It seems that the Knockouts division may be gaining a new wrestler.
Former WWE Diva and Tough Enough competitor, Ivelisse Velez, has teased that she will appear on Impact Wrestling next week.
Velez sent out a tweet stating: “The Huntress will be making an IMPACT this Thursday! #KnowWhatIMean #TuneIn #OnTheRise”.
It’s not known at this time what her role on the show will be, but if true, this looks to be a great signing for the company.
Ivelisse — who was known as Sofia Cortez in WWE — had a tryout with TNA last year against Tara.
Tara told Diva Dirt exclusively: “I thought she did amazing. I liked her a lot. I heard she was Puerto Rican, and I’m half Puerto Rican. I was like, ‘Oh my god, that’s awesome to have a Puerto Rican girl. You should go all out with the Puerto Rican thing’, like Carlito [and] the Colons. I’m all about [showcasing] ethnicity. I’m a big fan of that.”
UPDATE: PWInsider is reporting that Ivelisse will be taking part in the next TNA Gutcheck challenge.




66 Comments
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Big fan of her, diddnt like her that much on TE but on FCW and NXT I liked her a lot ever since so, I hope she does come to impact and shake up the KOs division!
at
Oh god, yes please. I’m so bored with seeing the same match ups on TNA. I’m excited to see what they do with her, I just hope they don’t have her feuding with Velvet right away.
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She looks hot in this picture! I wonder if she can lift 70 pounds now? I liked Sofia Cortez(sorry I got use to the wwe name:P). She had a kind of tough girl swagger about her that people say is a “bad attitude” but hopefully all that was just gossip and that she actually conducts herself accordingly! I also liked her wrestling style and from what I heard her match this weekend was a Match of the Year candidate so I think she should get another shot at the mainstream level!
at
PLEASE BE TRUE!!! She has all the tools to be a successful knockout.
I just hope she doesn’t end up like Sarita.
at
*sigh* We will never get to see The Huntress vs Sarita, or Rosita.
at
I straight up don’t like the bitch. Yes, she’s gorgeous, great in the ring and was certainly one of the better girls the WWE has had in development over the last few years, but her attitude stinks and I think that will be her downfall wherever she is.
divaindemise Reply:
February 24th, 2013 at
One thing I will permit her detractors is that she seems to be a very unfiltered person. As with the ever emotional Melina, that could prove to be an essential deficit of letting her talent shine through.
divafandom Reply:
February 24th, 2013 at
Thats very true. Shes gonna rub ppl the wrong way. WWE knew how beautiful and talented she was. Its not like they were blind. She has issues.
WWFoverWWE Reply:
February 24th, 2013 at
Tara will keep her in line.
JillianHallTNA Reply:
February 24th, 2013 at
y’all said that when Taryn came, she’s still being normal hot chick.
divafandom Reply:
February 24th, 2013 at
Taryn was different. If my boyfriend did something outta line i would kick his butt too hahaha i like ivelisse. But her attitude is horrible. And i hate when women say if we are confident we are called bitches with bad attitudes. That is true however in a man dominated sport that is how its gonna be. Hopefully she gets it together
JillianHallTNA Reply:
February 24th, 2013 at
I don’t know how big of an idiot you could be if you get fired from top wrestling promotion twice. It’s an one in a lifetime opportunity, I’m sure Ivelisse will be fine with other co-workers now :)
JillianHallTNA Reply:
February 24th, 2013 at
and I apologize for my bad English skills.
Raekon Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
@Jillianhalltna
who got fired twice? Taryn?
therightone Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
Taryn’s meds must be kicking in. On top of that Drew Mac never did anything wrong. Iveliesse is awful anyway. Another Diva failure. from John Laurinitus.
Raekon Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
Do you know her personally to say that her attitude stinks or are you just judging only because she said that she stood for herself in Tough Enough because she knew people will be eliminated and she didn’t want to make friends with the others so she won’t get emotional when they have to leave?
She is a great person and in every promotion she worked she was fine.
The WWE trainer obviously didn’t like a confident woman cause he said exact the same thing for Kong and various other skilled women that knew their craft and wanted to bring a change in the Divas division instead of doing only hairpulls and slaps 24/7.
