Amber O'Neal

Amber O'Neal

O'Neal in 2014
Birth name Kimberly Dawn Davis[1]
Born (1974-06-22) June 22, 1974
Ashoskie, North Carolina, United States[2]
Spouse(s) Luke Gallows (m. 2014)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Amber Holly[3]
Amber Gallows[4]
Amber O'Neal
Charlotte[5]
Billed height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[6]
Billed weight 140 lb (64 kg)[6]
Billed from Malibu, California
Greenville, North Carolina[7]
Trained by Strawberry Fields[1]
Gemini Kid[1]
Leilani Kai[3]
Gary Royal[3]
Mikael Yamaha[1]
Debut July 1999[1]

Kimberly Dawn Hankinson (née Davis; born June 22, 1974) is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring names Amber O'Neal, Amber Holly and currently Amber Gallows.

She currently wrestles in Ring of Honor (ROH) in their "Women of Honor" division as well as various promotions on the U.S. independent circuit. Gallows is a former NWA World Women's Champion. She has also appeared in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) as a valet for the villainous Bullet Club stable.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1999–2003)

Davis got into wrestling after watching it with a friend who was a fan of Stone Cold Steve Austin.[3] Davis initially became a fan of Sable.[3] After researching how to get involved with the sport, Davis trained under Strawberry Fields, Leilani Kai, and Gary Royal at the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina.[1][3] After training for six months, she debuted in July 1999 in the Professional Girl Wrestling Association (PGWA) as Amber Holly, wrestling Leilani Kai in Maggie Valley, North Carolina.[1] She also worked with Desiree Paterson and Riptide.[1] In 2002, Holly began wrestling for the Carolina Wrestling Federation (CWF), where she furthered her training under Gemini Kid and Mikael Yamaha at the CWF Dojo Camp. While a part of the company, she defeated Kai for the CWF Women's Championship.[6] In May 2003, Holly suffered a knee injury during a match with Brandi Alexander, to whom she later lost the CWF title.[8] She tore her anterior cruciate ligament and patella tendon, as well as suffering cartilage damage.[8] She was obliged to undergo reconstructive surgery and was inactive for approximately a year.[3][8]

Team Blondage (2004–2005, 2009)

Holly returned to the ring on May 16, 2004, adopting the ring name Amber O'Neal and the gimmick of a motocross racer.[3][6] She changed her name because of her respect for Nora Greenwald, who used the ring name Molly Holly.[8] Greenwald helped O'Neal in her tryout matches with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).[8]

O'Neal and Vaine in 2005

In late 2004, O'Neal formed a tag team with Krissy Vaine known as Team Blondage.[3] The team wrestled primarily on the North Carolina independent circuit, appearing with promotions such as Shimmer and Women's Extreme Wrestling. Team Blondage defeated Clehopatra and Navaho to win the vacant WEW Tag Team Championship on May 8, 2005 at the WEW pay-per-view "No Ho's Barred". In the course of their reign, Vaine signed a contract with WWE. Vaine was subsequently replaced within Team Blondage by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling alumna Lollipop. On the April 6, 2006 WEW pay-per-view, O'Neal and Lollipop lost the WEW Women's Tag Team Championship to T and A (Talia and April Hunter).

After a long term hiatus prior leaving WWE and the wrestling business for over a year, it was announced that Krissy Vaine decided to return to the wrestling industry and reunite with her Team Blondage partner, Amber O'Neal.[9] They have now announced themselves as Team Blondage 2.0, and in their debut match they defeated against the established Scream Queens (Daffney and MsChif). On March 7, they defeated Persephone and Kristin Flake in CWF.

Shimmer Women Athletes (2005–2009)

O'Neal was part of the first Shimmer show where she teamed with Krissy Vaine to defeat the team of Nikki Roxx and Cindy Rogers. Later in the night she lost a singles match to Christie Ricci.[10]

O'Neal in 2010

After Vaine signed a WWE contract, O'Neal moved into singles competition and lost to both Cindy Rogers in a triple threat elimination match also including Tiana Ringer, and Nikki Roxx.[11] She got her first singles victory against the debuting Serena Deeb on Volume 5 but later in the night she lost to Serena in a rematch.[12]

On October 22, 2006, as part of Volume 7, she was defeated by Allison Danger. Later in the night however she got a victory by pinfall over Josie after hitting with her STO Finishing Manoeuvre.[13] At the Volume 9 and 10 taping, she lost to both Daizee Haze and MsChif via pinfall.[14]

