Naomi (wrestler)

Early life

McCray was born in Sanford, Florida. She was a cheerleader and dancer for the NBA Orlando Magic basketball team franchise from 2007 to mid-2009. She has also starred as a background dancer for rapper Flo Rida.

NXT (2010–2011)

On the August 31 episode of NXT, it was announced that Naomi would be part of the all-female third season of NXT, with Kelly Kelly as her pro. Naomi debuted on the September 7 episode of NXT, where she won the "Dance Competition" and "Capture the Flag" contests, and also teamed with her mentor Kelly Kelly to face fellow rookie Diva Maxine and her pro Alicia Fox in winning effort, when Naomi pinned Maxine. On the September 21 episode of NXT, Naomi unsuccessfully competed in the "Talk the Talk" challenge, was won by AJ Lee. Later, she teamed with Kelly Kelly and Jamie Keyes in a winning effort, defeating LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool) and Kaitlyn with Vickie Guerrero in their corner. On the October 5 episode of NXT, Naomi unsuccessfully competed in the "Mechanical Bull Riding" and "Talent Show" contests. On the October 12 episode of NXT, Naomi and Kelly Kelly were defeated by Alicia Fox with Maxine in her corner, and Naomi unsuccessfully competed in a "Name that Tune" contest, but won the "Power of the Punch" contest. The following week, Naomi won the "Who's That Body" and the limbo contests, although host Matt Striker incorrectly declared Naomi the winner without her successfully completing the round Maxine had failed. However, the rules were stated in the beginning of the challenge that the last Diva left standing would win, leaving the win valid. On the October 26 episode of NXT, Naomi defeated Maxine in a singles match, and unsuccessfully competed in a "Halloween Candy" contest. The following week on November 2, Naomi earned immunity from elimination for having the most challenge wins. Over the following two weeks, Naomi won matches against Aksana and Kaitlyn, as well as the "Diss the Diva" contest. On November 30, in the final episode, Naomi lost to Kaitlyn, placing second in the season.

The Funkadactyls (2012–2014)

On the January 9, 2012 episode of Raw, Naomi made her main roster debut along with Cameron, as The Funkadactyls, the backup dancers and valets for the returning Brodus Clay. Naomi made her WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania XXVIII alongside Cameron during a segment with Clay.

On the TLC pre-show on December 16, Naomi participated in her first televised match by winning a "Santa's Little Helpers" battle royal to earn WWE Divas Championship match against defending champion Eve later that night, which she lost. On the March 15 episode of SmackDown, The Funkadactyls were attacked backstage by the Bella Twins. On the March 22 episode of SmackDown and the March 25 episode of Raw, Naomi and Cameron attacked the Bella Twins. It was announced on March 27 that at WrestleMania 29, The Funkadactyls, Clay and Tensai, collectively known as Tons of Funk, would face Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow) and the Bella Twins in an eight-person tag team match. However, the match did not happen, as it was revealed that they were cut due to time constraints. The match instead took place the following night on Raw, with The Funkadactyls and Tons of Funk coming out victorious. On the August 26 episode of Raw, Naomi alongside the rest of the Total Divas cast accompanied Natalya and Brie Bella to the ring for their match. After the match, Divas Champion AJ Lee cut a worked shoot promo, where she insulted the cast of the show. On the September 2 episode of Raw, Naomi competed in a triple threat match with Brie Bella and Natalya to determine the number one contender to the WWE Divas Championship, however AJ Lee attacked all three of them, resulting in Stephanie McMahon putting Naomi, Natalya, and Brie Bella in a fatal four-way match to compete for the title at Night of Champions, where AJ was successful in retaining the title. The cast of Total Divas went on to defeat The True Divas (Alicia Fox, Aksana, Divas Champion AJ, Kaitlyn, Rosa Mendes, Tamina Snuka and Summer Rae) in a 7-on-7 elimination tag-team match at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, and in a rematch on the following night on Raw.

On December 15 at the TLC pay-per-view, Naomi, along with fellow Funkadactyl Cameron and Tensai, abandoned Brodus Clay because of his attitude, effectively disbanding Tons of Funk. The following night on Raw, Naomi and Cameron aligned themselves with R-Truth and Xavier Woods, and subsequently began accompanying them to their matches. In January 2014, Naomi received a push, facing the Divas Champion AJ Lee in various tag team matches, and eventually pinning her on both Raw and SmackDown. On the February 3 episode of Raw, after Naomi defeated Aksana in a singles match, Alicia Fox attempted attack her but was stopped by Cameron. During the match, Naomi suffered a legitimate displaced fracture of the orbital bone. Naomi returned on the March 17 episode of Raw, donning a diamond studded eye-patch, teaming with Cameron to defeat AJ Lee and her bodyguard Tamina Snuka. On April 6, Naomi made her WrestleMania in–ring debut, competing at WrestleMania XXX in the 14–Diva "Vickie Guerrero Invitational match" for the WWE Divas Championship, which was won by the defending champion AJ Lee. On the June 17 episode of Main Event, Naomi defeated the new Divas Champion Paige, while Cameron, who had begun showing villainous tendencies, attacked Paige after the match and ended up being beaten down by Paige. Naomi then shook hands with Paige, hinting at dissolution between The Funkadactyls. On the June 23 episode of Raw, Naomi defeated Alicia Fox and shook hands with Paige after the match. On the June 27 episode of SmackDown, after once again losing to Paige, Cameron tried to attack her. Naomi got involved and tried to separate the two, but wound up being shoved into Paige by Cameron. At Money in the Bank, Naomi unsuccessfully challenged Paige for the Divas Championship.

