Trinity Fatu[6] (
néeMcCray; born November 30, 1987)[7] is an American
professional wrestler and dancer. She is currently signed to
WWE, where she performs on the
SmackDownbrand under the ring name Naomi.
In August 2009, McCray signed a contract with
WWE, where she reported to their then-
developmental territoryFlorida Championship Wrestling (FCW).[10] On June 20, 2010, Naomi defeated
Serena Deeb on FCW TV to become the inaugural
FCW Divas Champion.[11] On the August 29 episode of FCW TV, Naomi competed in a match against AJ Lee, where both the Queen of FCW title and the FCW Divas Championship were on the line, which ended in a double count-out.[12] Naomi joined the all-female
third season[broken anchor] of NXT in 2010, with
Kelly Kelly as her pro.[13] Naomi debuted on the September 7 episode of NXT, where she teamed with Kelly to defeat
Alicia Fox and fellow rookie
Maxine after Naomi pinned Maxine.[14] On the September 21 episode of NXT, she teamed with Kelly and Jamie Keyes, defeating
Layla,
Michelle McCool, and
Kaitlyn.[15] On the October 26 episode of NXT, Naomi defeated Maxine in a singles match.[16] On November 30, Naomi lost the competition to Kaitlyn, placing second in the season.[17] On the January 23, 2011, Naomi lost the championship to Lee on FCW TV.[18]
On January 9, 2012, Naomi made her main roster debut on Raw alongside
Cameron as
valets for
Brodus Clay, with the duo dubbed
The Funkadactyls.[19] On the
TLC pre-show on December 16, Naomi scored a victory in a
Santa's Little Helpers
battle royal, earning a match against
Divas ChampionEve Torres later that night, where she lost.[20][21] On the March 15, 2013, episode of SmackDown, The Funkadactyls were attacked backstage by
The Bella Twins.[22] The Funkadactyls, Clay, and
Tensai, collectively known as Tons of Funk, were originally set to face Team Rhodes Scholars (
Cody Rhodes and
Damien Sandow) and the Bella Twins in an eight-person mixed tag team match at
WrestleMania 29, but after the match was cut due to time constraints, it instead took place the following night on Raw, with Tons of Funk coming out victorious.[23]
In February 2014, Naomi suffered a
legitimate displaced fracture of the
orbital bone during a match against Aksana on Raw.[28][29] She returned on the March 17 episode of Raw, teaming with Cameron to defeat Lee and Snuka in a tag team match.[30] On April 6 at
WrestleMania XXX, Naomi competed in the
Vickie Guerrero Invitational match for the Lee's Divas Championship, where Lee successfully retained her title.[31] At
Money in the Bank, Naomi lost to the new Divas Champion
Paige in a title match.[32] On the July 7 episode of Raw, Naomi and Cameron lost to Lee and Paige in a tag team match, which caused a brawl to ensue between Cameron and Naomi.[33] Naomi and Cameron faced off on the
Battleground pre-show, during which the former lost.[34] Naomi went on to secure a victory over Cameron on the September 15 episode of Raw.[35] At
Survivor Series, Naomi participated in a traditional elimination tag team match, where she eliminated Cameron and eventually Paige to get the win for her team in a clean sweep.[36]
In December 2014, Naomi became involved with
The Usos' feud with
The Miz, which involved The Miz offering to help further Naomi's musical career, much to her husband Jimmy Uso's dismay.[37][38] On the December 16 episode of Super SmackDown, Naomi competed against
Nikki Bella for the Divas Championship, where she lost the match after Jimmy Uso caused a distraction due to his anger of The Miz being present.[39] After Alicia Fox joined The Miz and Mizdow, Naomi and the Usos competed against the three in a series of
mixed tag team matches, where Naomi's team repeatedly lost.[40][41] On March 29, she accompanied The Usos during their match on the
WrestleMania 31 pre-show, in which they unsuccessfully challenged Kidd and Cesaro for the WWE Tag Team Championship.[42]
On the April 13 episode of Raw, Naomi unsuccessfully competed in a
battle royal to determine the number one contender to the Divas Championship.[43] After the bout, Naomi attacked Paige for eliminating her to ultimately win the match, turning
heel.[44] As Paige had been injured by the attack,[45] Naomi was granted a match against Bella for the title at
