Tenille Averil Dashwood (born 1 March 1989) is an Australian-American professional wrestler and social influencer. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, under the ring name Emma. She is also known for her time in Ring of Honor (ROH) and Impact Wrestling, where she performed under her real name.
Dashwood started training for professional wrestling in Australia in 2003 when she was 13 years old. In 2008, Dashwood went to Canada to train at the Storm Wrestling Academy. She wrestled in Australia and North America on the independent circuit for promotions like Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) and Shimmer Women Athletes under the ring name Tenille Tayla. In 2011, she signed with WWE, thus she became the first female Australian wrestler to be signed to WWE. She is also a former Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Champion.
Tenille Averil Dashwood was born and raised in Boronia, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. She has an older brother named Jake, who introduced her to professional wrestling. She cites Stone Cold Steve Austin, Trish Stratus and Lita as her inspirations in wrestling. She met Dustin Rhodes in 1997 and, at the age of 13 in 2002, she met Stratus at WWE Global Warning Tour: Melbourne.
Training and early career (2003–2011)
Dashwood was introduced to wrestling by her older brother, Jake, when she was about eight years old. She involved herself in the Australian wrestling scene, and did some training from the ages of 13 to 15. In 2005, Dashwood made some appearances for the Australian wrestling promotion Pro Wrestling Australia under the ring name Valentine. However, from the age of 16 to 18, Dashwood was limited to setting up the ring at events and helping out after she suffered a severe shoulder injury. In 2008, she moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for a few months to train with Lance Storm at the Storm Wrestling Academy.
In early 2011, Dashwood returned to Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy for further training, during which she became one of the ten trainees featured on the World of Hurt reality television show.
Dashwood returned to Australia by September 2008 and wrestled there until February 2009 for promotions such as Wrestlerock and PWA Queensland.
Dashwood then travelled to the United States, and made her in-ring debut for all-female American promotion Shimmer Women Athletes on 2 May 2009 at Volume 23 as Tenille Tayla, where she lost to Amber O'Neal. At Volume 25, Tenille defeated Jetta of the International Home Wrecking Crew, but was attacked by the Crew after the match. At Volume 26, Tenille lost to Rain, another member of the Crew. Rain and Jetta defeated Tenille and Jessie McKay at Volume 28. Tenille teamed with McKay again at Volume 36, when they unsuccessfully challenged Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship.
Dashwood made her debut for the Canadian wrestling promotion Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) on 22 May 2009 under her real name. In 2009, Dashwood also wrestled for another Canadian promotion, Prairie Wrestling Alliance, as Tenille Williams. In Dashwood's debut match for ECCW, she defeated Nicole Matthews to earn a shot at the SuperGirls Championship, but later lost to champion Veronika Vice. On 1 August, Tenille defeated Vice and Matthews in a three-way match to win her first ECCW Supergirls title. By racking up successful titles defences in singles matches against Vice and Matthews, Tenille held the championship until 27 November 2009, when she lost it back to Vice. At 19 March 2010 ECCW event, Tenille defeated Veronika Vice to re-capture the ECCW Women's Championship. She then made successful title defences against Vice, Nicole Matthews, and Lylah Lodge in singles matches, as well as against Matthews and KC Spinelli in a three-way match. Dashwood lost the title to Matthews in a tables match on 26 October, and went on to lose a title rematch to Matthews in December 2010. Tenille's last match in ECCW was on 7 May 2011, where she was defeated by Matthews.
On 9 July 2011, at a Melbourne City Wrestling event, Tenille had her last match in Australia before heading to WWE, and was defeated by Shazza McKenzie.
Florida Championship Wrestling (2011–2012)
In March 2011, Shimmer announced that Dashwood had signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In July 2011, Dashwood decided to undergo surgery for her shoulder, which had caused her problems throughout her career. After the surgery she applied again and the company signed her. In June 2012, Dashwood relocated to Tampa, Florida, and eventually reported to WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). She made her FCW in-ring debut on 1 August live event, participating in a battle royal. In August 2012, Dashwood revealed Emma as her new ring name.
WWE went on to rebrand FCW into NXT in August 2012. Emma made her televised debut on 28 November episode of NXT, where she competed against Audrey Marie in a losing effort. Emma then debuted the gimmick of a clumsy dancer on 9 January 2013 episode of NXT. From April, Emma began to rack up wins over the likes of Bayley and Audrey Marie, while becoming one of NXT's most popular wrestlers. On 26 June episode of NXT, Emma competed in the NXT Women's Championship tournament to crown the inaugural champion. She defeated Aksana in the first round, and Summer Rae in the semi-finals on 10 July episode of NXT, before losing to Paige in the finals on 24 July episode of NXT.
On 7 August episode of NXT, Emma won a dance competition against Summer Rae to become the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, but Rae then attacked her to start a feud. In the following months, Emma teamed up with Paige to feud with Rae and Sasha Banks, collectively known as the Beautiful Fierce Females (BFFs). On 18 December episode of NXT, Emma was challenged by Natalya for Emma's shot at the NXT Women's Championship, which was contested on 1 January 2014 episode of NXT, in which Emma was victorious. On 27 February at NXT Arrival, Emma received her title match against Paige, but was unsuccessful in capturing the championship. After Paige was stripped of the championship in April, Emma lost to Charlotte in a tournament to determine the new champion. On 5 June episode of NXT, Emma and Paige saved Bayley from an attack from Summer Rae, Sasha Banks, and Charlotte. On 12 June, Emma teamed with Paige and Bayley to defeat the BFFs. On 28 January 2015 episode of NXT, Emma announced that she would be returning to NXT, stating that her tenure on the main roster was not working out. The following week on NXT, Emma was defeated by Carmella in her return match. In March, Emma turned heel after criticising Bayley in a backstage segment, which prompted a match between the two on 1 April episode on NXT, in which Emma was defeated. Emma continued her feud with Bayley, when she provided a distraction during Bayley's match with Dana Brooke, ensuring Brooke the victory and forming an alliance with her in the process. On 6 May episode of NXT, after Emma was defeated by Charlotte and later attacked by Bayley, a tag team match was made between Emma and Brooke and Bayley and Charlotte at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, which Emma and Brooke lost. On 27 May episode of NXT, Emma defeated Bayley, and after the match, Emma and Brooke attacked Bayley and Charlotte.
With her new heel direction, Emma preceded her finisher, the Emma-Lock (Muta lock, by a hair-pull stomp to the opponent's back) Emma ended her feud with Bayley when the latter returned from injury in mid-July, and defeated Emma. On 26 August episode of NXT (which was taped at the NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn event), Emma won a fatal four-way match against Becky Lynch, Charlotte, and Dana Brooke. In mid-September, Emma and Brooke were involved in a feud with newcomer Asuka, and confronted her during a contract signing with William Regal, which led to a match between Brooke and Asuka at NXT TakeOver: Respect on 7 October, where Emma was attacked by Asuka after attempting to interfere. Throughout November, Emma started provoking Asuka, including an attack planned by Emma and Brooke, which occurred on 25 November episode of NXT, resulting in a match between her and Asuka at the NXT TakeOver: London event on 16 December, which Emma lost, despite interference from Brooke. On 13 January 2016 episode of NXT, Emma competed in a number one contender's battle royal, which was won by Carmella. On 23 March episode of NXT, Emma lost against Asuka in the main event, which turned out to be her last televised match in NXT.