Kayla Klingensmith ( ' Inlay ; born May 23, 1997) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Kiana James''', managing Giulia. She is a former one-time NXT Women's Tag Team Champion (with Fallon Henley).
Early life
Kayla Inlay was born on May 23, 1997 in Sioux City, Iowa. She completed her secondary education at East High School and later graduated from Morningside University in 2019 with a degree in science.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2021–2022)
Inlay trained to become a professional wrestler at the Flatbacks Wrestling School in
Apopka,
Florida under
Shawn Spears and
Tyler Breeze. On the September 21, 2021 episode of
AEW Dark (taped on September 11), she made her in-ring debut under the
ring name Xtina Kay, losing to
The Bunny.
WWE
NXT (2022–2024)
Inlay made her
WWE debut under her real name on the February 1, 2022 episode of
WWE NXT, losing to
Sarray.
Inlay was repackaged as
Kiana James and took on a heel businesswoman gimmick, debuting in the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament on May 17, losing to
Roxanne Perez in the first round.
James would have her first televised win on the June 24 episode of
NXT Level Up by defeating Brooklyn Barlow.
On the July 19 episode of
NXT, James competed in a 20-woman battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, eliminating
Fallon Henley but was eliminated by
Nikkita Lyons.
James then feuded with Lyons after insulting her looks but lost to her on the August 9 episode of
NXT and in a tag match alongside Arianna Grace against Lyons and
Zoey Stark on the September 13 episode of
NXT.
James would have a short feud with
Dana Brooke on
Main Event, defeating her on November 3.
James would start a feud against Henley with whom she would bet her parents' bar against the offer that James offered her.
On the November 29 episode of
NXT, James defeated Henley.
At
NXT Deadline, James competed in the Women's Iron Survivor Challenge to determine the number one contender to
Mandy Rose's NXT Women's Championship, which was won by Perez.
On the December 27 episode of
NXT, James ended her feud with Henley after losing to her in a Battle for the Bar.
At on January 10, 2023, James competed in a 20-woman battle royal to determine the number one contender to Roxanne Perez's NXT Women's Championship, being eliminated by Lyra Valkyria.
Onward, she would begin a short rivalry with new NXT Women's Champion Becky Lynch, even as so far as to aid Tiffany Stratton in their attacks. They eventually lost to Lynch and Lyra Valkyria in a tag team match on the September 19 episode of NXT.
Main roster (2024–present)
At the Night 1 of the WWE Draft on the April 26, 2024 episode of
SmackDown, James was drafted to the Raw brand.
On the June 3 episode of
WWE Raw, James defeated
Natalya Neidhart in her main roster debut match.
On the June 17 episode of
Raw, James competed in a triple threat money in the bank qualifying match which was won by
Iyo Sky. It was later revealed that James had suffered a leg injury and would be out of action for over a year. James returned from injury on the July 18, 2025 episode of
Main Event, where she lost to
Michin.
She would make her
SmackDown debut on the July 25 episode, revealing that she would represent Women's United States Champion Giulia, thus moving over to the SmackDown brand.
On January 31, 2026 at Royal Rumble, James made her women's Royal Rumble match debut as the third entrant lasting 27 minutes before being eliminated by Raquel Rodriguez.
Championships and accomplishments
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WWE
-
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
-
Ranked No. 166 of the top 250 female singles wrestlers in the PWI in 2023
External links
