A new ad for the June 1 & 2 TV tapings for Impact Wrestling at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada – in association with Windsor’s own Border City Wrestling (which is operated by Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore) – revealed more names who will be at the TV tapings apart from current Impact regulars like Impact World Champion Austin Aries, Knockouts Champion Allie, X-Division Champion Matt Sydal and other stars like Sami Callihan, Moose, and Brian Cage, plus newcomers like Su Yung and Keira Hogan. It also re-confirmed their past reveal that Lucha Underground Champion Pentagon Jr. will be appearing at the tapings, as well as revealed that his Lucha Brothers and former Lucha Underground Champion Rey Fenix will also be at the tapings. It also announced that a few BCW stars, who were featured at the Impact One Night Only: March Breakdown, such as Aiden Prince, Phil Atlas, El Reverso and former Team Canada member A1, would also be on the card (perhaps in matches taped for Xplosion). But perhaps the most interesting face on the poster was that of former 2x Knockouts Champion Winter, better known to some as former WWE Superstar Katie Lea Burchill.
Official poster for @IMPACTWRESTLING TV Tapings live from @StClairCollege June 1st and June 2nd – Get your tickets online NOW at https://t.co/iGcef2cixT pic.twitter.com/4ZI0Gp1WFp
— Border City Wrestling (@bcwonline) April 18, 2018
Winter was last seen in Impact Wrestling in June of 2012, on the losing end of a feud with another former Knockouts Champion in Tara (aka WWE’s Victoria). She debuted in Impact Wrestling in December of 2010, as the new partner of Angelina Love, capturing the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles in her debut match, over Madison Rayne & Tara. Once she entered the singles scene in 2011, she would capture the Knockouts title twice, first defeating Mickie James at TNA Hardcore Justice ’11 and then defeating her again at TNA No Surrender ’11, in a feud that last all summer. She then feuded with Velvet Sky, before closing out with Tara in 2012.
Born in Germany but raised in England, she made her wrestling debut in 2000 with NWA Hammerlock UK as Nikita, before heading to Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) in 2002. She worked other UK indies of the day, including Liverpool’s All Star Wrestling (ASW), Futureshock and the Knight Family’s World Association of Wrestling (WAW), as well as SHIMMER in the US. She signed with the WWE in 2006 and began working at their developmental in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and then Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), before making her WWE debut in 2008 as Katie Lea Burchill, the sister of Paul Burchill. For the next two years, they were using very stop and start pushes, but Katie Lea had feuds with the likes of Mickie James (which she’d return to years later in TNA), Gail Kim, Melina and The Bella Twins, before her release in the spring of 2010.
Since her departure from TNA in 2012, she’s continued to work the international indies as Katarina Leigh, including WCPW/Defiant Wrestling in the UK as well as Bar Wrestling and Maverick Pro Wrestling, where she’s the current Women’s Champion.
