After graduating from college, Yim received an invitation to train and wrestle in Japan with Universal Woman's Pro Wrestling Reina in 2011.[1][15] Through Reina's relationship with
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Yim also learned Mexican
lucha libre.[15]
Combat Zone Wrestling (2010–2012)
After training with
D. J. Hyde at the
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) training school, Yim began working for CZW as a
manager for
Adam Cole.[15] Debuting at Cage of Death II in December 2010, the two were presented as a
storyline couple, and Yim regularly interfered in Cole's matches to help him win.[15][19][20][21] After helping Cole gain a victory over Greg Excellent at Down With The Sickness 2011 in September, Excellent began
feuding with the pair.[22] As part of the storyline, Yim faced Excellent in an
intergender match at Night Of Infamy 10: Ultimatum in November.[23] After losing a rematch in January 2012, Yim challenged Excellent to a
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at Aerial Assault 2012, which Yim won, to conclude the feud.[24][25][26] She made only two more appearances for CZW that year before leaving the promotion.[1]
Shine Wrestling (2012–2015)
Yim debuted for
Shine Wrestling at their second show in August 2012, defeating
Sassy Stephie. Throughout 2012 and 2013, she faced wrestlers including
Jessicka Havok and Tina San Antonio,[1] before entering the tournament to determine the inaugural
Shine Champion. She defeated
Mercedes Martinez at Shine 10 in May 2013, and at Shine 11, she defeated
Leva Bates and
Ivelisse Vélez en route to the final, where she lost to
Rain.[27][28] As part of Shine, she also appeared for
Evolve, taking on Vélez and Su Yung in showcase matches.[29][30]
On February 28, 2014, at Shine 17, Yim teamed with Leva Bates during the
Shine Tag Team Championship tournament, forming the
tag team The Lucha Sisters. They defeated the teams of
Cherry Bomb and
Kimber Lee, and Sassy Stephie and
Jessie Belle Smothers en route to the final, where they defeated Made In Sin (
Allysin Kay and Taylor Made) to become the inaugural Shine Tag Team Champions.[31] They successfully defended the championship against
Nevaeh and Sassy Stephie, and against the team of
Evie and
Madison Eagles at Shine 18, but lost it to Legendary (
Malia Hosaka and Brandi Wine) at Shine 20 on June 27.[1][32][33] The Lucha Sisters failed to regain the title in a rematch in August at Shine 21.[34]
On November 16, 2014, during the
WWNLive tour in
China, Yim defeated Ivelisse Vélez to win the Shine Championship, making her the first woman to have held both the Shine Championship and Shine Tag Team Championship.[35] At Shine 26 on April 3, 2015, Yim lost the championship to
NWA World Women's ChampionSantana Garrett in a title vs. title match.[36]
At Shine 28, Yim was defeated by Allysin Kay, and began showing signs of a
heel turn when she blamed Leva Bates for the loss.[37] Yim turned villainous at Shine 31 on December 11, 2015, when she attacked Leva Bates after the duo lost to Marti Belle and Jayme Jameson in a match for the vacant SHINE Tag Team Championship.[38]
In April 2013, Yim debuted for
Full Impact Pro, defeating Larry Dallas in an intergender match. In August, Yim and Dos Ben Dejos (Jay Rios and Eddie Cruz) defeated Dallas and The Now (Vik Dalishus and Hale Collins) in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match when Yim pinned Dallas.[50] Yim spent the next several months managing Dos Ben Dejos, along with Leva Bates, while also wrestling in Shine showcase matches against Jessicka Havok and Ivelisse Vélez.[51][52][53][54] In June 2014, The Lucha Sisters successfully defended the Shine Tag Team Championship against Vélez and
Candice LeRae at an FIP event.[55] In January 2015, Yim lost to
Santana in a Shine showcase match.[56]
In April 2015, TNA began airing vignettes promoting The Dollhouse (Yim and
Marti Bell)'s debut, in which Yim's ring name was changed to Jade.[59] Jade and Bell debuted on the TKO: Night of Knockouts edition of Impact Wrestling on April 24, where Jade lost to
Laura Dennis by disqualification after the two attacked referee Brian Stiffler as well as ring announcer
Christy Hemme, establishing themselves as
heels in the process.[60] Later that night, Jade and Marti helped Taryn Terrell retain her
TNA Women's Knockout Championship against