Ivelisse praised Normal Smiley so we know it’s not him.
Her boyfriend is Jey Uso so a connection to the WWE is still there too.
In SHINE she became a regular that appears in every show and got added to the Valkyrie stable already.
If she were soooo bad in her attitude I’m quite sure that Rain and the other girls wouldn’t get her in their stable since they could had been only 4 or could had taken someone else in it.
In PWE, Maria welcomed her with open arms and had her appear in a few shows already. She gets booked there since then everytime a show is on.
I’m quite sure that if her attitude would be THAT bad, that no one would like to sign her several times but rather would sign her once and let it be after.
She-Wolf Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
My gripe with her is that Christina Crawford, a novice model showed 10x more class than the veteran Ivelisse did. Personally blaming her for her injury was ridiculous, idiotic and showed her bitterness and poor sportsmanship.
Raekon Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
She spoke her mind openly and was furious because she had to go due to the injury Christina really caused.
She also said in her interview that she was bitter, acted unprofessional and apologized.
I guess you never made any mistakes in your life?
We all know it can happen but even Austin questioned Christina on that when he asked how it’s possible that a cheerleader can’t do a leapfrog (Check Alicia or Naomi which both have the same background as christina and you’ll see what I mean).
They both also have a different background, while Christina can go back to her family that also lives in florida that has tons of money, Ivelisse had a very hard life (she even says in her interview that she went to the USA with nothing and achieved everything through hard work).
So it’s obvious that Ivelisses chances are way more limited than Christinas in this and that Ivelisse put everything she had into it (unlike Christina that looked half bored in some episodes).
I like both girls and I hope they both do well but one should differentiate a little before judging entirely only because of one incident.
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Honestly, you could hire five Ivelisses for one Christy Hemme. I think it’s time to trim the fat in the Knockouts division and I mean that with the greatest respects.
Anyway, Ivelisse is devastatingly gorgeous and skilled. I’d really like to see more of her.
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I hope she does go to TNA and that all of the people that bitch about TNA being the WWE’s wasteland for washed up talent dont complain too much about this. Ivelisse never did anything major in WWE so I have high hopes for her in TNA. If this is true, I hope she goes on a rampage through the TNA Knockouts and then, after she has defeated them all, she goes after Velvet. Good for her and I absolutely think she deserved it.
at
I hope this is true! Ivelisse would be a great addition to the Knockouts Division!
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In a no-brainer it looks like the Blossom twins were signed to deals which supposely Dixie offered them the deals on the newest show Backstage Pass. It hasn’t been confirmed but they have been mentioning about returning to OVW lately on theor twitter.
With Ivelisse’s likely signing, this looks to be the start of a hiring spree
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She’s soo sexy… But when she talks.. Lol kills it
She’s too tomboyish lol
She’s a hell of a wrestler though well good enough, and her on TNA hey! Newest addition to the Knockouts! Ivy!! I liked her name Sofie but hate the last name Cortez
Get ready ivy! Tara ODB Brooke Gail Velvet Madison and Mickie are gonna whoop your ass!! :)
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SI Si Si
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Whoop! Now only if Caylee & Jillian got signed i’d be 100x happier than I am now!
JillianHallTNA Reply:
February 24th, 2013 at
Hell yeah!! Jillian to TNA :D
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I hope she feuds with velvet and snatch the title from that stale bitch
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Danny Davis is supposed to be making an appearance on iMPACT this Thursday, so it’s looking like Velez will be having a Gutcheck match, probably against one of the OVW girls. Aside from Hendrix and the Blossoms there’s no other women from that company that show any star quality (maybe Scarlet Bordeaux, but she’s not ready), but Velez is probably the one they’re interested in anyway.
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Unless they plan on hiring about 3-4 new girls (that are much better than Taeler Hendrix), stop pushing Velvet and Tara all the time, and bring the Knockouts Division back to it’s former glory, then I’d rather just see Ivelisse in SHINE. She’s a great talent and I’d hate to see her get put on the roster and never get used.
divaindemise Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
A valid point, especially if a possible signing with TNA negates Ivelisse’s ability to work the independent circuit.
