Fallon Henley ‘almost said no’ to WWE opportunity after family tragedy
Fallon Henley’s WWE journey was not an easy one. She reflected on the multiple tryouts and opportunities in 2021 while supporting her nieces following a tragic loss.
Henley revealed she lost her twin sister in 2021 on What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes. She was working extra matches on NXT and was informed of a fourth WWE tryout later that year. During that period, her sister passed away following which her nieces and nephew were under her care.
“So it’s kind of crazy, kind of happened out of nowhere. I have twin sisters who are no longer with us. The first one passed during that year, and that was right before I got the call to do the extra work that started back up. That got me by third tryout before my enhancement match with Elektra Lopez. It was a really hard time. Like I said, it kind of came out of nowhere.”
“Essentially, all of her organs shut down. She got rushed to the hospital, and before we knew it, she was gone. And she left behind her two daughters that were still living with her and her son. They had lost their dad, I want to say a year or two before then. So they’ve had a very, very hard, you know, beginning of life. But I was over in Tampa, and that’s where they had been living at the time. And the only options they really had were to go to Michigan to be with my mom, go to California to be with one of my other sisters, or come and stay with me.”
“I had a 2 bedroom apartment at the time so I brought them in. They shared one of the rooms, I took the smaller one. I think they were like 16 and 17. So one had to still finish high school and the other one was just starting college. So kind of a big change for what was I at the time, 22 or something, taking in these two teenage girls who for my sake were extremely well behaved and mature given the life that they had gone through and all the hardships that they had gone through.”
“So when I got that call to do the extra work, I mentally was not in a place where I thought I could do it. And I almost said no. And had I said no, I wouldn’t be here right now, I wouldn’t be on SmackDown. I wouldn’t be doing any of the things that I’m doing. And I think that was like a little piece of my sister kind of kicking me and telling me to go do it because she knew how much I wanted this.
And she was probably Heather and Heidi were the twins, and they were probably my biggest supporters ever. So a lot of what I’m working for now is for them.”
Henley, as a part of Fatal Influence with Jacy Jayne and Lainey Reid, officially moved to the main roster in April 2024. They interrupted the Women’s Tag Team Title bout between Paige & Brie Bella against Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair to make a statement debut.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.