Former Orlando Magic Dancer Naomi wins WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Former Orlando Magic Dancer Naomi (Trinity Fatu) shocked the WWE Universe, winning her first WWE Women’s Championship at Elimination Chamber on Sunday.
Former Orlando Magic Dancer and Orlando native Naomi (aka Trinty Fatu) won her first WWE women’s championship, defeating Alexa Bliss at the WWE’s Elimination Chamber pay per view show.
Naomi has been in the WWE since leaving the Orlando Magic Dancers in 2009 and is one of the most athletic women on the roster. Her unique entrance, where she enters beneath black light while displaying the dancing skills she used at Magic games for two seasons.
She has been one of the best workers in the WWE for some time, but had yet to win a title despite several shots at the belt. And she was a huge underdog against Alexa Bliss, a former Ohio State cheerleader and bodybuilder before joining WWE. Bliss had quickly won the SmackDown brand’s women’s title after her call up from the promotion’s minor league brand this summer.
Naomi, though, was a fantastic opponent and put on a great match. She displayed her athleticism and flexibility throughout the match.
In the final moments of the match, Bliss tried her finishing maneuver, “Twisted Bliss” (a corkscrew somersault off the top rope). But Naomi adeptly put her knees up and deflected the attack before hitting Bliss with a split-legged moonsault — a move where she bounces off the top rope after a somersault and flips onto her grounded opponent — covering Bliss for the pin.
Naomi is now in line to headline WrestleMania as the SmackDown Live’s Women’s title when the biggest show in sports entertainment comes to Camping World Stadium in early April. WWE used the possibility of Naomi bringing the title home to Orlando as part of its storyline for this match.
Naomi was an Orlando Magic Dancer for two years from 2007-09 after graduating from Oviedo High School. She was also a professional dancer for Flo Rida. She was one of the original Dunking Dancers during her time with the Magic Dancers.
Shortly after 2009, she committed to her wrestling career. She joined the Florida Championship Wrestling promotion before it rebranded as NXT. The WWE’s minor league brand, NXT tapes its episodes at Full Sail University in Winter Park. The WWE has a big presence in Orlando.
Naomi has been part of the main roster for several years. She is one of the long-running stars of the WWE’s reality TV show Total Divas following the lives of some of their female superstars.
Naomi’s victory at Elimination Chamber was certainly a bit of a surprise. It seemed like Naomi was a solid worker but was not due for a big push. It felt like Bliss, a rising star in the company, was due for a victory to set up a bigger match at WrestleMania. Instead, her road to WrestleMania took a major detour with this surprise booking.
After completing the match, Naomi did a brief shoot (that means it looks unscripted) interview with WWE interviewer Renee Young as the fans in Phoenix, Ariz., showered her with “You deserve it!” chants.
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The former Magic Dance definitely deserved it, putting on a great show and becoming a worthy champion!