Julia Hamer (née Hamer; born 19 October 1971), better known by her

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or project ...

s Sweet Saraya and Saraya Knight, is an English

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, trainer and promoter. She is also the mother of AEW wrestler Saraya.

Early life

Hamer was born in

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situ ...

, Cornwall. As a child, she was abused by her stepfather,Colt Cabana's podcast, ''Art of Wrestling'', episode 251. and ran away from home at the age of 15. She lived on the streets and used public swimming pools to bathe herself. She was also

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

d and became a

drug addict Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

, At the age of 18, she

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

d on pills and had her

stomach pump Gastric lavage, also commonly called stomach pumping or gastric irrigation, is the process of cleaning out the contents of the stomach. Since its first recorded use in early 19th century, it has become one of the most routine means of eliminating p ...

ed, which prompted her to get clean.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

In 1990, Hamer landed a job as a chef at a

Pontins Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. Since 2011, it has been owned by Britannia Hotels. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment ...

holiday camp in

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

for the summer season, requesting that her employers wait for 12 hours as she had to

hitchhike Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

there. While working in the restaurant, she met professional wrestler Ricky Knight, part of the cabaret circuit. The two became inseparable, and Hamer soon left Pontins to travel with Knight full-time. She became involved in making wrestling costumes and putting the rings up and down. A few months later, Knight said he wanted her to be part of the show, as a manager in his corner. At a show in

Camber Sands Camber Sands is a beach in East Sussex, UK, in the village of Camber, near Rye. It is the only sand dune system in East Sussex, and is east of the estuary of the River Rother at Rye Bay stretching to just beyond the Kent border, where shin ...

, Knight made her debut as Saraya. When the summer season finished, she joined the Sensational Superflys (Knight and Jimmy Ocean) as their manager. In 1993, Knight suggested that Saraya may want to wrestle. She agreed and was a quick learner, debuting later that year against Nikki Best.

Shimmer Women Athletes and Shine Wrestling (2011–2020)

Saraya made her debut for the

Berwyn, Illinois Berwyn is a suburban city in Cook County, Illinois, coterminous with Berwyn Township, Cook County, Illinois, Berwyn Civil township, Township, which was formed in 1908 after breaking off from Cicero Township, Cook County, Illinois, Cicero Townshi ...

based all-female promotion

Shimmer Women Athletes Shimmer Women Athletes (often referred to and stylized as SHIMMER) is an American, Chicago-based independent women's professional wrestling promotion which held its first event on November 6, 2005. Established by Dave Prazak and run by both him ...

on 26 March 2011, at the tapings of '' Volume 37'', alongside her daughter and tag team partner

Britani Knight Saraya Jade Bevis (; born 17 August 1992) is an English professional wrestler. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she performs mononymously as Saraya. She is best known for her time with WWE under the ring name Paige. She was ...

. Saraya and Britani were managed by the returning

Rebecca Knox Rebecca Quin (born 30 January 1987) is an Irish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE under the ring name Becky Lynch where she performs on the Raw brand. Lynch is one of WWE's most recognizable and highest-paid wrestlers. Twitter name ...

and made an open challenge, which was answered by Nikki Roxx and Ariel. The Knight Dynasty won the match via disqualification after Saraya tried to hit Ariel with brass knuckles and Ariel grabbed them and got caught hitting Saraya with them. Later that same day, at the tapings of '' Volume 38'', the Knight Dynasty unsuccessfully challenged the Seven Star Sisters (

Hiroyo Matsumoto (born November 6, 1985) is Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. Emi Sakura gave her the nickname of because Matsumoto broke a wall in the Ichigaya arena during her Ice Ribbon debut. She is best known with othe ...

and Misaki Ohata) for the

Shimmer Tag Team Championship The Shimmer Tag Team Championship (stylized as SHIMMER Tag Team Championship) is a professional wrestling tag team championship in Shimmer Women Athletes. The title is recognized nationally by Ring of Honor, and also by several independent promo ...

. During the 1 and 2 October 2011, tapings Britani entered a losing streak, which eventually caused Saraya to turn on her. Saraya and Britani faced each other in a

no disqualification match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

on '' Volume 44'', where Britani managed to pick up the win in her final Shimmer appearance, before heading to WWE. During the March 2012 tapings, Knight feuded with

Cheerleader Melissa Melissa Anderson (born August 17, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Cheerleader Melissa. She is best known for her work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where she worked as Alissa Flash and Raisha Saeed. ...

. The feud drew inspiration from a previous incident between the pair at a Real Quality Wrestling event in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

, England in 2007, where Knight suffered a career-threatening knee injury at the hands of Melissa. This culminated in a match on 18 March on '' Volume 48'', where Knight defeated Melissa to win the Shimmer Championship. Knight made her first defense of the title at the Shine Wrestling SHINE #4 iPPV in

Ybor City, Florida Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Sp ...

on 19 October, defeating

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and again at

All American Wrestling AAW Wrestling (AAW) or AAW: Professional Wrestling Redefined and formerly known as All American Wrestling, is an American independent professional wrestling promotion, based in the Chicago area - originally holding shows in Berwyn, Illinois, a ...