She did not compete in the Shimmer Championship tournament, and lost to Portuguese Princess Ariel on Volume 14.[15] She then lost to "The Jezebel" Eden Black and Lorelei Lee on Volume 15 and 16 but she was able to score a third pinfall victory over Lorelei Lee as part of Volume 17.[16] Later in the night however she lost to Shark Girl.[17] She missed Volume 19 and 20, and returned to Shimmer for Volumes 21 and 22, where she lost to Wesna Busic and Mercedes Martinez.[18] On May 2, 2009, at the tapings of Volume 23, she defeated the debuting Tenille with a backslide, but went on to lose to Jennifer Blake as part of Volume 24, and LuFisto.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2006, 2009)

In April and May 2006, O'Neal wrestled at several TNA house shows produced in conjunction with the United Wrestling Federation. O'Neal also made a televised appearance in 2006 against Gail Kim. O'Neal appeared on the edition of June 5, 2008 of TNA Impact!. She was planted in the audience along with fellow wrestlers Daffney and Becky Bayless, with the three of them volunteering to wrestle Awesome Kong in the "$25,000 Challenge". Daffney was selected and subsequently lost to Kong. O'Neal returned at the December 21, 2009, Impact! tapings, where she was defeated by Lizzy Valentine in a tryout dark match.[19]

National Wrestling Alliance (2008–2010, 2015–present)

O'Neal made her debut for National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s promotion Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling on the August 9, 2008, episode of MACW Television Tapings, where she competed against Kristin Flake in a winning effort. On the edition of September 10 of MACW Television Tapings, O'Neal defeated TNA Knockout Daffney in singles competition. On the edition of January 10 of MACW Television Tapings, O'Neal gained another victory over Daffney. On the edition of February 21 of MACW Television Tapings, O'Neal teamed up with Krissy Vaine in a winning effort defeating The Scream Queens (Daffney and MsChif) in a tag-team match. On the edition of March 14 of MACW Television Tapings, O'Neal continued her winning streak when she competed against the debuting Persephone in a winning effort.

On the edition of May 15 of MACW Television, O'Neal defeated the debuting Jayme Jameson in a singles match. On the edition of July 11 of MACW Summer Bash pay-per-view, O'Neal undefeated streak ended when she competed against Christie Ricci in a losing effort. This would turn out to be O'Neal final match in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling due to NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling folding early 2010.

In March 2009, O'Neal made her debut for National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s promotion NWA Charlotte in a match against Daffney. Amber O'Neal switched with Krissy Vaine, who got the pinfall over Daffney for her tag team partner. On the edition of May 15 of NWA Charlotte TV Tapings, O'Neal defeated the debuting Jayme Jameson after the interference from Krissy Vaine. On the edition of May 23, 2009 of NWA Charlotte Total Compliance pay-per-view, O'Neal defeated Jayme Jameson after Krissy Vaine switched with her to become the first NWA Charlotte Women's Champion. She would turn out to be the title's only holder due to NWA Charlotte folding in late 2009.

On December 18, 2015, Gallows captured the NWA World Women's Championship from Santana Garrett.[20] She lost the title against Jazz on September 17, 2016.

Women Superstars Uncensored (2009–2010)

O'Neal at a Women Superstars Uncensored show in 2010.

O'Neal debuted for Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) on August 22, 2009, in a victorious effort against Annie Social. Later in the night she got another victory over "The Definition of Technician" Cindy Rogers. O'Neal continued her winning streak as she defeated Sassy Stephanie in a Special Challenge Match on November 3 and later in the night she defeated the WSU Hall of Famer Malia Hosaka.

On December 12, O'Neal defeated Sumie Sakai to continue her winning streak. Later in the night, it was announced that O'Neal would put her winning streak on the line against Jazz at the Third Anniversary Show. O'Neal was successful in defeating Jazz and was subsequently named by Dawn Marie as the number one contender to the WSU World Championship. At the April 2, 2010 episode of WSW 4th Annual J-Cup, O'Neal unsuccessfully challenge reigning champion Mercedes Martinez, thus ending her winning streak.

At the WSU/NWS King & Queen Of The Ring Tournament 2010 pay-per-view, O'Neal competed in King and Queen tournament teaming with Bison Bravado but was eliminated in the first round by Jazz and Balls Mahoney. At the WSU Uncensored Rumble III pay-per-view, O'Neal competed in the Uncensored Rumble to determine the number one contender to the WSU Championship but failed to win the match after it was won by Jazz. Later that event, O'Neal teamed up with Nikki Roxx in a losing effort to Angel Orsini and Jazz.

