History -- Credit: Wikipedia
Nicole Raczynski (born April 19, 1979) is an American former professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring names Roxxi Laveaux and Roxxi. She is also known for her time in Shimmer Women Athletes and various other independent promotions under the ring name Nikki Roxx.Growing up, Raczynski attended professional wrestling events at the Boston Garden with her parents. She trained as a wrestler under Killer Kowalski at the urging of April Hunter who was already training there. Raczynski was allowed to train at the school for free, according to her, because of Kowalski's "soft spot for the women that were trying to get into the business" (other women, such as Chyna, are known to have paid, possibly because one of Kowalski's own students urged her to train). She debuted in March 2002 under the ring name Nikki Roxx and later formed a tag team with Hunter called The Killer Babes. Raczynski wrestled in numerous North American independent promotions such as Shimmer Women Athletes, Squared Circle Wrestling, Women's Extreme Wrestling (WEW), Professional Girl Wrestling Association, New England Championship Wrestling, Defiant Pro Wrestling, MXW Pro Wrestling, World Women's Wrestling, Chaotic Wrestling and Ring of Honor (ROH). She has also wrestled in Mexico for promotions such as Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Lucha Libre Femenil and Asistencia AsesorÃa y Administración (AAA).
In October 2013, Raczynski announced her retirement from professional wrestling in order to concentrate on her fitness career and company. Her retirement match was promoted by Lucky Pro Wrestling (LPW) on December 6 in Clinton, Massachusetts. On December 6, Roxx defeated Alexxis in her retirement match.
Why does Nikki makes the list for this feature? Simply put, she was a trailblazer LONG before the whole movement of the Divas Revolution in WWE came around. She was one of the original mainstays for the TNA Knockouts division back during the initial boom period of the division back in mid to late 2007. She started off as the simple "Voodoo Queen" valet to the Voodoo Kin Mafia stable, consisting of WWE's former New Age Outlaws Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, but later evolved into a female fighting force of her own. She began to gain a niche following of fans that grew into many people supporting her, despite her heelish disposition.
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| Fun Fact: Raczynski is the innovator of the Barbie Crusher/Voodoo Drop (Hammerlock Guillotine Drop) finishing move. |
My Thoughts:
I first discovered Nicole Raczynski when I was taking a break from WWE in the post-Invasion angle era of professional wrestling and I was experimenting by checking out as many independent wrestling promotions as possible. By some chance or another, I picked up a few of the early SHIMMER DVD volumes and saw one of her matches when she was still working as Nikki Roxx. I instantly became a fan of her work and became even more excited when I recognized her as the "Voodoo Queen" Roxxi Laveaux in TNA Wrestling's Voodoo Kin Mafia stable.Shortly after that, TNA Wrestling debuted their women's division, known as the Knockouts division with Roxxi among the founding members of that roster. As a fan, I remember being upset that she was on a hot streak to get a Knockouts title shot at Sacrifice 2008 (see below) but ultimately lost that title shot to Gail Kim and getting her head shaved as a result of losing the Makeover Battle Royal. I suppose I felt that Roxxi was TNA Knockouts' reincarnation of WWE's own Molly Holly - who would prove to be the workhorse time and time again, only to make everyone she worked with look like a million bucks. When you talk to women's wrestling fans about amazing talent in WWE and TNA/Impact Wrestling, you get the same few names - Lita and Trish Stratus or occasionally Chyna and/or Victoria from the older WWE fans while the younger fans give you Paige, AJ Lee, and Sasha Banks right off the top of their heads. Then you have those same fans mention Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, and the Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) but I have personally never heard someone mention or take note of Roxxi's talents. If you ask me, while Gail Kim and Awesome Kong represent the cream of the crop concerning TNA Knockouts, but just about everyone in the first generation of Knockouts were all legendary in their own right. If Gail Kim is referred to as the heart and foundation of the Knockouts division, then Roxxi could be referred to as the soul of that very division. Whether when she was the Voodoo Queen or the Hardcore Knockout, Roxxi was definitely had an aura about her that made personally invest into her matches. You knew that she was going to put everything she had into that match, whether it was going to kill her or not and no matter what size of the crowd - big or small.
I'm finding it rather ironic that WWE's developmental brand, NX,T took pretty much the archetype of her character and literally handed it off to Bayley to massive success in her own right, so I don't understand why many promotions - especially TNA/Impact Wrestling didn't market her into a huge star when they had the chance? Your guess is as good as mine as a fan, but I have thoroughly enjoyed following her career for the last few years. It's a shame that more women's wrestling fans won't have the opportunity to see her wrestling in her prime. I hope to remedy that with my readers here taking the opportunity now to check out some of her matches that I have provided below.
Take a bow, Nicole Raczynski. You deserve it. Definitely on the top of my list of women's wrestlers who should have made it into bigger stars in this industry and definitely one of the best TNA Knockouts to never hold the Knockouts Championship.
Hand-Picked Favorite Matches:
Note: I take NO credit for uploading or creating the following videos. I merely want to expose my readers to Nikki's talents.
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