(AAW) in Berwyn on 26 October, against MsChif. Knight successfully defended her Shimmer Championship during the October 2012 tapings, defeating

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...

on '' Volume 49'', Kellie Skater, MsChif and Hiroyo Matsumoto in a

four-way elimination match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

on '' Volume 51'', and in a rematch with Cheerleader Melissa on '' Volume 52''. On 6 April 2013, at '' Volume 53'', Knight lost the Shimmer Championship back to Cheerleader Melissa in a

steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

. At '' Volume 65'', Knight teamed up with Rhia O'Reilly to unsuccessfully challenge Kellie Skater and

Tomoka Nakagawa is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. After being trained by Taka Michinoku, she started her career in his Kaientai Dojo promotion in September 2004. After leaving Kaientai Dojo in 2007, Nakagawa briefly joined Ibuki, where she underwent ...

for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship. In October, Knight formed a tag team with Mayumi Ozaki, and the duo would defeat

Kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters ( kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most ...

and

LuFisto Genevieve Goulet (born February 15, 1980), better known by the ring name LuFisto, is a French Canadian professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (1997–present) LuFisto began training when she was 17 years old in ...

at '' Volume 68'', and would unsuccessfully challenge Kellie Skater and Tomoko Nakagawa for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship at '' Volume 69'' in a no disqualification tag team match. Knight returned to Shine Wrestling on 3 April 2015 at SHINE #26, where she and Su Yung defeated

Jessicka Havok Jessica Cricks (born June 20, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Jessicka Havok. She is currently signed with Impact Wrestling, under the ring name Jessicka where she is a current two-time Impact Knockouts ...

and

Leva Bates Leva Bates (born May 21, 1983) is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling. She also had a successful tenure on the independent circuit, most notably for Shimmer Women Athletes. She has also appeared in WWE on their develo ...

in a no disqualification tag team match. At SHINE #30 on 2 October, Knight lost to

Allysin Kay Allysin Kay (born November 5, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, who currently wrestles for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and is a former NWA World Women's Tag Team champion. She is also a one-time NWA World Women's Champion. S ...

in an Anything Goes match.

World Association of Women's Wrestling (2011–2020)

In November 2011, Knight revived her all-female promotion WAWW, the sister promotion to her husband's

World Association of Wrestling World Association of Wrestling (WAW) is a British independent professional wrestling promotion founded by Ricky Knight, Sweet Saraya, and Jimmy Ocean in 1994 in Norwich, England. It is affiliated with the all-female promotion Bellatrix Female Wa ...

. The first show was called "The Return", and featured

wrestler

Allison Danger Cathy Allison Corino (born March 31, 1977) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager, better known by her ring name, Allison Danger. Professional wrestling career Early career Corino's older brother Steve is ...

in the main event against Knight for the vacant World Championship, which Danger would win. The company's second show "

Bellatrix Bellatrix is the third-brightest star in the constellation of Orion, positioned 5° west of the red supergiant Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis). It has the Bayer designation γ Orionis, which is Latinized to Gamma Orionis. With a slightly v ...

" was held in March and was main evented by Busty Keegan teaming with Destiny to face "The Twisted Sisters" of Sweet Saraya and EWW Women's Champions Skarlett in a 2 out of 3 falls tag team match, which The Twisted Sisters defeated Keegan and Destiny 2 falls to 1. At the company's third show in June, Saraya unsuccessfully challenged Liberty for the British Championship, a title Liberty won from Knight's daughter

. In September 2012, WAWW held The Queen of the Ring Tournament featuring Knight, Skarlett, Destiny, Lady Lori, Violet O'Hara, Miss Mina, Chanel and Penelope. The finals saw Destiny face Knight with Destiny victorious after interference from Jetta, who then brawled with Knight, causing the WAW roster to separate them.

Personal life

Hamer married professional wrestler Patrick Bevis, better known by his ring name Ricky Knight, Together they have two children, both of whom are professional wrestlers: Saraya Jade, who works for AEW under the ring name Saraya, and

Zak Zak may refer to: People * Zak (surname), a surname of Russian origin * Żak, a Polish surname * Žák, a Czech surname * Zak (given name) Fictional characters * Zak Adama, in the ''Battlestar Galactica'' franchise * Zak Dingle, in UK TV ''Emmer ...

, who performs as Zak Zodiac. She is also the stepmother of Roy Bevis, who performs as Zebra Kid and Roy Knight. Hamer once wrestled while she was unknowingly seven months pregnant with Saraya Jade. For a time,

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously i ...

Jake "The Snake" Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955), better known by the ring name Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is an American professional wrestler and actor currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs as manager to Lance Archer. He is be ...

lived with the family. The family runs the World Association of Wrestling (WAW) promotion in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

. She owns and operates Bellatrix Female Warriors, a women's wrestling promotion also based in Norwich. In July 2012,

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

produced a documentary about the Knights entitled ''The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family''. The documentary was turned into a 2019 feature film by

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...

with

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the develop ...

producing, titled '' Fighting with My Family'', where she was portrayed by

Lena Headey Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is a British actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic fantasy drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she rec ...

. In June 2020, she was accused by former trainees of verbal and physical abuse. After the allegation, she took a step back from social media, claiming she and the Knight family prepare to take legal action against those who have made such allegations. She then returned to professional wrestling in December 2020, wrestling for WAW.

Championships and accomplishments

*German Stampede Wrestling **GSW Women's Championship (1 time) *Herts & Essex Wrestling **HEW Women's Championship (3 times) *New Horizons Pro Wrestling **IndyGurlz Australia Championship (1 time) *Premier Wrestling Federation **PWF Ladies Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

**Ranked No. 3 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI Female 50 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...

'' in 2013 *Queens of Chaos **Queens of Chaos Championship (1 time) *Real Quality Wrestling **RQW Women's Championship (1 time) *

** Shimmer Championship ( 1 time) *TNT Extreme Wrestling **TNT Women's Championship (1 time) * Bellatrix Female Warriors **Bellatrix World Championship (2 time) **Bellatrix European Championship (1 time) **Bellatrix British Championship (2 times) *

**WAW Peoples Champion (1 time, current)

References

External links

CageMatch profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saraya, Sweet 1971 births 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers English female professional wrestlers Living people Sportspeople from Penzance Shimmer Champions