Childhood & Early Life
Celeste Bonin was born on October 7, 1986, in Houston, Texas, US. She made her fitness debut in 2006, at the age of 19. In 2007, she ended up winning the ‘NPC John Sherman Classic Bodybuilding Figure and Fitness Championship.’
She competed in the ‘NPC Figure Class D’ competition at the ‘Arnold Classic’ and ranked fifth. She also made it among the top five contestants in the ‘Figure Universe–Tall’ category at ‘Musclemania Superbody’ in 2007.
In 2008, she was named ‘Miss November’ by the ‘Hardfitness Calendar.’ Later that year, she ranked 16th in the ‘NPC Figure’ category at the ‘NPC Junior Nationals.’
In 2009, she appeared in ‘Flex Magazine.’
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Career
Bonin, along with her on-screen mentor, Vickie Guerrero, joined the third season of ‘NXT’ on September 7, 2010. It was during this appearance that she adopted her final ring name, “Kaitlyn.”
She replaced Guerrero’s former rookie, Aloisia, who was fired by Vickie, according to the storyline. She made her in-ring debut alongside Dolph Ziggler, Vickie’s then-boyfriend, and defeated AJ Lee and Primo in a mixed tag-team match.
Her first pay-per-view was at the ‘Night of Champions,’ with Vickie screaming and asking her to leave the ringside during Ziggler’s match for the ‘Intercontinental Championship.’ For the next few months, a storyline including a feud between her and Vickie was constructed.
She eventually won the third season after defeating Naomi in the finals. She became ‘WWE’s first-ever ‘Breakout Diva,’ on November 30, 2010.
Following her victory on ‘NXT’ she was signed by ‘WWE Smackdown’ and was set to make her debut in January 2011. On January 28, 2011, Kailtlyn made her ‘Smackdown’ debut, alongside Kelly Kelly, but was defeated by Layla and Michelle McCool of ‘LayCool.’
She formed a tag-team partnership with AJ Lee and called it ‘The Chickbusters.’ They lost to Alicia Fox and Tamina, until Kaitlyn had her first win in a 14-woman tag-team championship on June 13, 2011.
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Their feud with Fox and Tamina continued for a few months, until Natalya, the on-screen mentor of ‘The Chickbusters,’ betrayed AJ Lee to join Beth Phoenix and form the ‘Divas of Doom.’
This called for another feud between ‘The Chickbusters’ and the ‘Divas of Doom,’ where the former faced repeated losses. The continuous losses created tension within ‘The Chickbusters’ and Kaitlyn finally left AJ to join the ‘Divas of Doom’ at the ‘Smackdown’ taping on December 6.
The tape did not go live and ‘WWE’ never acknowledged the betrayal. Her next feud was with Maxine on ‘NXT Redemption.’ Maxine accused Kaitlyn of having feelings for Maxine’s then-boyfriend, Derrick Bateman.
After several weeks, Kaitlyn kissed Bateman on the show and was attacked by Maxine, who fought Kaitlyn the same night and was defeated by her. On March 14, 2012, after defeating Maxine and Johnny Curtis in a ‘mixed tag-team’ match, Bateman kissed Kaitlyn, making their relationship official.
She was defeated by her former mentor, Natalya, accompanied by Tyson Kidd, on April 4, 2012. Kaitlyn was later accused by Natalya of flirting with Kidd. This led to a tag-team match where Kaitlyn and Tamina defeated Natalya and Maxine.
Her next famous segment took place with AJ Lee in an episode of ‘Smackdown,’ where she tried to comfort AJ but was assaulted by her twice. She was defeated by AJ on the May 11 episode of ‘Smackdown.’
She had her first pay-per-view match at the event ‘Money in the Bank,’ where Kaitlyn, along with Layla and Tamina, defeated Beth Phoenix, Natalya, and Eve Torres. She had a feud with Eve later in 2012, after she was selected to be an assistant to the then-general manager of ‘Smackdown,’ Booker T.
She lost the job to Eve after the latter defeated her in a match the following week. Soon, she won a “battle royal” and became the number one contender for the ‘Divas Championship.’
On September 16, Kaitlyn was attacked by a masked figure, injuring her enough to have her title opportunity forfeited to Eve. Kaitlyn later blamed Beth Phoenix for the attack, but Eve later revealed that it was Aksana who was behind the attack.
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Kaitlyn had another opportunity to win the ‘Divas Championship’ at ‘Hell in a Cell’ but was defeated by Eve in a triple-threat match. After numerous attempts and failures, Kaitlyn finally defeated Eve in her hometown, to win the ‘Divas Championship’ in the January 14 episode of ‘Raw.’
She defended her title for 153 days. She retained her title in the ‘Elimination Chamber’ match against Tamina and the ‘NXT’ matches against Natalya and AJ Lee, with whom she started another feud. She was finally defeated by AJ Lee at ‘Payback.’
Their feud ended at the ‘Summerslam’ in a mixed tag-team championship, where Kaitlyn and Ziggler defeated AJ and Langston. At ‘Survivor Series,’ Kaitlyn participated in the traditional ‘seven-on-seven elimination’ tag-team match, in which her team lost.
On January 8, 2014, she ended her contract with ‘WWE.’ She was defeated by AJ Lee on the episode of ‘Main Event’ aired that night, which was her final match.
On July 17, 2014, she announced that she considered herself retired. However, she returned to the ring on February 10, 2018, at an event titled ‘Breaking Chains,’ where she defeated Rachael Ellering.
Facts About Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn has a unique talent for impersonating famous movie characters, often leaving friends and family in stitches with her spot-on impressions.
Despite her serious demeanor at work, Kaitlyn is known for her love of karaoke and can often be found belting out classic rock songs at local bars on the weekends.
Kaitlyn has a secret collection of vintage lunchboxes that she has been collecting since childhood, each one holding a special memory or story behind it.
In her spare time, Kaitlyn volunteers at an animal shelter and has a soft spot for rescue dogs, often fostering them until they find their forever homes.
Kaitlyn is a self-proclaimed foodie and enjoys experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, with her friends always eager to be her taste-testers for the latest culinary creations.
