Kimber Lee took to Twitter this weekend to announce her retirement from professional wrestling. She plans to resume using her real name, Kimberly Frankele.
Lee, a former independent wrestler, was signed by WWE and sent to the Performance Center in January 2017 to begin training. In NXT, she went by the ring name Abbey Laith. Lee competed in the first Mae Young Classic but was released by WWE in 2018.
She joined Impact Wrestling and worked there from 2020 to 2022.
Lee issued the following statement:
“The goodbye that I thought would never come. The mistress that has overtaken my life for the past 15 years. At times, wrestling was the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I have been to places and I have gotten to see things that I never would have dreamed of in my lifetime. But at the same time, there comes a point in everyone’s life where things just cannot continue in the same fashion that they have, because circumstances and goals evolve and change.
I know that I am coming completely from left field for some of you, and that is understandable as have been rallying as if a comeback is on the way. But that is not the case. I have been deeply working on myself this past year, coming to terms with some very harsh realities, and learning a lot about myself and who I am in the process.
I originally thought that this was just going to be a break from wrestling. That after some time I would be ready to put my heart into this again and come back better than I have ever been before. But the thing is, the more I think about it, the more I come to realize that my heart is not in this anymore. Kimber Lee brings me instant heartache and anxiety, not the butterflies and joy that once was. There are too many painful wounds that come with going back into this world, and I am not willing to give those wounds my power or dominion over my life anymore.
With that being said, I will no longer be. Taking active bookings for the foreseeable future. Kimber is going to step away from the squared circle, and Kimberly Frankele is going out into the world, ready to become something amazing. I know I am being called into my healing abilities, and will be continuing to step forward in that space and I would love to have as many of you as I can along for that journey. When you close one door, you give yourself the opportunity to open up any new door you choose. I have lives to change and heal, and this is my first official step into my true self.
As the real me. love you all so much, and with this, the Princess takes her final bow.
Let the curtain fall…”
— Kimberly Frankele ⓥ (@Kimber_Lee90) May 6, 2023