Extreme Rules,[46] where she failed to win after interference from Brie Bella.[47] In May, Naomi attacked The Bella Twins alongside the returning Tamina.[48] The duo went on to compete in a tag team match against The Bella Twins at
Payback, during which Naomi and Tamina won.[49] On the May 18 episode of Raw, Naomi competed in another championship match against Nikki Bella, where Bella retained the title after Tamina caused a disqualification, and was subsequently followed by Paige’s return.[50] Naomi then competed in a triple threat match against Paige and Nikki Bella at
Elimination Chamber, however once again she failed to capture the title.[51]
On the July 13 episode of Raw, after weeks of the Divas division being dominated by The Bella Twins and their ally Alicia Fox,
Stephanie McMahon called for a "
Divas Revolution", subsequently introducing the debuting
NXT Women's ChampionSasha Banks to align with Naomi and Tamina, dubbed Team B.A.D., as well as
Charlotte Flair and
Becky Lynch to align with Paige, leading to a brawl between the three teams.[52][53][54] The three teams faced off in a
three team elimination match on August 23 at
SummerSlam, which was won by Team PCB.[55] At the 2015 Tribute to the Troops in December, Team B.A.D. and Paige defeated Brie Bella, Charlotte, Fox, and Lynch in an eight-woman tag team match.[56] On the February 1, 2016, episode of Raw, Banks left the team, which caused Naomi and Tamina to attack her.[57] Naomi and Tamina later lost to Banks and Lynch in a tag team match at
Fastlane.[58] On the
WrestleMania 32 pre-show, Naomi and Tamina teamed up with
Lana,
Emma, and Summer Rae in a
10-Diva tag team match against Brie Bella, Paige, Fox, Eva Marie, and Natalya, where Naomi's team was defeated.[59] In early May, Naomi became inactive due to a torn ankle tendon.[60]
SmackDown Women's Champion (2016–2017)
Naomi was drafted to the
SmackDown brand on July 19 as part of the
2016 WWE draft.[61] She then debuted a new
gimmick, which included a new look and entrance, dubbed "
The Glow", and became a
face once again.[62][63] On August 21 at
SummerSlam, Naomi competed in a six-woman tag team match alongside Becky Lynch and
Carmella against Natalya,
Alexa Bliss, and Nikki Bella, where Naomi's team was defeated after Bella pinned Carmella.[64] On September 11 at
Backlash, Naomi competed in a
six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural
SmackDown Women's Champion, where she would eliminate Bliss before being eliminated herself by Natalya.[65] On November 20, Naomi competed as part of the SmackDown women's team against the Raw women's team at the
Survivor Series pay-per-view, where her team lost.[66]
After two months of inactivity, Naomi returned on the January 24, 2017, episode of SmackDown, in a confrontation against SmackDown Women's Champion Bliss.[67] On February 12, Naomi defeated Bliss at
Elimination Chamber, becoming the SmackDown Women's Champion for the first time in her career, as well as the first African-American woman to capture the title.[68][6] The following Tuesday, she relinquished the title due to a legitimate injury she sustained during the title match.[69][70] On April 2, Naomi made her in-ring return in a six-pack challenge in her hometown of
Orlando at
WrestleMania 33, where she made Bliss submit, successfully regaining the SmackDown Women's Championship.[71][72] Two days later, she defeated Bliss in a rematch to retain the championship.[73]
On June 18, Naomi defeated Lana to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship at
Money in the Bank.[74] She then went on to retain the title over Lana two more times on the June 27 and July 4 episodes of SmackDown, the latter of which involved a seven-second submission victory.[75][76] In July, Naomi debuted a customized title belt with
LED lights of various colors.[77][76][78] On August 20 at
SummerSlam, Naomi dropped the SmackDown Women's Championship to Natalya, ending her reign at 140 days.[79][80] On November 19 at
Survivor Series, Naomi competed in a five-on-five elimination tag team match, where she eliminated Raw team captain Alicia Fox, before being eliminated herself by Sasha Banks, with her team ultimately losing the match.[81]
Various storylines and departure (2018–2022)
On January 28, 2018, Naomi competed in the inaugural women's
