Kelsey Jane Dupont (née Phoenix; born February 28, 1989 in Great Falls, Montana) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known from her time in Soul Wrestling Incorporated. She competed for the company under her real name Kelsey Phoenix and later Kelsey Ayami. Kelsey is a two-time SWI Women's Champion (as well as the first SWI Women's Champion), and is the only female to date to have won the SWI World Tag Team Championship. She is the first second-generation wrestler to compete in SWI, with her father being Darren Phoenix, and was the first female inductee into the SWI Hall of Fame in 2017.
Early life[]
Kelsey was born to Darren and Aoki Phoenix (née Ayami) in Great Falls, Montana. Kelsey graduated from Paris Gibson Education Center in 2007, and went on to graduate from the University of Alberta in 2011 with a degree in nursing.
Soul Wrestling Incorporated[]
A woman amongst men, Waylon Kenney, and tag team championship (2007 - 2009)[]
Kelsey, having trained for the past two years under her father, made her debut at Renewal alongside him as his mystery partner for his SWI World Tag Team Championship match against C-Code & MC Bob. The father/daughter duo lost the match after C-Code pinned Darren, but the fans were supportive of Kelsey's first match, leading her to join the SWI roster full-time. She made her singles debut on the June 2 episode of Apocalypse, defeating Simona Summers. She began courting CK Miles, leading the two of them defeating Darren in a playful handicap match that allowed CK to win a date with Kelsey. Kelsey then began competing amongst the men, losing to Mr. Besser on the June 30 episode. The relationship with CK was quietly abandoned as Kelsey shifted her attention to Waylon Kenney.
Kelsey began accompanying Waylon to his matches as well as teaming with him, including a loss to Survivor and Austin Wildside. Kelsey competed in a fatal four-way against Survivor, Jason Hardcore, and Ranting Rover at Unholy Confessions, which she also lost when Survivor pinned Rover. Waylon and Kelsey soon began feuding with Trinity after they had made disparaging remarks against her and her father. At Betrayal, Waylon and Kelsey defeated Trinity to win the SWI World Tag Team Championship, making Kelsey the only woman to date to win the title. They defended the title against Trinity on the following episode of Apocalypse and against Ken Williams and Jason Daniels at Kill or Be Killed, before losing the titles to Williams and Daniels at Broken Chains. Shortly after, Kelsey alternated between teaming with Waylon and her father, while also focusing on her singles career during the Underground Era. Kelsey challenged for the SWI North American Championship at Independence, losing to Frankie Starr.
Kelsey returned to the company following its hiatus, reforming her tag team with Waylon and competing for the tag team titles in a four corners elimination match at Beginning Anew. The match was won by Damage Inc., with Daniels pinning Waylon to win the match. Waylon and Kelsey fought for the titles again at Challenging Adversity, but lost when Williams pinned Kelsey. The two then went their separate ways shortly after, but competed against Darren in a triple threat match for the North American title at Rise of the Forces. Darren pinned Kelsey to retain the title. Kelsey supported Waylon in him winning the title from her father, then challenged Waylon for the title at Renewal in a losing effort. Kelsey later teamed with Waylon in a losing effort against Monty James and Kennedy Carson at Betrayal.
Women's Championship and retirement (2010 - 2014)[]
The women's division in SWI began to take place in December 2009, culminating in Kelsey leading her team to victory in a tag team match at Destiny Fulfilled. Kelsey then won a battle royal at Beginning Anew the following month to become the first ever SWI Women's Champion. Kelsey defended the title against Samantha Nichols at Challenging Adversity and Justine Vaine at Rise of the Forces. During a tag team match with Kayla Stevens, Kelsey turned on Kayla by abandoning her during the match, allowing her to be pinned. The following week, Kelsey explained that Kayla had been beaten in a title match on the April 3 episode of Apocalypse and refused to let her charm her way into getting another match. Kelsey then renamed herself Kelsey Ayami, taking on her mother's maiden name as her surname.