On the July 7 episode of Raw, Cameron and Naomi lost in a tag team match to AJ Lee and Paige. After the match, a brawl ensued between Cameron and Naomi, officially disbanding The Funkadactyls. On the July 8 episode of Main Event, Cameron was scheduled to team with Naomi, Natalya, Eva Marie, Rosa Mendes, and Summer Rae against Nikki Bella in a six–on–one handicap match, but instead showed up only to attack Naomi. On the July 11 episode of SmackDown, during Cameron's match with AJ, Naomi dragged a retreating Cameron back into the ring, allowing AJ to get the win. These events led to a match between Naomi and Cameron on the Battleground pre-show, which Cameron won after she grabbed Naomi's tights. On the July 28 episode of Raw, Naomi defeated Cameron in a tag team match. On August 30, after almost a month of inactivity, Naomi announced on Twitter that she had been out of action following minor surgery on her orbital bone. She returned on the September 1 episode of Raw in a six-woman tag team match, and attacked Cameron afterwards. Naomi then secured victories over Cameron on the September 15 episode of Raw and on the October 9 episode of Superstars. At Survivor Series, Naomi participated in a 4-on-4 elimination tag team match, where she eliminated Cameron before pinning Paige to get the win for her team in a clean sweep, gaining a measure of revenge for her pay-per-view losses against Paige and Cameron from the months prior.

Managing The Usos (2014–2015)

In December, Naomi became involved with The Usos' feud with The Miz, in which Naomi and Jimmy Uso's real-life relationship was openly acknowledged on-screen. Miz began offering to help further Naomi's musical career as well as showing some hints of flirtation, much to Jimmy's dismay. On the December 16 episode of Main Event, Naomi appeared on "Miz TV", where Miz managed to get Naomi a WWE Divas Championship match against Nikki Bella later that night on Super SmackDown Live. Miz came out mid-match to support Naomi, but she lost the match after Jimmy accidentally distracted her due to his anger of Miz being present. On the December 29 episode of Raw, Naomi hugged Miz backstage and thanked him for his services, while Miz acted as if he had no expectation that the producer he had hired would help her music career. She later celebrated with her husband and brother-in-law after the Usos won their second WWE Tag Team Championship from Miz and Damien Mizdow. The feud continued with Alicia Fox joining Miz and Mizdow after she attacked Naomi backstage, leading to a series of mixed tag team matches, which Naomi and the Usos lost. Through February, Naomi and Jimmy started a brief feud against Natalya and Tyson Kidd, facing off during an intergender tag team match on the February 16, episode of Raw, which Naomi and Jimmy win. At Fastlane, Naomi was at ringside when The Usos lost the WWE Tag Team Championship's against Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. The following night on Raw, The Usos lost a rematch for the titles after a distraction provided by Natalya, which result on Naomi attacking her. On the February 26 episode of Smackdown, the now villainous Natalya defeated Naomi in a singles match, before the feud ended. On March 29, she accompanied The Usos during the WrestleMania 31 pre-show, in which they unsuccessfully challenged Kidd and Cesaro for the Tag Team Championships.

Team B.A.D. (2015–2016)

On the March 30 and April 6 episodes of Raw, Naomi pinned the WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella, making her the number one contender for Bella's championship, however, other Divas, requested and, were granted a number one contender's battle royal by acting general manager Kane. On the April 13 episode of Raw, Naomi turned heel for the first time in her WWE career by assaulting Paige after she had lastly eliminated Naomi from the battle royal. It was subsequently announced that Paige had been injured at the hands of Naomi, rendering her unable to compete in the storyline. With this Naomi was granted a championship match against Nikki at Extreme Rules, but she failed to win after interference from Brie Bella.

In May, Naomi started an alliance with the returning Tamina and the two attacked both Nikki and Brie, which led to a tag team match between the two sides at Payback, which Naomi and Tamina won. On the May 18 episode of Raw, Naomi lost another title match to Nikki after Tamina caused a disqualification. After Paige returned, a triple threat match was made between Naomi, Paige and Nikki at Elimination Chamber, however she once again failed to capture the title. On the July 13 episode of Raw, after weeks of being outnumbered by The Bella Twins and their ally Alicia Fox, Stephanie McMahon called for a "revolution" in the WWE Divas division and introduced the debuting NXT Women's Champion Sasha Banks as an ally to her and Tamina, after bringing in Charlotte and Becky Lynch to ally with Paige, leading to a brawl between the three teams. The three teams would ultimately face off at SummerSlam, on August 23, in a three team elimination match, won by Team PCB.

