Willow Nightingale facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Willow Nightingale |
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Nightingale in January 2020
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| Birth name | Danielle Paultre |
| Born | January 25, 1994 North Valley Stream, New York, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Eye Candy Willa Monet Willow Monet Willow Nightingale |
| Billed height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Billed weight | 183 lb (83 kg) |
| Billed from | Long Island, New York |
| Trained by | Bull James Mike Mondo |
| Debut | February 27, 2015 |
Danielle Paultre (born January 25, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. She is much better known by her wrestling name, Willow Nightingale. She works for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she is part of a group called The Conglomeration. She used to be the AEW TBS Champion.
Willow also wrestles for other big companies. She was the very first Strong Women's Champion in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). She also held the CMLL World Women's Championship in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Before joining these groups, Willow was known for wrestling in Ring of Honor and Shimmer Women Athletes.
Contents
Willow Nightingale's Wrestling Journey
Starting Her Wrestling Career
Danielle Paultre learned how to wrestle at the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) school. Her trainers were people like Mike Mondo. On February 27, 2015, she had her very first wrestling match. She used the name Willow Nightingale and wrestled at an NYWC event.
One year after her first match, Willow won her first title, the NYWC Starlet Championship. She held this title for a long time. In November 2018, she tried to win the Heart of Shimmer Championship but didn't succeed. She lost her NYWC Starlet Championship in February 2019. But on her birthday in January 2020, Willow won the NYWC Starlet Championship back in a special steel cage match! In February 2022, she won another title, the NYWC Fusion Championship, in a match with three other wrestlers.
Joining All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor
Chasing Championships (2021–2023)
Willow Nightingale first appeared in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on May 3, 2021. She had a match on AEW Dark: Elevation but lost. Soon after, she also started wrestling for Ring of Honor (ROH) in June. She won her first match there.
In August 2021, Willow joined a tournament to decide the first ROH Women's World Championship. She lost in the first round. Later that year, she won a match to become the number one challenger for the ROH Women's World Championship. In December, she wrestled for the title but didn't win. After this, ROH took a break. Then, the owner of AEW, Tony Khan, bought ROH.
In April 2022, Willow wrestled for an interim (temporary) ROH Women's World Championship but lost. She also took part in the Owen Hart Cup tournament in AEW but didn't qualify. In June, she challenged Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship but lost. She tried again for the TBS Championship later that year but lost once more. In October 2022, AEW officially announced that Willow Nightingale had signed a contract with them!
In June 2023, Willow defended her Strong Women's Championship on AEW television. This was the first time that title was defended outside of NJPW. She also teamed up with Skye Blue to win a tag team match. Willow then competed in the 2023 Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament. She won several matches and made it to the finals. On July 15, Willow defeated Ruby Soho to win the women's tournament! The next day, it was announced she would challenge Athena for the ROH Women's World Championship. This big match was the main event of a show called Death Before Dishonor, but Willow was not able to win the title. In September 2023, Willow got injured during a match and had to take time off.
Becoming TBS Champion and The Conglomeration (2023–present)
In late 2023, Willow Nightingale started teaming up with Kris Statlander. They had a manager named Stokely Hathaway. On April 21, 2024, at a big event called Dynasty, Willow defeated Julia Hart to win the AEW TBS Championship! This was a huge moment for her.
She successfully defended her TBS Championship in May. But later that month, at Double or Nothing, Willow lost the TBS Championship to Mercedes Moné. Her time as champion lasted 35 days. After the match, her tag team partner, Kris Statlander, attacked her, ending their team.
After this, Willow joined a new group called The Conglomeration. In July, she defeated Statlander in a match to move forward in the Owen Hart Cup tournament. However, she lost in the finals because Statlander interfered. In August, Willow teamed with Tomohiro Ishii to defeat Statlander and Hathaway. Because Willow's team won, she got to choose a special type of match for her next fight against Statlander. She chose a "Chicago Street Fight." This match was supposed to be for the CMLL World Women's Championship, but the CMLL company did not allow titles to be defended in street fights, so that part was removed. At All Out, Willow lost to Statlander, which ended their rivalry.
In October, Willow tried to win the AEW Women's World Championship but was not successful. After this, it was reported that she would take some time off to recover from a concussion. Willow returned in November at a big event called Full Gear. She helped her Conglomeration teammate, Orange Cassidy, by stopping someone from interfering in his match.
Wrestling in Japan
Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (2022)
On October 29, 2022, Willow Nightingale wrestled for the first time in Japan for Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling (TJPW). She teamed up with Yuka Sakazaki to win a tag team match.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2023–present)
In April 2023, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announced that Willow would be in a special tournament. This tournament was to find the very first Strong Women's Champion. At the event, Willow won her first match and then defeated Mercedes Moné in the finals to become the first-ever Strong Women's Champion!
She successfully defended her title in June. But on July 5, she lost the title to Giulia. Her time as champion lasted 45 days.
World Wonder Ring Stardom (2024–present)
On April 4, 2024, Willow Nightingale made her debut for World Wonder Ring Stardom, another big wrestling company in Japan. She teamed up with Saki and won her match. In May, she successfully defended her AEW TBS Championship against Tam Nakano in Japan.
Wrestling in Mexico
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2024–present)
Willow Nightingale first wrestled in Mexico for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) on March 29, 2024. She teamed with two other wrestlers and won their match. On July 13, Willow defeated two opponents to win the vacant CMLL World Women's Championship! She held this title until September 13, when she lost it to Zeuxis.
Championships and Achievements
Willow Nightingale has won many championships and awards during her career:
- All Elite Wrestling
- AEW TBS Championship (1 time)
- Women's Owen Hart Cup (2023)
- Chikara
- Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas (1 time) – with Solo Darling
- Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
- CMLL World Women's Championship (1 time)
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling
- Strong Women's Championship (1 time, she was the first champion)
- Strong Women's Championship Tournament (2023)
- New York Wrestling Connection
- NYWC Starlet Championship (3 times)
- NYWC Fusion Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 40 among the top 150 female wrestlers in 2022
- Ranked No. 8 among the top 250 women's wrestlers in 2023 and 2024
- Queens of Combat
- QOC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Faye Jackson
- Women's Wrestling Revolution
- Tournament for Tomorrow (2018) – with Solo Darling
- Other Championships
- Adult Swim Booty Championship (1 time, current; she was the first champion) - with Orange Cassidy
See also
In Spanish: Willow Nightingale para niños
