Leah Vaughan Explained
Leah Vaughan (born October 1, 1987) is a Canadian professional wrestler. She was formerly known as Leah Von Dutch.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2011–2012)
Vaughan has said "I always wanted to be a wrestler since I was 12 years old. I was about 19 years old when I thought this could actually be a reality and when I was 24 I decided to pursue my dream."[2] She got her start in early 2011 where she would make appearances on the pheriphry of wrestling - ring announcing, acting as referee, selling tickets and merchandise.[3] She was also paired up with Cody Deaner at NEO Wrestling, whom she acted as a manager for.[4] Vaughan received some early training from Derek Wylde, but conflicting schedules made it difficult to steadily train.[5] She made her in-ring debut in September 2011[3] against Cherry Bomb;[6] that same month, she won an essay contest arranged by former pro-wrestler Edge which has as its prize a scholarship for training at Squared Circle Training in Toronto.[4]
She was named by the website DivaDirt as one of "The Five to Watch" in 2012.[7]
Independent circuit (2013–present)
Vaughan has made appearances with Chikara, where she faced Sara Del Rey twice.[4] She appeared at the April 2013 SHIMMER tapings, where she was part of a six-man tag team match on the first day of tapings.[8] The following day, she made her on camera appearance when she competed against Rhia O'Reilly in a match for SHIMMER Volume 56.[9]
She has made multiple appearances with Shine Wrestling, appearing on shows #6,[10] 13,[11] 16,[12] 19 and 22 to 25. She has also appeared with Ring of Honor,[13] Shine Wrestling, 2CW,[14] Reina x World[15] and nCw Femmes Fatales.[16] She has done several tours of the United Kingdom and Europe, in 2013 and 2014 where she appeared in about a dozen different shows there[17] [18] She announced in April 2016 that she had signed a deal with World Wonder Ring Stardom.[19] [20]
She had appeared on several occasions in the World Wrestling Entertainment, acting as one of Adam Rose's Rosebuds.[21] [22]
In March 2017 Vaughan became the first Women's champion for Clash Wrestling, though she lost it to Nevaeh three months later.[23]
On September 8, 2016, Vaughan, as Leah Von Dutch, was defeated by Ember Moon at an NXT taping.
In September 2017, Vaughan announced she was taking a break from professional wrestling to "focus on other projects".[24]
Personal life
In addition to wrestling, she has also made an appearance in a music video by the band The Creekside Strays.[25] [26] as well as one by Joey Stylez.[27] [28] She has a degree in Kinesiology from University of Windsor and an Esthetics diploma from Fanshawe College in London.
Championships and accomplishments
- Absolute Intense Wrestling
- Absolute Women's Championship (1 time)[29]
- Clash Wrestling
- CLASH Women's Champion (1 time)[30]
- Pure Wrestling Association
- PWA Women's Elite Championship (1 time)[31]
- Vicious Outcast Wrestling
- Queen of the Ring (1 time, current)[32]
- Xtreme Bombshell Wrestling
- XBW Bombshells Championship (1 time)[33]
Notes and References
- Web site: Leah Vaughan on Twitter: 'Starting immediately, I will no longer be known as Leah Von Dutch.' . twitter.com . 2016-01-05. 26 January 2016.
- Web site: Interview : Leah Von Dutch | TheBritishWrestlingRevival . thebritishwrestlingrevival.wordpress.com . 2014 . 14 April 2014.
- Web site: Q & A Leah von Dutch . ladysports.com . 2012. 19 July 2013.
- Web site: Leah Von Dutch has an Edge in her corner . https://archive.today/20140310095400/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2012/11/19/20367816.html . usurped . March 10, 2014 . Blaine. Van Der Griend. slam.canoe.ca . 2012-11-19. 19 July 2013.
- Web site: Across The Pond Wrestling: Five Questions With...Leah Von Dutch . James. Marston. acrossthepondwrestling.co.uk . 2013-06-19. 14 April 2014.
- Web site: An Interview with Leah von Dutch. Chris. Sinclair. Ring Sirens. 8–11. September 2013. 11 September 2013.
- Web site: The Five to Watch 2012: Leah Von Dutch. diva-dirt.com . 2012-11-27. 10 May 2014.
- Web site: Allen. Stew. 2013-04-13. SHIMMER Volumes 54 & 55 DVD taping results (now updated with live thoughts and photos). dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130731055631/http://ringbellesonline.com/2013/04/13/shimmer-volumes-54-55-dvd-taping-results/. 31 July 2013. Ringbelles . 19 July 2013.
