Another Former WWE Star Leaves Promotion After Successful Championship Run

Another former WWE star is leaving TNA after a successful championship run.© NDTV Library

Lei Ying Lee, known to WWE fans as Xia Li, is no longer with TNA Wrestling and is now a free agent. The news surfaced on November 12, and it closes out her time with the promotion after several months away from its shows. She's already having “conversations with other major promotions”about her future. Lee won the Knockouts World Championship twice during her stay in TNA, and that run came after WWE released her in April 2024. Her last match for the company was taped this past summer, and she hasn't wrestled for TNA since.

Lei Ying Lee's TNA departure comes after several months away from the promotion

That final match got taped on July 1, 2026, in Albany, New York, and aired on the July 9 episode of TNA Impact. Lee challenged then-champion Xia Brookside in a No Disqualification match but couldn't regain the Knockouts World Championship. Brookside had first beaten her at Slammiversary on June 28, which ended Lee's second reign.

Her absence from TV was linked early on to an extended trip to China, where she was reportedly handling personal business.

Throughout that stretch she stayed under contract with TNA, so free agency is a real change in her status. TNA also reportedly made her an offer, but the two sides couldn't reach an agreement.

As for where she lands, none of the promotions she's been talking with have been named. She isn't the only TNA name with a contract question either, since Rich Swann's deal is set to expire on December 31.

The former WWE star found championship success after spending seven years with the company

Lee's road to TNA started well before her time there. She joined WWE in 2017 after impressing officials at a tryout in Shanghai, China, then took part in the inaugural Mae Young Classic and became the first Chinese woman to wrestle in a WWE ring. NXT came next, and her main-roster debut on SmackDown happened in 2021.

WWE released her in April 2024 after around seven years with the company. By September of that year she was showing up at TNA Impact tapings, and TNA confirmed a full-time deal in a press release on November 26.

She re-signed in August 2025, with Tommy Dreamer announcing it before a Four Corners Elimination match for the Knockouts Tag Team Championships.

Things went differently for her in TNA. Her first Knockouts World Championship reign began on November 18, 2025, after defeating Kelani Jordan and Jordynne Grace, and the second one started in April 2026. She also appeared during TNA's invasion storyline involving NXT.