TNA Wrestling's Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee address the company's partnership with WWE as well as competitors they want to face through it.
In January 2025, WWE and TNA Wrestling formalized their partnership with a multi-year agreement that allows stars from both promotions to cross over into each other's territories. A recent intersection saw several TNA talents show up in the main event of "WWE NXT" and trade blows with names from WWE's developmental brand, with two of the TNA representatives being The IInspiration (Jessie McKay and Cassie Lee). Despite the apparent on-screen animosity between the brands now, McKay and Lee, formerly known as The IIconics in WWE, are thrilled about the cross-promotional opportunities.
"I think it's incredible," McKay told "TMZ Sports." "I think it's just so good for the wrestling business in general because it opens up doors for so many more people. It's also exciting. It's exciting watching each show and not knowing if somebody's going to pop over to either show. It's really exciting, so I'm all for it. I think it's a great partnership. It's definitely been awesome to watch."
In WWE, McKay and Lee enjoyed one reign as WWE Women's Tag Team Champions before being forced to separate in a 2020 storyline. McKay, then known as Billie Kay, moved to the "WWE SmackDown" brand, while Lee, then known as Peyton Royce, remained on "WWE Raw."
Lee and McKay both left WWE in April 2021 as a part of talent cuts. Later that October, they joined TNA Wrestling for a six-month run; the pair re-signed with the company in June 2025, beginning with their surprise return at TNA Against All Odds.
Read more: Stars Who Have Left WWE In 2024
The IInspiration Eyeing Matches With New Faces and Old Foes
When assessing the current landscape of WWE, Cassie Lee indicated that she and Jessie McKay were interested in locking up with fresh faces through the ongoing partnership. If given the chance, however, they are also keen on rekindling rivalries with some of their former colleagues, especially the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss.
"We had so much fun against Fatal influence," Lee said. "We had so much fun working with them and they're so talented. So just kind of getting in there, if we had the opportunity to work with new people, we would absolutely love that, especially as tag teams just because it is just so different to singles wrestling. Then until you put in the reps and you get the experience, tag team wrestling is hard to pick up. So we love being in there with women who are kind of on this journey to being a tag team for their careers. We love kind of guiding them and helping them through psychology."
"But yeah, anyone that's new, we'd have so much fun. It'd be so easy with anyone that we've been in there with before," she continued. "Charlotte and Alexa, [we] would love that. They're just so fun and so easy to be within the ring. We train with Charlotte at Flatbacks too."
As Lee alluded to, she and McKay recently shared the ring with Fatal Influence's Jazmyn Nyx and Fallon Henley, with The IInspiration picking up the win over them on "TNA Impact." In August 2019, Bliss and Nikki Cross unseated Lee and McKay as the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions in a four-way elimination match on "WWE Raw." As for Flair, she faced Lee in two of The IInspiration member's final matches under the WWE banner. She also battled Lee and McKay in various tag team competitions throughout 2018 and 2019.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "TMZ Sports" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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Read the original article on Wrestling Inc.
Category: General Sports
