90 Day Fiance star Paola Mayfield has signed on to work as a professional wrestler for a pay-per-view in December.
Paola will appear at NWA Hard Times II on Saturday, December 4, 2021.
Here is everything you need to know about Paola’s appearance on the PPV.
Paola Mayfield: From 90 Day Fiance to NWA wrestling PPV
Fightful Select reported (via 411mania) that Paola Mayfield has been booked for the NWA Hard Times II pay-per-view. She wrestles under the name Paola Blaze.
The NWA is the oldest wrestling company in the United States, founded in 1948, over three decades before WWE began operating in its current state.
Initially, the company contracted stars like Nature Boy Ric Flair, Sting, and The American Dream Dusty Rhodes. It eventually gave way to WCW, which was one of the biggest companies in the ’90s.
However, the NWA continued to operate on its own in a smaller state with no national television deal.
Things changed in 2017 when Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corbin licensed rights to the company and started airing shows on YouTube.
The upcoming pay-per-view is named after a classic interview promo with Dusty Rhodes, who said he made it to the top of the business but not before he suffered some “hard times” in his life.
Paola began wrestling earlier this year and shared her journey with fans on her YouTube page.
“What a fantastic experience. I’m so very proud of myself and all people at Magic City Wrestling, as well as everyone that supported me and gave me so much great advice,” Paola wrote in the video’s description. “I know I have a long way to go because you never stop learning.”
Magic City Wrestling is a small independent wrestling promotion. NWA is a big deal, and the people who watch Hard Times II are paying pay-per-view prices to watch it.
Paola previously appeared at the NWA all-women’s event EmPowerrr with Jennacide and Taryn Terrell. She was also in the ring with Awesome Kong and Gail Kim before Kong announced her retirement.
Netflix fans might know Awesome Kong better from her appearances on GLOW.
Paola also wrestled in a six-person match at the NWA’s 73rd Anniversary Show.
Paola regularly appeared on the NWA show Powerrr but hadn’t signed an official deal with the company yet.
Other reality stars in professional wrestling
Paola Mayfield isn’t the first person to jump from reality television to wrestling.
Many in the past were one-hit wonders, with people like Snooki wrestling at a WrestleMania event.
However, a few have made the jump successfully.
Jessie Godderz was part of Big Brother in Season 10 and Season 11 and has been a regular on the show in recent years. He made the jump to professional wrestling and was a tag team champion in Impact Wrestling.
His work there was with Robbie E as a Jersey Shore-styled tag team, and they even brought in JWoww for an appearance.
In more recent times, one of the biggest stars in AEW is a man who dresses like a dinosaur named Luchasaurus.
Under the mask is Austin Matelson, who finished in fifth place in Big Brother 17.
Of course, the most famous reality star turned wrestler of them all is The Miz, who got his start on The Real World: Back to New York and multiple seasons of The Challenge before becoming one of WWE’s biggest stars.
NWA Hard Times II airs on PPV on December 4, 2021.
She needs the money. No longer with her husband and too old for modeling, well then, you wrestle.