Other promotions (2010–present)

On October 23, 2010, O'Neal made an appearance for Pro Wrestling Superstars, where she made her debut losing to Mickie James in a singles match.[7] O'Neal made her debut for SCWA Wrestling, defeating Persephone with a bridging backsilde.[21] At the PWX An Evil Twist of Fate event on October 5, O'Neal defeated Reby Sky after throwing dust in her face and hitting a sitout facebuster.[22]

O'Neal also took part in the first season tapings of Wrestlicious, which took place in early 2009, but did not start airing until March 2010. In the promotion, she uses the ring name Charlotte, the Southern Belle. She made her in-ring debut on March 1 in the main event of the first episode of Takedown, teaming with Tyler Texas and Cousin Cassie in a losing effort to the team of Felony, Maria Toro and Bandita after getting hit by a Fisherman's Buster.[23] On the fifth episode, which aired on March 31, she got her first victory after teaming with Paige Webb against the Naughty Girls (Faith and Hope).[24] On the edition of April 7 of Takedown, Charlotte participated in a Hoedown Trowdown battle royal to determine the top two contenders for the Wrestlicious Crown. She uncessfully competed after being eliminated by Brooke Lynn.[25]

O'Neal signed with Dave McClain's Women of Wrestling promotion in December 2012. She debuted at WOW! Pandemonium Tour 2013 losing to Jungle Grrl in singles competition. Later in the night, she came together with fellow WOW newcomer Santana Garrett to form the tag team The All-American Girls. The pair then successfully challenged and defeated Caged Heat for the WOW Tag Team Championships, ending Caged Heat's remarkable 10-year reign.

O'Neal debuted for Shine Wrestling as a babyface on May 24, 2013; competing against Ivelisse in a losing effort as SHINE 10. At SHINE 12 on August 23, Amber teamed with Santana Garrett in defeating Malia Hosaka and Brandi Wine, after a singles match between Santana and Wine ended in a no contest due to involvement by Hosaka.[26][27] On September 28, at the SHINE 13, Amber and Santana, now known as The American Sweethearts faced The S-N-S Express (Jessie Belle Smothers and Sassy Stephie), but lost when Stephie pinned O'Neal after an Kiss My Sass.[28] A month later at SHINE 14, the Sweethearts teamed with Leva Bates in a losing effort to the Express, which also included Nevaeh. At SHINE 15 on December 13, the Sweethearts were once again defeated by the Express, and per the stipulation, Amber and Santana were forced to disband. In singles action, Amber suffered losses to La Rosa Negra and Tracy Taylor at SHINE 16 and 18, respectively. At SHINE 20 on June 27, 2014, Amber was defeated by Crazy Mary Dobson, who replaced Leah Von Dutch, via DQ. During the match, Amber turned into a villainess and attacked Dobson with a steel chair, which led to the DQ decision. After the match ended, the evil Amber gave the Bullet Club gesture to Dobson, similar to that of the wrestling stable which has her real-life husband, Doc Gallows, as a member.

On December 5, Davis adopted the new ring name Amber Gallows, the "Bullet Babe".[4] On January 4, 2015, O'Neal made her debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome, where she accompanied her husband and Karl Anderson to a match, where they lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata.[29] On April 6, it was announced that O'Neal, billed as Amber Gallows, would be returning to NJPW the following month at Wrestling Dontaku 2015 to take part in the promotion's first match involving female wrestlers since October 2002.[30] In the match, Gallows, her husband and Karl Anderson were defeated by Maria Kanellis, Matt Taven and Michael Bennett.[31]

Personal life

Outside of wrestling, Davis is a motorcycle enthusiast and is a fan of motocross.[6] She cites Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, and Lita as her favorite wrestlers.[6]

Davis married fellow professional wrestler Drew Hankinson in May 2014.[32]

