Candice Blair | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Blair at an SSW live event in early 2018. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Candice Blair Fernandez-Ava (born May 19, 1993), better known by her ring name Candice Blair, is an American professional wrestler and model currently signed to Omega Wrestling Alliance. She formerly appeared in Strong Style Wrestling and Elite Answers Wrestling's developmental territory, NEO, as well as its offshoot company, War Made Wrestling where she was its inaugural and only Valkyries Champion.
Early Life[]
Ava was born in San Francisco, California, and raised both there and in Los Angeles. Her mother is Mexican-American and her father is of Spanish ancestry. She is the youngest of four sisters, preceded in birth by twins Cameron Ella (an eventual EAW Hall of Famer) and Consuela Rose, and other older sister Camille Jane (also known by her ring name, Ms. Extreme). Although she is close with her mother, she has little to no memory of her father and says she is content with not having a relationship with him. She was active in cheerleading in middle and high school and eventually began training to become a wrestler during her junior year.
Professional Wrestling Career[]
XMW (2011)[]
Ava joined XMW at the age of eighteen, shortly after graduating high school. Her tenure in the company, however, was short-lived.
Elite Answers Wrestling (2016 - 2017)[]
War Made Wrestling (2017)[]
It was announced that Ava had signed with EAW, the company for which both of her older sisters already worked, in December 2016. The announcement came in tandem with the announcement that EAW was reviving its offshoot project, War Made Wrestling, the following month. She debuted under the shortened name Candice Blair on the premiere January 23 broadcast, where she last eliminated Cassiopeia in a Steel Gauntlet to be crowned the Valkyries Champion. On the February 6 episode, she defeated Bianca Auriel.
Developmental (2017)[]
In January 2017, Ava was assigned to the EAW Performance Center. She later debuted in a tweener role once again going by her full name of Candice Blair Ava.
Strong Style Wrestling (2018)[]
Shoot Nation (2018)[]
In January 2018, Ava signed with Japan-based Strong Style Wrestling. Once again being addressed as Candice Blair, on January 14, she was announced as a founding member of Shoot Nation alongside Levi Maximus, Masanori Kawada, Ken Matsuda, and leader Jaydayne Pendragon.
Omega Wrestling Alliance (2018 - present)[]
Blair signed with Philadelphia-based Omega Wrestling Alliance in March 2018.
Modeling Career []
Almost immediately after leaving XMW, Ava embarked on a successful modeling career, which she now juggles in addition to wrestling.
Other Media[]
Ava was featured as a cast member on The Plunge, a reality show aired on the EAW Network that details the life of Performance Center recruits. She is also a recurring cast member on True Avas.
Personal Life[]
Around the age of twenty, Ava battled with depression and the abuse of drugs and alcohol. Consequently, she spent time in rehab and credits this with helping her to beat her addictions. She says the influence of Camille, who was most instrumental in urging her to get help, made a world of difference.
Though a natural brunette, Ava dyes her hair frequently, having been seen in a wide range of shades including platinum blonde, pink, purple, light blue, and red.
Ava currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, and had lived there for about six months prior to signing with SSW. She describes her sisters, Heart Break Gal, and Cleopatra as her biggest influences in wrestling.
In Wrestling[]
- Finishing Moves
- Abracadabra (Shining wizard)
- Ava Lock (STF) -- adopted from Cameron Ella Ava & Consuela Rose Ava
- Candy Crush (Double-knee facebreaker)
- Death Drop (Spin suplex facebuster)
- Signature Moves
- Candy Kick (Shoot kick)
- Corkscrew neckbreaker
- Diving elbow
- Inverted DDT
- Kicks to the head
- Little Bit of Blair (Handspring back elbow)
- Moonsault
- Multiple suplex variations
- Dragon
- German
- Northern Lights
- Snap dragon
- Tiger
- Reverse frankensteiner
- STO
- Sunset flip
- Tope con hilo
- Nicknames
- "The Princess of NEO"
- "The White Canary"
- Managers
- Cameron Ella Ava
- Camille Jane Ava
- Entrance Themes
- "Disconnected" by VERIDIA (January - February 2018)
- "MIC DROP" by BTS (March 2018 - present)