Royal Rumble match at the
namesake pay-per-view, entering at number 20 and lasting 06:49 before she was eliminated by
Nia Jax.[82] On the
WrestleMania 34 kick-off show, Naomi went on to win the inaugural
WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal by eliminating
Bayley.[83] In June, Naomi competed in her first
Money in the Bank ladder match at the
namesake pay-per-view, won by Alexa Bliss.[84] On October 28, she took part in the first all-women's pay-per-view,
Evolution, competing in a women's battle royal match, which was won by Jax.[85] In November at
Survivor Series, she competed in a traditional elimination tag team match as part of Team SmackDown, where she was the first woman eliminated from the match by Tamina.[86]
Naomi then entered a feud with
Mandy Rose after Rose started flirting with Naomi's real-life husband,
Jimmy Uso, to "ruin Naomi's life", which involved Rose hinting at kissing Uso as well as Naomi attacking Rose in a hotel room to which Rose invited Uso.[87][88] At
Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019, Naomi and Rose eliminated each other during the women's Royal Rumble match.[89] The two exchanged victories over each other in February.[90][91] That same month, Naomi teamed up with Carmella in a six-team
Elimination Chamber match for the inaugural
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at the
namesake pay-per-view, where they were the first team eliminated.[92] During the
2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up on April 15, Naomi was drafted to the
Rawbrand.[93] She unsuccessfully competed in the women's Money in the Bank ladder match at the
namesake pay-per-view the following month.[94]
At
Royal Rumble on January 26, 2020, Naomi returned from a hiatus by entering the Royal Rumble match at number 18, lasting 22 minutes before being eliminated by
Shayna Baszler.[95] She later attributed her time away to health issues and a relative's death.[96] The following month, Naomi lost to Bayley in a match for the SmackDown Women's Championship at
Super Showdown.[97] In April at
WrestleMania 36, Naomi competed in a five-way elimination match for the same title, during which she was eliminated by Sasha Banks.[98] In September, she underwent surgery to remove a
fibroid.[99]
As part of the
2020 WWE Draft in October, Naomi was drafted back to the Raw brand.[100] She returned at
Royal Rumble in January 2021 during the 30-woman Royal Rumble match, entering at number 2, where she was eliminated by Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax.[101] She teamed with Lana to compete in a
tag team turmoil match during the first night of
WrestleMania 37 to determine the No. 1 contenders for the Women's Tag Team Championship, where the duo was defeated.[102] In August 2021, Naomi became part of the SmackDown roster.[103] She subsequently began a feud with
Sonya Deville, who was an authority figure. The feud developed due to Naomi's persistence in asking for matches, irritating Deville.[104] Naomi and Deville eliminated each other from the Royal Rumble match at the
namesake event in January 2022.[105] Naomi teamed up with
Ronda Rousey to defeat Deville and Charlotte Flair at
Elimination Chamber the next month.[106]
On the second night of
WrestleMania 38, Naomi teamed with Sasha Banks to compete in a four-way tag team match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, in which they defeated the respective teams of Liv Morgan and
Rhea Ripley, Natalya and Shayna Baszler, and titleholders Carmella and
Queen Zelina to become the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions.[107] During the May 16 episode of Raw, Naomi and Banks legitimately
walked out of the show's venue over a creative dispute after a meeting with CEO
Vince McMahon.[108] This caused a change to the show's main event that originally involved both women.[108] Naomi and Banks consequently received indefinite suspensions, and the title was
vacated.[109] In March 2023, Naomi stated she was no longer with WWE.[110]
Impact Wrestling / Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2023–2024)
At
Slammiversary in July 15, Trinity defeated Purrazzo via submission to win the Impact Knockouts World Championship for the first time in her career.[115] On August 27, during the main event of