In wrestling

O'Neal at a Dragon Gate USA event

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Amber's profile". LethalWOW. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Dawn Marie – Official Website". DawnMarieOnline. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gerweck, Steve (November 14, 2004). "Interview with Amber O'Neal". Gerweck. Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 Trionfo, Richard (December 5, 2014). "Complete Shine23 iPPV coverage: Mia Yim's first title defense; pandemonium at the end; a major return; the Bullet Club invades; and more". Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  5. ↑ Template:Cite The Southern Belle web
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Amber O'Neal's profile". GLORY. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Amber O'Neal – Online World of Wrestling". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Rules, Joe (April 18, 2004). "Amber Holly/O'Neal Talks To G.L.O.R.Y.". GLORY. Archived from the original on October 23, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  9. ↑ Wrestling News Center: Krissy Vaine Returning – Team Blondage Back Together (?). Wrestlingnewscenter.blogspot.com (December 15, 2008). Retrieved on 2015-11-01.
  10. ↑ "SHIMMER Volume 1 & 2 Results". Shimmer Women Athletes. March 7, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  11. ↑ "SHIMMER Volume 3 & 4 Results". Shimmer Women Athletes. March 7, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  12. ↑ "SHIMMER Volume 5 & 6 Results". Shimmer Women Athletes. March 7, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  13. ↑ "SHIMMER Volume 7 & 8 Results". Shimmer Women Athletes. March 7, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  14. ↑ "SHIMMER Volume 9 & 10 Results". Shimmer Women Athletes. March 7, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  15. ↑ "SHIMMER Volume 14 Results". Shimmer Women Athletes. March 7, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  16. ↑ "SHIMMER Volume 15 & 16 Results". Shimmer Women Athletes. March 7, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  17. ↑ "SHIMMER Volume 17 & 18 Results". Shimmer Women Athletes. March 7, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  18. ↑ "SHIMMER Volume 21 & 22 Results". Shimmer Women Athletes. March 7, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  19. ↑ Martin, Adam (December 22, 2009). "SPOILERS: 12/31 Impact TV tapings". WrestleView. Archived from the original on December 25, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  20. ↑ Caldwell, James (2015-12-18). "New NWA Women's Champ ends Santana's lengthy reign". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2015-12-19.
  21. ↑ "SCWA Wrestling – Ladies Debut Amber O' Neal vs. Persephone". YouTube. SCWA Wrestling. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  22. 1 2 "10/5 PWX results Charlotte, N.C.: Steen vs. Hardy main event, Edwards, Lodi". PWTorch. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  23. 1 2 3 Byers, Ryan (March 2, 2010). "411's Wrestlicious Takedown Report 03.01.10". 411Mania. Retrieved March 19, 2010.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 Byers, Ryan (April 2, 2010). "411's Wrestlicious Take Down Report 03.31.10". 411Mania. Retrieved April 2, 2010.
  25. ↑ Trionfo, Richard (April 7, 2010). "Wrestlicious Television Report: Battle Royal and more". PWInsider. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  26. ↑ "SHINE 12 Results". SHINE.com. October 19, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  27. ↑ "SHOW RESULTS – 8/23 SHINE iPPV in Ybor City, Fla.: Rain defends SHINE Title, Angelina Love, Amazing Kong, more". PWTorch.com. August 25, 2013.
  28. ↑ "Full Results: SHINE Wrestling Presents SHINE 13". Diva-Dirt.com. September 28, 2013.
  29. 1 2 Caldwell, James (January 4, 2015). "Caldwell's NJPW Tokyo Dome show results 1/4: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Wrestle Kingdom PPV – Tanahashi vs. Okada, Bullet Club, Nakamura, Jim Ross, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  30. ↑ "5月3日（日）『レスリングどんたく』全カード決定! メインは中邑vs後藤のIC戦! ケニーvsシェリー! Jr.タッグ3Way戦! なんとマリアが試合に出場!". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). April 6, 2015. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  31. ↑ レスリングどんたく 2015. New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  32. ↑ "News/Rumors". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. May 14, 2014. Archived from the original on May 15, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  33. ↑ "Shimmer Roster". Shimmer Women Athletes. Visuex. Archived from the original on August 14, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  34. 1 2 3 4 "Wrestlicious Take Down: Naught vs Nice Match". daileymotion. March 2, 2010. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  35. ↑ ""Bullet Babe" Amber Gallows". Global Force Wrestling. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  36. ↑ Amanda Rodriguez vs Amber O'Neal (w/ The Tommy Thomas). YouTube. Retrieved on November 1, 2015.
  37. ↑ "Team Blondage's entrance themes". Cagematch.
  38. ↑ "Themes". Cagematch.
  39. ↑ [Q]Brick (May 22, 2014). ""Shot'Em" Bullet Club 2nd Theme". SoundCloud. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  40. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) Female 50 for 2009". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 29, 2016.

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