Awesome Kong, with Terrell joining The Dollhouse in the process.[61] The Dollhouse wrestled their first match as a team on the May 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, where they defeated Awesome Kong and
Gail Kim in a 3–on–2 handicap match.[62] Jade and Bell would regularly interfere in Terrell's championship matches and ensure the win for her. At
Slammiversary XIII, The Dollhouse lost to Awesome Kong and Brooke in another 3–on–2 handicap match.[63] On the July 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Terrell lost the championship to Brooke, after Gail Kim returned and attacked Jade, causing a distraction.[64] On the Turning Point special episode of Impact Wrestling on August 19, Jade and Bell competed in a 2-on-1 handicap
six sides of steel cage match against Gail Kim, which Kim would win.[65]
On the September 23 episode of Impact Wrestling, Jade unsuccessfully challenged Gail Kim for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship.[66] On February 23, 2016, during the Lockdown special episode of Impact Wrestling, Jade scored the pinfall over Kim in a six–Knockout
Lethal Lockdown match,[67] as a result, Jade received another shot at Kim's TNA Women's Knockout Championship, two weeks later, but failed to win the title.[68][69]
TNA Knockouts Champion (2016–2017)
On April 5, Jade defeated Kim and
Madison Rayne in a
three–way match to win the TNA Knockouts Championship for the first time.[70][71] On the same day, during the tapings for Knockouts Knockdown 4, Jade went on to defeat Leva Bates and the
gauntlet match, with lastly eliminating Madison Rayne, to become the new "Queen of the Knockouts".[72] In her first title defense, on the April 12 episode of Impact Wrestling, Jade defeated Madison Rayne to retain her championship.[73]
In late April, Jade started a feud with Knockouts Commissioner
Maria which led to her first
face turn since signing with the company. Few weeks later, she was attacked by the debuting
Sienna after she refused to lay down for Maria. On the May 10 episode of Impact Wrestling, Jade successfully defended her title against Kim by DQ after Sienna attacked them. Jade was then scheduled to face Maria's bodyguard Sienna at
Slammiversary with the title on the line. On the May 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, Jade teamed up with her former rival Kim to defeat Sienna and
Allie in a tag-team match. At Slammiversary, Jade would lose the Knockouts Championship to Sienna after Marti Bell hit Jade in the back with a baton in a triple threat match that also featured Kim, ending her reign at 87 days.[74]
On August 25, 2016, at
Turning Point Jade competed in a
Five–way match against the champion Sienna, Marti Bell, Madison Rayne and Allie for the
TNA Knockouts Championship, which was won by Allie.[75] At
Bound for Glory, Jade defeated Sienna. On the December 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Jade lost to
Rosemary in a "Six Sides of Steel" cage match for the vacated TNA Knockouts Championship.[76] In mid–January 2017, the feud between Rosemary and Jade re–emerged[77] and this led to a
Monster's ball match, where Rosemary defeated Jade to retain her championship. Jade received a rematch against Rosemary on the March 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, in a
Last Knockout Standing match, which she lost. This was Jade's last match in TNA, and it was officially announced earlier in the week that she was not signed to a new contract and confirming her departure from the company.[78]
On July 13, 2017, Yim returned to
WWE by entering the
Mae Young Classic tournament, defeating
Sarah Logan in her first round match.[81] The following day, Yim was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by
Shayna Baszler.[82] On August 9, 2018, Yim once again returned to the WWE by entering the
Mae Young Classic tournament for the second time, defeating
Allysin Kay in the first round and the returning
Kaitlyn in the second before losing to
Toni Storm in the quarterfinals.[83][84][85]
NXT (2018–2020)
Thanks to her performance at the Mae Young Classic, on September 24, it was confirmed that Yim was signed to a contract with WWE and would begin working at
NXT.[86] Just a month later, on the October 24 episode of
NXT, Yim made her in–ring debut as part of the brand, defeating
Aliyah, thus establishing herself as a face.[87] In November, after a backstage altercation between the two, Yim faced
