hall of fame dedicated to professional wrestlers with an amateur background. Phoenix has occasionally wrestled since her return, notably at WrestleMania 35; she also took part in the first-ever women's Royal Rumble match in 2018, making her the first wrestler to have participated in both the men's and women's matches. In May 2019, she was promoted to a full-time color commentator on NXT. Early life Elizabeth Kociański was born in Elmira, New York and raised by Polish parents. When she was eleven years old, she won a coloring contest with a prize of tickets to a television taping for the World Wrestling Federation. Kociański credits this as when she fell in love with professional wrestling. She cites Bret Hart, Sgt. Slaughter, Owen Hart, and Ted DiBiase as her favorite wrestlers. Kociański attended Notre Dame High School in Elmira, where she played tennis and ran track. She was voted prom queen in her senior year. Kociański is a graduate from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and Public Relations. While wrestling in OVW, Kociański also worked as a waitress at a local restaurant known to Elmira natives as Lights Bakery and Coffee Shop. Amateur wrestling career Elizabeth Kociański began wrestling on the Notre Dame High School scholastic wrestling team. She was the first female varsity wrestler in the school's history. She became the North-East freestyle women's champion in 1999, and also won at the New York State Fair Tournament the same year. At the time, she was also a member of USA Wrestling, a freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling association. Her life goal was, according to her, to become a professional wrestler, and she believed that having a solid amateur background would help her reach it. Professional wrestling career Training and independent circuit (2001–2005) After graduating from high school in 1998, she enrolled in both a professional wrestling school and Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Her first choice for wrestling school was Stu Hart's Dungeon, but because of the location, she decided on a more local school. At the school, she was trained by the All Knighters (Joey Knight and Robin Knightwing), who themselves had trained in the Hart Dungeon. She later stated that Nora Greenwald, who was known in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Molly Holly, had paid for her to attend wrestling school after Carolan had given her a demo tape