Raekon Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
They will definately not allow to work the SHINE iPPVs anymore which means she will have to leave the promotion and the Valkyrie stable. :(
Don’t know if you watched SHINE 7 last friday but Ivelisse had with Lufisto the match of the year there.
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im really sorry to all her fans on here but she just doesnt do it for me.
wrestling skills are great, but ive never seen much of a personality.
at
Ivelisse was my one great hope for the Divas after they released poor Melina. I hate when people say she has no personality; she’s not perky or anything, but she’s so no nonsense and has this amazing moodiness that makes for great television. Her pissed off looks at Christina made Tough Enough for me haha.
Ryan Reply:
February 24th, 2013 at
Ppl think “personality” for divas is acting bitchy making the talk to the hand gesture at the fans or rolling their eyes and being catty.. This chick has a different personality. Very fiery very tomboy she isn’t the girly typeLol she’s awesome that way. Reminds me a lot of Lita.
Bet this chick hang out more with boys than with the divas
Alicia Fox’s sister on tough enough was all Pretty birds pretty birds pretty birds lol
And Arianne the dumb bimbo ms Melina vs Alicia Fox
She wanted to be divalicious, and Trish Stratus got on her for the pants haha..
And holy shoot! Miss Ghetto USA…
Sucks Ivy Fox and Rima all lost due to injury… Great job ladies.
Stone Cold liked Ivy and got rid of tumbleweed
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NO!!!! I WANT IVELISSE IN SHINE
I’d rather have her wrestling awesome and long matches once a month against veterans than a 5 minute match against someone like Velvet :/
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She was doing great in SHINE. Just watch her match vs Lufisto from Friday night. It was amazing. Best match of the night. It would be a shame to lose her to TNA so quickly, but I can’t blame her for wanting to be on TV every week.
divaindemise Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
Very few can balance artistic integrity with commercial success; in a niche as small as women’s wrestling, I say every woman should reap whatever opportunity that abounds. Besides, Ivelisse being in TNA can only raise her profile for future independent work if her mainstream venture doesn’t pan out very long.
I can’t wait to see the match with Lufisto.
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As long as she doesn’t bitch about how her career went in wwe then I’d be okay with it.i thought she’d be done with wrestling after that interview she did last year. She’ll probably like tna better since it would be easier for her to become top talent.
at
Idk if it’s just me, but sometimes her face gives me a Jackie Gayda vibe.
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I really hope that she does well in TNA. I loved her whole character down at NXT and she’s very hard-hitting so she’ll fit in well with the likes of Gail, Tara, and Mickie.
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The big picture is who tna letting go for her to get signed i see madison gets cut
Ed Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
Let’s be realistic. Madison is probably going to get cut soon regardless.
divaindemise Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
The writing was on the wall for Madison when they gave her the hots for Earl Hebner. Why they would squander one of their biggest homegrown talents is beyond me. Madison Rayne could have developed as a face to a fresh heel in the company.
Ed Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
Well, calling Madison one of their biggest homegrown talents is stretching it an awful lot. She’s never even gotten over for pete’s sake. Frankly, she’s expendable and has been for quite a while. I’m not surprised they’ve stopped using her.
Ryan Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
I might be wrong but a lot that happens when knockouts disappear for a while has to do with tna’s light flexible schedule. Sarita was busy taking bookings from Mexico and Japan I believe. Word was that she made more money there.
Mickie was out but due to rub injuries.
Madison Rayne has been busy with fitness competitions. That may be a reason why she is not featured.
That’s where we saw things like Brooke and Gail Kim carry the women’s division
divaindemise Reply:
February 25th, 2013 at
Actually, Madison has been a successful heel for the division, effectively governing it with one of the company’s longest Knockout title reigns. Wouldn’t personally class her as their best ring worker but she has definitely been over with the crowd during her run. What I will permit you is that the dead end gimmick has rendered her expendable now, but nothing a well planned face turn couldn’t solve. We’ll agree to disagree, however.
at
Oh I really like her. I hope this works out. TNA needs some new blood in the KO division and she would be a great addition. make it happen TNA