- Web site: Allen. Stew. 2013-04-14. SHIMMER Volumes 56 & 57 DVD taping results (now updated with thoughts and photos) . https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090155/http://ringbellesonline.com/2013/04/14/shimmer-volumes-56-57-dvd-taping-results/#more-14902. 2014-08-19 . Ringbelles . 19 July 2013.
- Web site: Live Coverage: SHINE Wrestling Presents "SHINE 6" – Kharma vs Mercedes Martinez. Diva-Dirt. 2013-01-11.
- Web site: Full Results: SHINE Wrestling Presents SHINE 13. Diva-Dirt. 2013-09-27.
- Web site: Live Coverage: SHINE Wrestling Presents SHINE 16. Diva-Dirt. 2014-01-25.
- Web site: MORE NOTES FROM ROH IN DEARBORN, MI | PWInsider.com . Scott Random and Jason Harper. pwinsider.com . 2013-07-14. 19 July 2013.
- Web site: 2CW 06.01.13 Girls Grand Prix 2 results. pwponderings.com . 2013-06-01 . 11 September 2013.
- Web site: REINA X WORLD: Promotion Reborn . Falcon's Joshi Blog. 2011-12-17. 11 September 2013.
- Web site: nCw Femmes Fatales X results (updated with photo gallery). Ringbelles . 2012-11-04. 19 July 2013.
- Web site: 2013-06-22. In Video: Leah Von Dutch in the UK. Ringbelles . 19 July 2013.
- Web site: 2014-10-09. Fight Like A Girl: Leah Von Dutch. Ringbelles . 3 January 2015.
- Web site: Ringbelles Roundup (4/6-13/16) – Seleziya steals one from Heidi in Alpha-1, WWR debuts, Nicole Savoy is Heart of SHIMMER, Tessa unseats Stephie, Catch the WAVE begins, Storm is signed & more . Ciara. Reid. pwponderings.com . 2016-04-15. 17 April 2016.
- Web site: Leah Vaughan Announces She Is Headed To Stardom In Japan!. youtube.com . 2016 . 17 April 2016.
- Web site: Several UK female wrestlers appear on RAW. squaredcirclesirens.com . 2014-11-11. 3 January 2015.
- Web site: Update - Who Were The 'Rosebuds' On RAW Last Night?. Ryan. Clark. prowrestling.com . 2014-12-16. 3 January 2015.
- Web site: Instagram post by CLASH Wrestling • Jun 18, 2017 at 9:44am UTC. Instagram. 12 August 2017. We have a new Women's Champion! Nevaeh defeats Leah Vaughan at #GRAPPOLGANZA! .
- Web site: Slam! Wrestling News/Rumours. https://web.archive.org/web/20170928032131/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/news.html. 28 September 2017. dead. 29 September 2017. Slam! Sports.
- Web site: Post. Twitter. 2013-07-10. 2013-07-19. Tomorrow the Creekside Strays new music video featuring LVD comes out!! Stay tuned!!.
- Web site: The Creekside Strays - Shit Outta Luck (Official Video). youtube.com . 2013-07-09. 19 July 2013.
- Web site: Leah Von Dutch on Instagram: "Just doing music vid with Joey StyleZ!" . Leah. von Dutch. instagram.com . 2015-03-15. 20 March 2015.
- Web site: Pride of Lions - Joey Stylez feat. Dragonette. youtube.com . 2015-05-29. 15 August 2015.
- Web site: Allen. Stew. 2014-02-08. Leah Von Dutch wins AIW Absolute Women's Championship at TGIF. You read that right.. Ringbelles . 7 March 2014.
- Web site: After some extremely shady tactics, @RealLeahVaughan picks up the victory and becomes our inaugural Women's Champion!pic.twitter.com/ov9fBjHSYz. 25 March 2017. 12 August 2017.
- Web site: Leah Von Dutch crowned The New PWA Women's Elite Champion After An Impressive Victory Over Beautiful Beaa : North Starz . northstarz.ca . 2014-04-12. 14 April 2014.
- Web site: Leah Von Dutch Becomes VOW's Vixens Queen Of The Ring. Ciara. Reid. ringsirens.com . 2014-05-04. 10 May 2014.
- Web site: Burton. Lee. 2013-08-27. Ringbelles Roundup (27 August 2013) – Speculation on Tara's future, Total Divas, #PipeBombshell & more. Ringbelles . 7 March 2014.