A former TNA/Impact Knockout made her presence known at the most recent NXT television taping last night. Rebel, going by her real name Tanea Brooks, competed in a tag team match. Per Wrestling Inc., she teamed up with Amber Nova to face off against Io Shirai and Kairi Sane.
Brooks is best known for her tenure with TNA as Rebel, where she was an original member of the stable known as The Menagerie. She stood out as the only female member of the carny-themed stable. After their disbandment, she found herself turning heel and aligning herself with an all-female stable, The Dollhouse.
Dollhouse leader Taryn Terrell had recently departed, leaving the tag team of Marti Bell and Jade (current NXT star, Mia Yim) without a guiding hand. Brooks joined with Awesome Kong and rounded out the villainous quartet. After Jade’s reign as Knockout’s Champion, the group disbanded and Brooks subsequently left TNA.
After her departure from TNA, Brooks took some time in Japan for the promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom. While there she competed against Shirai whom she had this NXT taping match against.
She did make sporadic return appearances however for Impact Wrestling in 2017 and in 2018 with losing efforts. Although Brooks was not able to achieve championship status within TNA/Impact Wrestling, she has received and maintained numerous accolades in the independent circuit.
She is currently holding gold with three different independent promotions. She is the current River City Wrestling (RCW) Women’s Champion. Per her Twitter account, she has a mixed tag team match this evening at an RCW event.
Although there has been no official word of any signing with WWE, Brooks has many former opponents in NXT that she could lock up with once again.
The taping is set to air on Jan. 23. Check back in with Diva Dirt for more news on the NXT women’s division.
