{"id":74305,"date":"2020-08-11T14:01:42","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T18:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=74305"},"modified":"2020-08-11T14:01:42","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T18:01:42","slug":"vanessa-kraven-announces-her-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/08\/11\/vanessa-kraven-announces-her-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanessa Kraven Announces Her Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><strong>Vanessa Kraven<\/strong> announced on Tuesday that she would not be returning to wrestling. Kraven had been out of active competition since late 2018 due to a couple of serious injuries, both a broken leg and ankle. Throughout 2019, she made some sporadic appearances, such as at <em><strong>The Summit<\/strong><\/em> in August 2019. This was a special co-promoted women&#8217;s show with <strong>Smash Wrestling<\/strong>, <strong>NCW Femmes Fatales<\/strong>, <strong>RISE Wrestling<\/strong>, and <strong>SHIMMER<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"zxx\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3H2MT1Qk9x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/3H2MT1Qk9x<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Vanessa Kraven \ud83d\ude08\ud83c\udfd4 \u3079\u30cd\u30c3\u30b5\u30fb\u30b6\u30fb\u30de\u30a6\u30f3\u30c6\u30f3 (@VanessaMtKraven) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VanessaMtKraven\/status\/1293231025234104323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 11, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Vanessa Kraven, also known as Mount Kraven or simply The Mountain, debuted in wrestling in April of 2004. She trained under <strong>Ron Hutchinson<\/strong>, who also trained other superstars such as <strong>Trish Stratus<\/strong>, <strong>Edge<\/strong> and <strong>Christian<\/strong>, <strong>Gail Kim<\/strong> and <strong>Traci Brooks<\/strong>. Standing six feet tall, she was a powerful presence and wrestler. In her 16 year career, Kraven began working in her native Canada. She frequented promotions such as <strong>Northern Championship Wrestling<\/strong> (NCW), <strong>International Wrestling Syndicate<\/strong> (IWS), <strong>Association de Lutte Feminine<\/strong> (ALF), and others in her early years. In 2006, Vanessa made her debut in the United States for <strong>IWA Mid-South<\/strong>. She also made her debut in Japan for a freelance show and <strong>NEO Women&#8217;s Pro Wrestling<\/strong>. Vanessa also worked for <strong>Ice Ribbon<\/strong> and <strong>Pro Wrestling WAVE<\/strong> in 2008.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14777\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/02\/Capture-5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"553\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/02\/Capture-5.png 553w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/02\/Capture-5-300x161.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 553px) 100vw, 553px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 2012, Vanessa would debut for promotions who would become her homes, such as Smash Wrestling, <strong>C4 Wrestling<\/strong>, and SHIMMER Women Athletes. There would, of course, be others over the years to come: <strong>Shine Wrestling<\/strong>, <strong>Acclaim Pro Wrestling<\/strong>, <strong>BATTLEWAR Pro Wrestling<\/strong>, <strong>North Shore Pro Wrestling<\/strong>, <strong>Pro Wrestling Eclipse<\/strong>, and many more. Vanessa Kraven would also be part of <strong>WWE&#8217;s<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2018\/08\/01\/mae-young-classic-vanessa-kraven\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second <em><strong>Mae Young Classic<\/strong><\/em><\/a> in 2018. She would lose in the first round to future NXT Superstar Kayden Carter (then known as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/09\/25\/lacey-lane-debuts-on-nxt-on-usa-as-kayden-carter\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lacey Lane<\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">She held a handful of titles in her career, the NCW Feminin Championship, the APW Heavyweight Championship, the PWE Flame Championship, the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship, and the NCW Femmes Fatales International Championship. The last two were especially prolific. Kraven held the Femmes Fatales title for an impressive 434 days; she and <strong>Tessa Blanchard<\/strong> as Mount Tessa were SHIMMER Tag Team Champions for 363 days.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14778\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14778\" style=\"width: 378px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14778\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/02\/Mount_Tessa-775x1024-e1519668163116.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"378\" height=\"500\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14778\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: SHIMMER<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In addition to her injuries, Vanessa was also impacted by the movement started earlier in 2020 called Speaking Out. In her statement, she cites the COVID-19 pandemic as well as her reflections following Speaking Out as some of her reasons to decide to step away from the ring for good. There is a possibility of appearances and her support in the future but the shadow of Mount Kraven will no longer loom in the squared circle, just in history. We here at Last Word on Pro Wrestling thank Vanessa for her contributions to pro wrestling and wish her well in wherever life takes her.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lacey Lane vs. Vanessa Kraven - First-Round Match: Mae Young Classic, Sept. 5, 2018\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-NQfSNDyrsI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FREE MATCH- Vanessa Kraven vs Xandra Bale - Smash Wrestling\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LcU7EJbiZlA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SHIMMER Women&#039;s Wrestling - Kay Lee Ray vs. Vanessa Kraven - SHIMMER 62 on April 5, 2014\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5kRkrAe-tos?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Looking to talk wrestling, pro football, or any number of sports? Head on over to the\u00a0<\/span><\/em><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/boards\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">LWOS Boards<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to engage in conversation with fellow fans!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vanessa Kraven announced on Tuesday that she would not be returning to wrestling. Kraven had been out of active competition since late 2018 due to a couple of serious injuries, both a broken leg and ankle. Throughout 2019, she made some sporadic appearances, such as at The Summit in August 2019. This was a special [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2695,"featured_media":23137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,6,324,318,317],"tags":[896,2776,1717,6756,303,827],"class_list":["post-74305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-north-america","category-other","category-shimmer","category-women","tag-mae-young-classic","tag-mae-young-classic-ii","tag-mount-tessa","tag-ncw-femmes-fatales","tag-tessa-blanchard","tag-vanessa-kraven"],"modified_by":"Brandi Wagner","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2695"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}