Emergence, Trinity had her first successful title defense by defeating Purrazzo.[116]
at
Victory Road, Trinity successfully defended her title against
Alisha Edwards. On October 21, at
Bound for Glory, Trinity successfully defended her title against
Mickie James, in what Trinity described as one of her all-time favorite moments in her career.[117] On October 27, at
Turning Point, Trinity successfully defended her title against
Deonna Purrazzo in a
Last Chance match. On December 9, at
Final Resolution, Trinity and
Jordynne Grace defeated
Deonna Purrazzo and
Gisele Shaw. Following Bound for Glory, it was announced that Impact Wrestling would be rebranding back to Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling in 2024, therefore the title would become the TNA Knockouts World Championship.[118] After winning the
Call Your Shot Gauntlet match, it was announced that Grace would challenge Trinity for the title. On January 13, 2024, at
Hard To Kill, Trinity lost the TNA Knockouts World Championship to Grace, thus ending her reign at 182 days.[119] On the January 25 episode of
TNA Impact!, Trinity was unsuccessful in regaining the title in a rematch against Grace.[120] Her last match with TNA was a pre-taped match that aired on the February 8 episode of Impact where she tagged with Grace to defeat
Gisele Shaw and
Savannah Evans.[121]
Return to WWE (2024–present)
On January 27, 2024, at the
Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Fatu, once again performing as Naomi, made her return to WWE marking her first appearance within the company in nearly two years as a surprise entrant in the women's
Royal Rumble match. Naomi entered the match at number 2 and lasted one hour and two minutes before being eliminated by
Jade Cargill.[122] On February 2, Naomi was officially assigned to SmackDown.[123] Two weeks later Naomi had her first singles match back in WWE defeating
Alba Fyre to qualify for the women’s
Elimination Chamber match.[124] On February 24, at
Elimination Chamber: Perth, Naomi was unsuccessful in the match, being eliminated by
Tiffany Stratton.[125] On Night 1 of
WrestleMania XL, Naomi teamed with Cargill and
Bianca Belair where they defeated
Damage CTRL in a six-woman tag team match. [126] After defeating Stratton to become number one contender, Naomi faced
Bayley for the
WWE Women’s Championship on the April 19 episode of Smackdown where Stratton interfered and caused a disqualification.[127] This led to a triple threat match for the title at
Backlash: France where Naomi was unsuccessful.[128][129] On the June 28 episode of SmackDown, Naomi defeated
Blair Davenport and
Indi Hartwell to qualify for the women’s
Money in the Bank ladder match, though she was unsuccessful at the
namesake event.[130][131]
Fatu was part of the main cast of the reality television series Total Divas, produced by WWE and
E!, which premiered in July 2013.[134] Fatu was not part of the second half of season three that aired January 2015 to March 2015 but returned as a main cast member for season four.[135][136] She did not appear during the show's fifth season but once again returned as a main cast member for the sixth season.[137][138] She then remained on the cast until the ninth and final season.[139]
In May 2014, she released her first single song, entitled "Dance All Night". The accompanying music video was released on WWE's
YouTube channel.[140]
Trinity and longtime boyfriend Jonathan Fatu, better known by the ring name
Jimmy Uso, were married in
Maui on January 16, 2014.[143] Through their marriage, she is a member of the
Anoaʻi family, a Samoan-American wrestling dynasty.[144] The couple resides in
Pensacola, Florida.[145] She is the stepmother to Fatu's two children.[146]
^"FCW TV #100". FCW TV. Episode 100. August 29, 2010.
Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2017. (filmed August 12, 2010)
^Barrasso, Justin (November 3, 2023).
"TNA Wrestling Lives On: 'We're Back'". Sports Illustrated Wrestling News, Analysis and More.
Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
^Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 15, 2023).
"Impact Knockouts Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database.
Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2023.