Faith Marie Jefferies (born August 5, 1999) is an American professional wrestler,
taekwondo practitioner, and musician.[2] She is currently signed to
WWE, where she performs on its
NXT brand under the ring name Nikkita Lyons. Jefferies has also wrestled for
Women of Wrestling (WOW) as Faith the Lioness.[3]
Early life
Jefferies was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and raised in Hollywood, California. She began practicing
Taekwondo at the age of four,[3] earning a black belt by the age of 8.[2] She graduated from high school in early 2017.[3]
Professional wrestling career
Women of Wrestling (2019–2021)
Shortly after graduating high school in 2017, Jefferies began professional wrestling training under
Selina Majors. She debuted for
Women of Wrestling under the ring name "Faith The Lioness".[2] In summer 2021, Jefferies attended WWE's tryouts in Las Vegas, where she was offered a developmental contract.[4]
WWE
NXT (2021–present)
After signing with WWE in late summer 2021, Jefferies' WWE debut was on the December 31, 2021 episode of 205 Live, under the ring name Nikkita Lyons, losing to Amari Miller.[5] She made her
NXT debut on the February 22, 2022 episode, defeating Kayla Inlay (who goes by now
Kiana James)[6] In April, Lyons entered into a feud with
Lash Legend, beating her on the April 5 and 26 episodes of NXT respectively.[7][8] At
Spring Breakin', she teamed with
Cora Jade to defeat Legend and
Natalya in a tag team match.[9] On the May 10 episode of NXT, Lyons participated in the
NXT Women's Breakout Tournament, defeating Arianna Grace in the first round.[10] On May 24, it was announced that Lyons was removed from the tournament due to an injury, revealing on her
Instagram account a day later that she suffered a partial
MCL tear and an MCL sprain.[11][12] Lyons returned on the June 28 episode of NXT, defeating
NXT Women's ChampionMandy Rose by disqualification.[13]
On the July 19 episode of NXT, Lyons competed in a 20-woman
battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, eliminating
Kayden Carter and
Kiana James, but was eliminated by Tiffany Stratton.[14] On the August 8 episode of Raw, it was announced that Lyons would be teaming with
Zoey Stark in a tournament to fill the
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship that had been vacant since May.[15] On the August 19 episode of SmackDown, Lyons and her tag partner were removed from the tournament. Stark reportedly sustained a concussion days earlier in an
NXT Women's Championship match. It was soon also reported that WWE had pulled Jefferies from the tournament because Canada, where the first round matches would take place, didn't allow unvaccinated (COVID-19) foreigners into the country.[16] On September 13 at the NXT 2.0 One Year Anniversary Show, Lyons and Stark defeated James and Arianna Grace.[17] On the November 8 episode of NXT, Lyons and Stark failed to capture the
NXT Women's Tag Team Championship from Carter and
Katana Chance, and Lyons was taken out by Stark after the match.[18] Lyons lost to Stark on the December 20 episode of NXT and was injured by
Blair Davenport on the January 24 episode of NXT. Lyons returned to NXT on its December 5 episode, attacking Davenport. On the December 12 episode, she made her return to the ring after a near year-long absence in a tag-team match with
Lyra Valkyria, facing
Blair Davenport &
Cora Jade, where her and Valkyria failed to win. Lyons defeated
Tatum Paxley in a quick bout on the December 19 episode of NXT.