Backstage Clarification On Mia Yim’s New Ring Name

WWE has been flip-flopping on what to call Mia Yim since her return to the company months ago. WWE announcers have continued to stumble with apparent uncertainty over if she’s Mia Yim or Michin or both. This week on “Raw,” Corey Graves repeatedly referred to The OC member as Mia Yim. Yet, during her entrance, “Michin” was plastered across the Titantron while the ringside announcer referred to her as “Michin Mia Yim.” Bayley, her opponent, only referred to her as “Michin.”

But, according to Fightful, despite any on-screen confusion, Michin is still officially only listed by her singular nickname backstage.

The wrestler, whose real name is Stephanie Lee, has gone by a handful of in-ring names throughout her career, including “Jade” when she worked with IMPACT Wrestling throughout the mid-2010s. “Mia Yim” was the first name Lee used when she began her pro wrestling career at 18 years old, and it’s also the name she used during her initial run with WWE from 2018 until late-2021. Lee continued going by “Mia Yim” when she went back to the independents, including appearances with Impact.

Karl Anderson began referring to Lee as “Michin” when she returned to WWE in mid-November and joined The O.C. She told backstage interviewer Cathy Kelley it meant “crazy” in Korean. “It’s kind of a nickname,” she said. WWE then changed her name to “Michin” on its website, before then changing it back. The head-spinning continues, though, as Lee’s name remains listed as “Mia Yim” online, which runs contrary to her internal listing.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Backtracks On Change For Mia Yim

Less than 24 hours after WWE officially changed Mia Yim’s ring name to Michin on its website, it appears it’s back to Mia Yim again, as you can see at this link here.

Yim even confirmed the ring name change Tuesday on the “Ten Count” podcast. She noted during the interview that Michin was a nickname within The O.C. They told her that she needed one and she used Michin because it was something that her mom called her since she was a child. Michin means crazy in Korean. Yim also shared the name change news on her Twitter. WWE also filed to trademark the name Michin a few weeks ago.

WWE released Yim on November 4, 2021, alongside her husband, current AEW star Keith Lee. After being with Impact Wrestling for a few months, Yim made her WWE return on the November 7 episode of “Raw.” She helped The O.C. battle Rhea Ripley and The Judgment Day.

It’s worth noting that a week after her return was when WWE first revealed the Michin nickname. On the November 14 episode of “Raw” was when The O.C. officially introduced her as the solution to their “Rhea Problem.”

“Michin handles her business tonight in her return match,” Anderson said in the backstage segment.

The match was against Tamina and it was Yim’s first-ever singles victory on the WWE main roster. When Yim moved to the main roster from “NXT” as part of the Retribution stable, Yim wrestled only one singles match and she lost to Dana Brooke.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Officially Gives Mia Yim New Ring Name

A week after Karl Anderson referred to Mia Yim as “Michin,” which means “Crazy” in Korean, WWE officially changed the returning Superstar’s in-ring name on this week’s “WWE Raw.” 

For starters, the television graphic referred to Yim as only “Michin” ahead of Team Bianca Belair’s in-ring promo, even though Yim was not present for the segment after being ambushed by Rhea Ripley in the backstage area. Furthermore, WWE’s official website made several changes to Yim’s profile page, referring to her as only “Michin” in the bio that recaps her WWE journey, including her participation in the inaugural Mae Young Classic in 2017, her run in “WWE NXT” and her recent return to the promotion as the solution to The O.C.’s “Rhea Problem.” Interestingly, the bio doesn’t include any information about her time as a member of RETRIBUTION.


WWE had filed to trademark the name “Michin” a few weeks ago, but it was previously believed that the moniker would only be used as Yim’s nickname, not her actual in-ring name. Yim herself confirmed the name change via Twitter, as seen below.

Michin will be a part of Team Bianca in a WarGames Match this Saturday at the Survivor Series premium live event. The team of Michin, Belair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka & a mystery partner will square off against Damage CTRL (Bayley, IYO SKY, Dakota Kai), Nikki Cross & Rhea Ripley. On this week’s “WWE Raw” in Albany, NY, Ripley defeated Asuka in a WarGames Advantage Match to secure the entrance order advantage for her team on Saturday. After the bout, Michin attacked Ripley, leading to a brawl between the two women as the show went off the air. 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Mia Yim Returns On WWE RAW, Joins The O.C.

On last night’s WWE RAW, The O.C. gained a new member in a familiar face.

As The O.C. faced off against The Judgement Day, AJ Styles said they didn’t find a solution to their Rhea Ripley problem, it found them, a masked figure came in and attacked Rhea Ripley. It was revealed to be the returning Mia Yim.

Yim was previously released from WWE in November of 2021 and had been working the independent scene ever since. She also had a run with Impact Wrestling that ended last month.

Several IMPACT Wrestling Stars Exits The Company

It appears that Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Vincent and Maria Kanellis-Bennett are finished with IMPACT Wrestling are done with the company.

In a segment taped Saturday night, that will air on the Thursday, October 20 episode on AXS TV, Eddie Edwards questioned the loyalty and current efforts of Honor No More. After weeks of being disrespected by the group, PCO snapped and took out Taven, Bennett, Vincent and Edwards.

Following the segment, which will not air on television, Taven, Bennett, Vincent and Maria went back in the ring, acknowledged the crowd, giving the impression that they are done with the company.

According to a report by PWInsider on Sunday the four are believed to be done with IMPACT Wrestling. However, the departures have not been fully confirmed by our sources as of this writing.

After making her return to IMPACT Wrestling this past May, Mia Yim’s contract has expired, with no extension, thus making her a free-agent. After being released from her WWE deal last November 2021, Yim made her surprise return at the Under Siege PPV, where she came out helping out Taya Valkyrie after Deonna Purrazzo attacked her after their match.

Yim lost to Mickie James at last Friday’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view and officially finished up with the company at this past Saturday’s TV tapings.

Yim, is the the real-life wife of AEW star Keith Lee.

Source: WrestleView

WWE Closing Twitch & Cameo Pages?, AJ Styles Reacts, Paige Talks Unionization

It looks like WWE is in the process of shutting down Twitch & Mixer streaming channels owned by several Superstars. Cameo accounts are also being deactivated.

AJ Styles took to Discord this afternoon and announced that he was suspending his “Stylesclash” accounts on Mixer and Twitch due to WWE’s new policy on unauthorized third party platform activity. Styles thanked his fans for the support and memories. He also said he will be leaving his Discord server up to keep in touch with fans for future happenings.

“@everyone, I want to thank you for all the greatest memories on Mixer and Twitch,” AJ wrote. “I will cherish these memories and I love everyone of you that have made this possible and supported me. As many of you know WWE is making some changes that involve streaming. We will see what the future holds in that regard.

“With that being said I will be suspending Stylesclash stream. This isn’t good bye, but this is see you sometime in the future. We will leave discord open, but since it won’t be monitored we will be making changes. Chris or I will let you know what that looks like once we figure it out. If you see me at the arenas or wherever be sure to let me know you’re part of the phenomenal family. Again this isn’t the end it’s just a pause. Thank you again for your support.”

Mia Yim (Reckoning of RETRIBUTION) announced on Twitter that her “ItsMeSYB” Twitch stream is also being pulled down, right before her scheduled gameplay with Jessamyn Duke.

“Sorry guys, no more stream for the time being. Thank you for making these past few difficult months manageable. It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later. [blue heart emoji],” Yim wrote.

Cesaro announced that he was suspending his “Claudio’s Cafe” channel on Twitch today during a stream.

“Well I appreciate everybody spending some time here with me,” Cesaro said. “I don’t know when the next stream is gonna be… I’ll definitely let you guys know. … Thank everybody for spending your time with me here. Thanks for the subs, thanks for the gifts, thanks for the follows. I really do appreciate it. I hope I’ll be back soon, but when? I don’t know. So, yeah… one last race, who are we gonna race today? So yeah, I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Paige got emotional during one of her Twitch streams this afternoon on her “Saraya Official” channel after finding out about co-workers shutting down their platforms.

“You guys. We have to make this… you guys. There may be a time where I have to stop streaming,” Paige said. “So, I just think in case I walk away, if I have to walk away, let’s make these next two streams crazy. I have to go off. If I have to leave, we make today and Saturday f–king crazy before I have to leave, because it might have to come to that.

Paige continued texting, apparently with co-workers on her phone, and came back to the camera. She was more emotional as she went back to addressing her viewers. She then commented that she “cannot deal” with WWE anymore. She also blamed the company for over-working her, to the point that she suffered the career-ending neck injury during a WWE live event match in December 2017.

“I’ve honestly got to the point where I cannot deal with this company anymore,” Paige said. “So now I have to make a very important decision. I’m f–king tired, man. I broke my f–king neck twice, twice for this company, over f–king worked. I broke my neck twice for this company and all I wanted was to… they don’t realize that this community isn’t just about f–king subs. It isn’t about that. It isn’t about that. We built a wonderful community, a wonderful f–king family where this is an escape for a lot of people, including myself.

“I can’t wrestle anymore, I was worked so hard in WWE that I can’t wrestle anymore. My neck is f–ked, my whole dream got taken away from me, dude, and I had to have something that fulfilled even a small part of that huge f–king void that I lost with wrestling. A huge f–king void. I couldn’t wrestle anymore, something I lived, breathed, f–king s–t wrestling since I was a fetus, dude, and it got ripped away from me, and I had to find something that even filled a little bit of that. Twitch was such a wonderful thing for me, it’s such a wonderful place for me.”

Paige continued and wondered why WWE is taking away her platform while she just sits at home, unable to wrestle.

“And I understand,” Paige said. “I understand if they’re like, ‘Hey, if you’re wrestling every day, if you’re doing shows every day, if you’re on TV constantly.’ That’s fine, but I’m a f–king injured wrestler. I can’t wrestle anymore. I get used for media stuff sometimes, you know? But at the end of the day I’m in my f–king house. I’m going f–king crazy, dude. I need something to keep me sane, man, and Twitch was my escape from that, you know? Right now I’m just sitting on my f–king ass.”

Paige also brought up her private photos & videos that were leaked on the internet a few years ago, and her failed drug tests, and relationship with former WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio. She also accused WWE of treating her bad.

“I had a terrible couple of years where I had tapes leaked about me, where I popped a couple of drug tests because I was in an abusive f–king relationship, dude,” Paige said. “And that’s the only thing I could f–king do. See, people think I should be thankful that I still have a f–king job, right? And I am, but it doesn’t mean I should be treated like f–king s–t.”

Paige said at one point that she would keep streaming because her neck was taken away twice and she won’t allow WWE to take away her Twitch next. She also mentioned potential unionization in pro wrestling, revealing that she’s been in touch with a unionization lawyer.

“People don’t realize I’m outspoken as f–k,” Paige said. I will say how I feel. I don’t care who you are. I will say how I feel because I don’t like being walked all over. … You know what? I’m gonna start looking more into unionization. I’ve been learning about it by a unionization lawyer.

“This is bigger than Twitch, it’s about taking f–king control of your own life and not being controlled by anyone. I gave ten years, man. I poured my f–king heart and soul into this. I had a bad couple of years like every motherf–ker has. I’m not the only one who is f–king controversial around here, I’m not the only one. It’s f–king louder when it comes to me because I’m a f–king female. I hate using that because I’m a woman but it’s because I’m a woman and women don’t usually stand up for themselves.”

Paige went on and said she will continue to stream for her fans, and see how the situation plays out. Paige said she loves WWE but doesn’t agree with what is being done in regards to the third party activity. She noted that she understands that this is a business decision, and nothing personal, but she still doesn’t have to agree with it. She also noted that she felt sad at first, but now she feels empowered after speaking out on the latest stream. She told fans that she will be speaking out with more of what’s on her mind over the next couple of days.

WWE couple Zelina Vega and Aleister Black also discussed the situation on their “AtoZ” Twitch channel. They reiterated that they are not 100% sure of what will happen to the account as they have not talked to “the office” but they know there will be a conversation on the matter at SmackDown on Friday.

“In all fairness, we don’t know,” Black said. “We don’t know but it’s starting to look like, obviously that this might be the last one for a while. We haven’t been told anything, but obviously tomorrow is TV, and I know that there’s going to be a conversation tomorrow. But, like, it’s not definite, it’s not like this is the last final stream ever.”

Vega added, “Although it could be. I want you to be prepared for that, too.”

Black continued, “It could be but we don’t think it is, but you never know. I think what’s happening is they’re trying to find a way to make it coexist within the WWE Universe and whatever way that they want to do that, I don’t know, and if we agree to that, I don’t know. I literally can’t tell you anything because we don’t know anything.”

“Only because we haven’t been told anything from the office,” Vega added.

Black and Vega acknowledged the statements by Styles and Yim, and said they made those because they were told separately. Vega said it’s their business and she’s not sure if Yim and Styles have had conversations with the office, but she and Black have not.

“I think you can definitely say this is the last one for a while, for at least a while, and I don’t know how long that while is. Obviously tomorrow [at SmackDown] we’re going to get a little more clarity on things, but I don’t know,” Black said.

Like Styles, Black and Vega plan to keep their Discord server open so they can interact with fans.

“I’m just going to be candid,” Vega said. “And just like, we don’t know but we have a good idea, and there’s the whole ‘trying to make it work for everybody’ stage that we’re in right now, and we’re hoping that there is some kind of middle ground. Is there? There may not be because the thing is, that sounds great, you know? And I hope there is. It sounds like middle ground would be awesome, but I also want to prepare people.”

She added, “Because I don’t want to give you guys hope and then slap you guys in the face and go, ‘Sorry!’ You know what I mean?”

“We’re preparing you for both,” Vega said. “We’re preparing you for the, ‘Hey we figured out something and it’s kind of going to be different and it’s going to work somehow.’ But it’s not going to be exactly what this is because I don’t think it’ll ever be this, it’ll be different if there is that, but there’s also the side of, ‘We just have to stop.’ I want you guys to be prepared for both. I just want to be 100% honest with you.”

Black and Vega acknowledged Paige being upfront and honest with her viewers, and not holding anything back. Vega recalled how Paige also said officials have not said anything concrete to her either, but Vega is sure something will happen to the third party activity. Black and Vega also commented on how they built their platform together, with the fans, despite Black being a very private person.

On a related note, several WWE Superstars have deactivated their Cameo accounts as well, and are no longer taking requests from fans. RSN discovered that Big E, Riddle, Kevin Owens and others have all deactivated their Cameo accounts, which were big earners for some wrestlers. There are some WWE Superstars who remain on Cameo, such as Lacey Evans and Mandy Rose, among others. It remains to be seen if their accounts will be deactivated soon like the others.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Mia Yim Replaced By Dakota Kai In WWE NXT WarGames Match Tonight

There was an injury angle on tonight’s WWE NXT “Takeover: WarGames 2019” Pre-show that saw Mia Yim suffer an injury after a backstage attack by a mystery attacker. Team Captain Rhea Ripley later talked Dakota Kai into replacing Yim.

Yim legitimately suffered a broken nose during her Ladder Match loss to Io Shirai last Wednesday, so that could be why she was pulled.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1198390359019028480

Below is the updated Takeover card for tonight:

Mens’ WarGames Match:  The Undisputed ERA (Adam Cole (Captain), Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Tommaso Ciampa (Captain), Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, and TBA

Women’s WarGames Match: Rhea Ripley (Captain), Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai, and Candice LeRae vs. Shayna Baszler (Captain), Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, and Kay Lee Ray

Finn Balor vs. Matt Riddle

Pete Dunne vs. Damian Priest vs. Killian Dain
Winner faces NXT Champion Adam Cole at Survivor Series.

Pre-show
Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Angel Garza

Mia Yim To Make NXT Live Event Debut This Saturday

Image result for mia yim wwe

Mae Young Classic competitor Mia Yim will be making her first NXT Live event appearance this weekend now that she’s reportedly been signed to WWE.

NXT’s Twitter account announced:

https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1045372627978788866

Yim’s signing was reported by multiple outlets after she appeared in a video at the Performance Center, making her the first unsigned competitor from this year’s tournament to have been offered a contract at this point.

Tickets for the event in Fort Pierce are still AVAILABLE HERE.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE Officially Signs Former Knockouts Champion Mia Yim

Image result for mia yim wwe

It’s now confirmed that Mia Yim (Jade in TNA, Impact Wrestling) has signed with WWE.

The 2018 Mae Young Classic competitor started with WWE back on Sunday, September 16, according to PWInsider. We noted before that there was speculation on Yim, a former TNA Knockouts Champion, signing after she appeared in a WWE NXT Twitter video from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

Yim recently revealed on Twitter that she’s dating NXT Superstar Keith Lee. She also revealed she’s roommates with Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke.

Source: WrestlingINC