percy Watson; this marked her first time as a full-time commentator, and her first time commenting matches that did not involve women. Her first NXT TakeOver as the announcer was NXT TakeOver: XXV on June 1, 2019. She was a member of the commenting team when NXT started airing live on September 18, 2019 and was extended from a 50-minutes runtime to 120 minutes.
Phoenix returned to the ring for the first time since the previous year’s WrestleMania during the Women’s Royal Rumble match at the 2020 Royal Rumble event, entering at number 19 and lasting over 23 minutes before being eliminated by Shayna Baszler. She suffered a head injury early in the match when Bianca Belair slapped her chest and caused the back of Phoenix’s neck to hit one of the ring posts around the ring, but was able to finish the match.
On the March 2 episode of Raw, Phoenix would make an appearance, to provide a medical update on her husband Edge, who was kayfabe injured by Randy Orton. However, Orton would interrupt and explain his actions, which caused Phoenix to slap and kick Orton, who retaliated by hitting her with an RKO.
Other ventures
- Phoenix, along with Candice Michelle and Layla El, appeared in the February 2009 issue of FLEX Magazine.
- Phoenix has appeared in 8 WWE video games. She made her in-game debut in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 and appears in – WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, WWE 12, WWE 13, WWE 2K18 (DLC), WWE 2K19 and WWE 2K20.
Wrestling style
Finishing Moves:
- Glam Slam
- Romero Special
Signature Moves:
- Oklahoma Stampede
- Canadian Backbreaker
Championships and Accomplishments
Amateur wrestling
North-East Wrestling
· Women’s Champion (1999)
New York State Fair
· Women’s Champion (1999)
Professional wrestling
Far North Wrestling
· FNW Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Frank Gotch Award (2015)
- Class of 2019
GLORY Wrestling
· GLORY Championship (1 time)
Ohio Valley Wrestling
- OVW Women’s Championship (1 time)[a]
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 2 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2008 and 2012