Naomi, Tamina and Sasha Banks, known as Team B.A.D. remained together throughout the rest of the year, however, on the February 1, 2016 episode of Raw, Banks announced her departure from the team and Naomi and Tamina attacked her, officially ending their association. The feud between Naomi, Tamina and Banks would continue throughout February, and would lead to a tag team match at Fastlane, where Naomi and Tamina lost to Banks and her partner Becky Lynch. In late March, Naomi and Tamina allied with Lana, Emma and Summer Rae, leading to a 10-Diva tag team match on the WrestleMania 32 pre-show, which Naomi's team lost. In early May, Tamina underwent knee surgery in order to repair torn ligaments, while Naomi also claimed to be injured on May 5, due to a torn ankle tendon, which would mean the end of the team.

SmackDown Women's Champion (2017)

Following a hiatus due to injury, and the shoot of a WWE film, Naomi was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2016 WWE draft which took place on July 19, she made her first appearance for the brand on July 26, where she confronted Alexa Bliss before being interrupted by Carmella. On the August 16 episode of SmackDown, Naomi debuted a new style, entrance, theme, and established herself as a fan favorite, as she was set to face Eva Marie, however, she no-showed due to traffic problems. Later that night, during a match between Carmella and Becky Lynch against Natalya and Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Marie interfered causing a distraction for the competitors. One day later, a six-woman tag team match was announced for SummerSlam between Bliss, Natalya, and Marie against Naomi, Lynch, and Carmella, but following Marie's suspension on August 18, her place was taken by the returning Nikki Bella, and Naomi's team would ultimately lose the match at the pay-per-view. At Backlash, on September 11, Naomi competed in a six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural WWE SmackDown Women's Champion, where she would eliminate Alexa Bliss before being eliminated by Natalya. At the No Mercy pay-per-view, Naomi was Alexa Bliss' replacement opponent for the injured Becky Lynch, and she defeated Alexa, and ultimately won the match. On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, Naomi was revealed to be the final member to the SmackDown women's team against the Raw women's team at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. At the pay-per-view, after Nikki Bella was mysteriously attacked backstage, which caused Natalya to become her replacement, the SmackDown women's team went on to compete against the Raw women's team, but was unsuccessful in winning the match.

After three months of inactivity, Naomi returned on the January 24 episode of SmackDown to compete in a singles match against Natalya, who was attacked by Nikki Bella backstage. Naomi's open challenge was then answered by Alexa Bliss, who called her a nobody. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Naomi competed in a six-woman tag team match alongside Nikki Bella and Becky Lynch against Alexa Bliss, Natalya, and Mickie James, with her team coming out victorious after Naomi pinned Alexa. Naomi would have her official return match to the brand on the January 31 episode of SmackDown in a tag team match with Becky Lynch against Alexa Bliss and Mickie James in a winning effort after Naomi would pin Bliss for a second time, and would be announced later that night on Talking Smack by the SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan that Naomi will face Alexa Bliss for the SmackDown Women's Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Naomi defeated Alexa at the event, and became the new SmackDown Women's Champion. In addition, she became the first African-American Smackdown Women's Champion. Two days later on SmackDown, Naomi revealed that she had sustained an injury during her title win. Alexa then demanded a rematch but stated that she would allow Naomi one week to heal up. However, on February 21, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan revealed that Naomi would be out of action longer than expected and had her relinquish the title. Immediately afterwards, Alexa Bliss won the title after defeating Becky Lynch.

Other media

Naomi has played a main role for the reality television show Total Divas produced by WWE and E!. The show began airing in July 2013. In May 2014, Naomi released her first single song entitled "Dance All Night", and the accompanying music video was released on WWE's YouTube channel. In December 2014, she announced that she would not be part of the second half of season three that aired January 2015 to March 2015. On April 1, 2015 a press release stated that she would be returning as a main cast member for season four. However, on September 9, she revealed on her Twitter account that she had been replaced in the cast by Mandy for the upcoming fifth season. On April 6, 2016, it was confirmed that Naomi would once again be returning to the show as a main cast member for the sixth season.

Naomi has appeared in five WWE video games. She made her in-game debut at WWE '13 as an NPC along with her then-tag team partner Cameron, appearing during Brodus Clay's entrance and winning celebration as well as in WWE 2K14, she would later appear as a playable character with Cameron at WWE 2K15, WWE 2K16 and WWE 2K17 (alone).

Personal life

McCray and longtime boyfriend Jonathan Fatu, best known by his ring name Jimmy Uso, were married in Maui on January 16, 2014. They reside in Orlando, Florida. She is the stepmother to Fatu's two children.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments