By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Bahamian track and field athlete Alexis Gray, who is also known by stage names Kaylia Capri and Sierra Breeze, is thoroughly enjoying her introduction to pro wrestling since transitioning to the sport in January 2023. 

The Texas Southern University graduate initially started her pro wrestling career with World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) NXT Developmental brand last year, but she has now moved to the Women of Wrestling (WOW) Superheroes brand where she intends to take her wrestling career to the next level.

Gray made her wrestling debut on WOW Superheroes last week against former WOW World champion Penelope Pink at the Belasco in Los Angeles, California. Although she was defeated following an inverted DDT by Pink, the Bahamian wrestler’s WOW debut video made its rounds on social media as Bahamians offered their support.

The former WWE Developmental Star spoke with Tribune Sports about how it felt to observe the support from Bahamians.

“That actually caught me by surprise because I didn’t even get to post it before someone on Facebook posted it. When she posted it, that is really when it spread like wildfire and I saw it on the Bahamian TikTok page with 40k views. It is so crazy that I am impacting the country like this and it left me in awe because that WOW episode is my very first introduction into WOW. Since then, anytime I have stepped into the ring has just been more experiences, more things I have learnt and applied to myself and it is just exhilarating,” she said.

The former track and field athlete completed her tenure at Texas Southern University in 2019 with a degree in Biology with concentration in Chemistry. She was preparing to pursue a Master’s Degree when officials from the WWE reached out to her to come to tryouts in Dallas, Texas. She was successful at the tryouts and signed a contract which prompted her to move to Orlando, Florida. 

Gray stayed with the WWE NXT brand until September 2023 and then joined WOW Superheroes in October.

When asked how she would describe her transition from track and field to the wrestling ring, she used the word “interesting”.

“I would describe it as interesting. It is just so interesting that I have worked my whole life to be a trackstar and get these degrees to be a doctor and wrestling literally fell into my life. It is very interesting and I am all for interesting,”  she said

The former sprinter acknowledged that although wrestling is her new love, she has taken the lessons learned in track and field with her to the wrestling ring and also applied them to her life.

“Track and field is that sport that completely shows you how commitment can help you to skyrocket. It keeps you humble as well because even though you can be consistent there are days that will be an absolute mess and you have to be mentally strong enough to pull yourself out of that rut and still push for more. Track and field shows you that you have many pathways to get to your goal…I know what I want my life to look like but I do not want to commit to one specific path,” she said.

With that being said, the former national champion did not mince words when expressing her desire to be one of the top wrestlers on the WOW Superheroes roster.

“I plan to get back in there and really establish myself. I need these women to know this is not gonna be just another girl who got a wrestling job and she was just good. The story is not gonna be like that. It is gonna be a story where I stepped into that building and they felt my presence from the moment I stepped in there… I wanna be the face of WOW. I think that is my short term goal to become a face at WOW, become a champion at WOW and establish my brand,” she said.

Before Gray can get back to working on her Sierra Breeze gimmick, she will be looking to put on a show for the home crowd on Saturday, June 29 at live pro wrestling event Baha Bash to be hosted at the Baha Mar Resort.

She is big on representing the Bahamian brand even in her newest gimmick as Sierra Breeze. The 26-year-old talked about how she has made her newest character relatable to Bahamians.

“I have integrated the ‘get offs’ into my gimmick because one thing Bahamians know how to do is be unserious and ‘get off’. I think using that made me more personable. Before they say I like her because her outfit is cute, she is pretty or because of her hair, I want people to say I like her because of who she is,” she said.

Capri will be making an appearance at Fusion Superplex on June 22 to host a Meet-and-Greet along with other wrestlers. Tickets are priced at $10 for supporters interested in attending.

Next up will be the Baha Bash event presented by All Caribbean Wrestling (ACW) on June 29.