Independent wrestling star Lana Austin made her debut on NXT UK this week in a losing effort against Nina Samuels. Austin has been a mainstay of the UK independent wrestling scene for the better part of six years, since she debuted in a triple threat at Brittania Wrestling Promotions that also featured Mae Young Classic alum Tegan Nox (then billed as Nixon).
Austin, from Manchester, is a three-time women’s champion at the Mancunian promotion FutureShock Wrestling. She began her third reign last month after winning a fatal four-way with then-champion Molly Spartan as well as the Glaswegian Jayla Dark and the Northern Irish veteran Kasey Owens. Owens, a former two-time Insane Championship Wrestling Women’s Champion, will make her own NXT UK debut next week, in a match against Jinny. Austin has previously wrestled for Defiant Wrestling, Pro-Wrestling: EVE and Progress. She twice challenged for the OTT Women’s Championship, against both Session Moth Martina and Raven Creed, and currently holds the Grand Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship, along with LA Austin, the first woman to do so.
Austin gained notice on social media recently when a wrestling fan posted a clip of Kacy Catanzaro using a tilt-a-whirl stunner move on Rhea Ripley at an NXT live event in Tampa:
Fans of Lana Austin, including independent wrestler David Starr, were quick to point out that the maneuver was one of Austin’s signature moves, and had been for years. Austin herself posted a video on Twitter, since deleted, of herself performing the move, with the caption “No specific reason I’m sharing this… honest”. Several other users accused Austin of being bitter and jealous, but she said she was “not bitter, actually flattered” and that she hoped Catanzaro would continue to use the move in the future:
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