Kelsey then defeated Kayla at Questions Unanswered to retain the title, but wound up losing the title to Kayla in a Falls Count Anywhere Last Chance match at Renewal. After losing a rematch two weeks later, Kelsey continued to compete in the women's division, usually in tag matches or singles matches on Aftermath. Her biggest match since losing the title was a loss to Sarin Rossi at Destiny Fulfilled. On the May 8 episode of Aftermath, Kelsey saved Lisa Cross from a sneak-attack from Nurse Michelle, turning her face. Kelsey then competed against Tonya Montana on the May 21 episode of Apocalypse, losing the match after ironically being betrayed by Kayla Stevens before the match started. Darren then questioned her daughter's embracing of the fans, leading him to challenge and defeat her in a match at Renewal. She then teamed with newcomer David Besser to defeat Darren and Nurse Michelle on the following episode of Apocalypse, ending the feud.
Kelsey's appearances would become more limited at that point, mainly competing on Aftermath. Kelsey joined Samantha's team for Destiny Fulfilled but although her team won the match, she was eliminated. Kelsey challenged for the Women's title at Independence, but lost to Kayla. Kelsey finally managed to win the Women's title for the second time at Destiny Fulfilled, defeating Kennedy for the title. She defended the title the following month at Beginning Anew, when her and Blackwolf teamed up to defend the SWI World and Women's Championships against Monty James and Kennedy. It was the first time the SWI Women's Championship was defended in a PPV main event. Kelsey lost the title to Violet Cyrilla at Rise of the Forces in a triple threat match with Becky Cooper.
After a failed bid to win the title at Destiny Fulfilled, Kelsey teamed with the European Union to defeat The Callahans, Serena, and Waylon Kenney at Beginning Anew. The following month, she announced her retirement. Kelsey then defeated Justine Vaine in her final match at Challenging Adversity. Kelsey made an appearance at Independence 9, congratulating Lisa Cross on her Women's title victory.
Sporadic appearances (2015 - present)[]
Kelsey made another appearance at Independence 10, congratulating Ashley Neon and Kayla Stevens' team on being victorious. She was shown on-camera the following year at Independence 11, where she was in attendance for the main event between Kayla and Ashley. Kelsey then appeared on the pre-show of Destiny Fulfilled, reuniting with Waylon to defeat Fair Verona Connection. At Questions Unanswered, she competed in the 40-woman battle royal, scoring four eliminations before being eliminated by Justine Vaine. Two months later, Kelsey was inducted into the SWI Hall of Fame. Kelsey then teamed with Waylon, Ben Drinkin, and Selina Taylor to defeat the Monstourage at RewindMania.
Personal life[]
Kelsey announced her engagement to long-time boyfriend Stan Dupont on October 22, 2012. The two were wed on May 16, 2013.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Phoenix In Flames (Multiple tornado DDT variations)
- Trademark moves
- Corkscrew forearm
- Dropkick to opponent in tree of woe
- Inside cradle
- Jumping shoulder block
- Kelsey-giri (Multiple enzuigiri variations)
- K-Factor (Sit-down facebuster)
- Multiple bulldog variations
- Multiple rotation head scissors
- Palm strikes
- Rear naked choke
- Running DDT
- Scissored armbar
- Spinning heel kick
- Step over toehold
- Nicknames
- "The Phoenix"
- "The Phoenix In Flight"
- Entrance themes
- "Ain't Love Grand" by Atreyu (June 2, 2007 - April 10, 2010)
- "What I See" by Lacuna Coil (April 17, 2010 - November 5, 2011)
- "Never Look Back" by The Nearly Deads (November 6, 2011 - February 23, 2014; 2017)
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Soul Wrestling Incorporated
- SWI World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Waylon Kenney (1)
- SWI Women's Championship (2 times)
- SWI Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)
- Woman of the Year 2010