The Iinspiration (formerly the Iconics in WWE) debuted for IMPACT Wrestling at Bound For Glory in October 2021.
The duo was released from WWE in April 2021 due to “budget cuts.”
In a new interview with Nick Hausman of Haus Of Wrestling, Jessica McKay spoke about why The IInspiration chose to go to IMPACT Wrestling after departing from WWE.
“It just felt like the right step to make. It was something that we had spoken about together. There are a lot of things that have to come together to make something work, and IMPACT just came together. It was the right time for us, it felt good, we liked their schedule, it being a little bit more relaxed because we had been at home out of the wrestling bubble for a little bit and we knew that we wanted to try and maintain that balance. We had known all of the girls in the locker room, never worked them inside of the ring so it was just an exciting time for us. We also just had a fun time rebranding and evolving our characters. I remember Cass came over one day and I said, we can do this and this and this and it was kind of like getting the ball rolling, and she’s like, oh, what about this? It was just really fun. We had kind of lost that fun and we hadn’t teamed up for so long, so it was kind of like re-sparking our love for tag team wrestling at the moment.”
H/T Skylar Russel for Fightful.
They came in to IMPACT and took the Knockouts division by storm and won the IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Titles on the same night of their debut when they defeated Decay (Rosemary & Havok).
In March of 2022, The Influence (Madison Rayne & Tenille Dashwood) would go on to defeat The IInspiration, ending their one and only Knockouts Tag Team Title reign.
The duo were unfortunately departed IMPACT only 6 months later; they released a joint statement on April 27, 2022 that they’d be stepping away.
The statement reads:
“We will cherish these IMPACT memories forever. We are excited to start a new chapter in our lives and explore other opportunities that may come our way.”
IMPACT Executive Vice President (now President) commented: “The IInspiration have been a great part of IMPACT’s Knockout roster and wonderful to work with. Cassie and Jessie are incredibly talented performers. Everyone at IMPACT wishes them every success in the future.”
Since leaving, Cassie Lee and husband – AEW star Shawn Spears – welcomed a baby boy in January of this year. Just a few months ago – in June of 2023 – Jessica McKay took to her Instagram to announce that she’s expecting as well, with the baby due in December of 2023.
Check out the duos ”Off Her Chops” podcast here.
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