Bianca Belair who would hand her first loss and that would also spark a feud between the two.[88] Yim was able to bounce off the loss and defeat Reina Gonzalez to earn herself a spot for an upcoming
fatal–four-way match to determine the number one contender for the
NXT Women's Championship,[89] however, the match was won by Belair.[90] Shortly after Belair's undefeated streak was ended, Yim was able to defeat her in two different matches to end their feud.[91][92]
On August 10 at
NXT TakeOver: Toronto, Yim lost to Shayna Baszler in an NXT Women's Championship match.[93] In November, Yim made her main roster debut as part of the NXT talent that were placed in an
invasion angle with
Raw and
SmackDown as part of the
Survivor Series pay-per-view.[94] Yim was chosen by
Rhea Ripley to join her team for the first-ever women's
WarGames match against Shayna Baszler's team.[95] On November 23 at
NXT TakeOver: WarGames, just before the match took place, Yim was attacked backstage and unable to compete in the women's WarGames match. However, Yim was replaced by
Dakota Kai on Team Ripley, who eventually turned on Team Ripley and attacked
Tegan Nox.[96] 11 days later on the December 4 episode of NXT, Yim revealed that Kai attacked her backstage and this led to a grudge match the following week, which Yim lost.[97][98] On June 7, 2020, at
TakeOver: In Your House, Yim teamed up with Nox and
Shotzi Blackheart against and defeated Kai,
Raquel Gonzalez and
Candice LeRae in a six-woman tag team match.[99]
Retribution (2020–2021)
On the September 21, 2020, episode of Raw, several weeks after her last appearance on NXT, Mia Yim turned
heel in her main roster debut by revealing herself as a member of the villainous stable
Retribution under the ring name Reckoning.[100] Yim made her ring-debut on the November 30, 2020, of Raw, in a losing effort against
Dana Brooke[101] Throughout February and March, tension was teased among the group as the group's leader,
Mustafa Ali, would publicly berate the rest of the group whenever they lost a match. This culminated at
Fastlane, when Reckoning walked out on Ali along with
Slapjack, while
Mace and
T-Bar gave Ali a double chokeslam, effectively disbanding the group.[original research?] Two months later, Yim was assigned to the SmackDown brand. In July, Yim was traded back to the Raw brand in exchange for
Naomi.[102] As part of the
2021 Draft, the Reckoning character was quietly dropped as Yim was officially drafted to the Raw brand.[103][104] On November 4, 2021, Yim was released from her WWE contract without ever reappearing on television.
Return to the independent circuit (2022)
On March 31, 2022, Yim made her in-ring return during the WrestleCon Mark Hitchcock Memorial Super Show, where she defeated
Athena.[105]
Bell is proficient in
sign language. She learned to sign from her deaf former boyfriend.[128] She has worked as a captionist for the deaf and hard of hearing.[129]
Bell previously dated pro wrestler Jay Rios and moved to Florida in 2013 to live together.[130] In 2016, Bell began publicly participating in awareness and advocacy after revealing that she is a survivor of
domestic abuse. This includes painting her left
ring fingernail purple for
Safe Horizon's #PutTheNailinIt campaign.[131][12][132] Her advocacy led to her being named one of
BBC's100 Women in 2016.[133][134] Bell detailed the relationship in an hour-long interview with
Lillian Garcia in 2019, including relocating to Florida before the abuse started, how it continued for two years, leaving the relationship after he cheated on her with a friend, and
Shelton Benjamin's support.[13] Though Bell did not identify Rios by name, details pointed to him and he identified himself on a deleted social media post.[13][135]
On February 11, 2021, Bell got engaged to fellow professional wrestler
Keith Lee.[136] The couple married on February 5, 2022.[137]
Other media
As Mia Yim, she made her
video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K20.[138][139] She also appears in WWE 2K22 as both Mia Yim and Reckoning. She was added to WWE 2K23 in a post launch patch (Version 1.10) alongside Candice LeRae.
She streams on
Twitch under the name "OfficialMiaYim".[140]
^IMPACT Wrestling Staff (August 12, 2022).
"Emergence 2022 Full Results". Impact Wrestling.
Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
^IMPACT Wrestling Staff (September 23, 2022).
"Victory Road 2022 Full Results". Impact Wrestling.
Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved October 2, 2022.