Few WWE performers have taken a stranger road to the ring than Izzi Dame. Four years ago she had never watched professional wrestling and was playing professional volleyball on a Mediterranean island. Today she is a former NXT Women’s North American Champion and one of the most distinctive heels on WWE’s developmental brand. This biography covers her real name, age, height, family and the career change that changed everything.
In short: Izzi Dame is the ring name of Franki Carissa Strefling, a former professional volleyball player turned WWE star. Born in Michigan in 1999, she signed with WWE in 2022, debuted in 2023, and won the NXT Women’s North American Championship in January 2026.
TL;DR: Real name Franki Carissa Strefling • Signed with WWE in 2022 • Former NXT Women’s North American Champion
According to Wikipedia, the 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) former professional volleyball player signed with WWE in 2022, debuted in 2023, and went on to win the NXT Women’s North American Championship. Source: Wikipedia.
From a small Michigan town to the WWE Performance Center, hers is a story about betting on yourself — she literally accepted a ten-year ban from her old sport to chase the new one.
Quick Answer
Izzi Dame is the ring name of Franki Carissa Strefling, an American professional wrestler born July 13, 1999, in Michigan, making her 27 years old. According to Wikipedia, the 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) former professional volleyball player signed with WWE in 2022, debuted in 2023, and went on to win the NXT Women’s North American Championship as a member of The Culling.
TL;DR: Izzi Dame (real name Franki Strefling, 27, 5’10”) swapped a pro volleyball career in Cyprus for WWE, debuted in 2023 and has already held NXT gold.
Quick Facts
| Real Name | Franki Carissa Strefling |
| Born | July 13, 1999 (age 27) |
| Birthplace | Buchanan, Michigan, USA |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Weight | 143 lbs (65 kg), billed |
| Occupation | Professional wrestler |
| Brand | WWE NXT |
| Stable | The Culling |
| Debut | May 19, 2023 |
| Education | Eastern Michigan University (business management) |
| Previous Career | Professional volleyball player |
| Finisher | I Drive (sitout spinebuster) |
| Titles | NXT Women’s North American Champion (1 time) |
Early Life and Volleyball Beginnings
Franki Strefling grew up in Buchanan, Michigan, a town of barely 4,000 people, where volleyball was her entire world from the age of eight. Her father Vince coached her through most of her formative years, and she became a standout for the Buchanan Bucks before earning a place at Eastern Michigan University, where she played outside hitter for the Eagles and was named a first-team All-Mid-American Conference performer.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management — a useful backup plan, because at the time her life map seemed fixed: college volleyball, a professional career overseas, then coaching. Nothing in that plan involved body slams, entrance music or championships, and Strefling has admitted she had never even watched wrestling before WWE entered her life.
The Message That Changed Everything
After college, Strefling signed to play professionally in Cyprus. She played one full season, re-signed for a second year, and came home for the summer break — and that is when an Instagram message arrived that she assumed was a scam: WWE was inviting her to a tryout in Nashville. It was real. WWE flew her out, she had, by her own account, the best four days of her life, and she was offered a contract.
Accepting meant breaking her Cyprus contract, and the consequences were theatrical: she was banned from playing volleyball in Cyprus for ten years. It remains one of the great sliding-doors details in recent wrestling. She signed with WWE in November 2022 and reported to the Performance Center in Orlando to learn an entirely new sport from zero.
Izzi Dame’s WWE Rise
Strefling debuted on May 19, 2023, and made her televised start on NXT Level Up that July against Dani Palmer. Working first as a fan favorite, then alongside Kiana James, then briefly with the D’Angelo Family, she steadily climbed from low-card prospect to a featured act. In July 2024 she even crossed over to TNA, challenging Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts World Championship on iMPACT! — rare exposure for a performer barely a year into the business.
The turning point came on February 11, 2025, when she joined The Culling, Shawn Spears’ brooding faction, and embraced a full heel persona. At NXT New Year’s Evil in January 2026, she stunned Thea Hail to win the NXT Women’s North American Championship — her first title — before losing it to Tatum Paxley in a steel cage match roughly two months later. Pro Wrestling Illustrated had already ranked her No. 149 in its 2024 women’s Top 250, and her stock has only risen since.
Family and Personal Life
Family is central to the Izzi Dame story. Her mother, Cami Bowling, part-owns McCullum’s Restaurant & Bar in Buchanan, and when Strefling came home for Christmas in December 2025 — weeks before winning her championship — one of her first stops was helping run a cookie-decorating event for hundreds of local kids at the restaurant. Her hometown still claims her as a volleyball star first; she has said it doesn’t matter how people remember her, as long as they do.
In her personal life, Strefling has been reported to be in a relationship with fellow WWE performer Bron Breakker, one of the fastest-rising names on the main roster. The pair keep the relationship largely out of their on-screen work, but it makes them one of WWE’s genuine power couples behind the scenes — two athletes from sporting families (his father and uncle are wrestling legends Rick and Scott Steiner) building parallel careers.
What Is Next for Izzi Dame?
At 27, with a championship already on her résumé and barely three years of experience, Dame’s ceiling is unusually high. She has the size at 5 ft 10 in, the athletic pedigree of a Division I and professional athlete, and a character — cold, elegant menace — that television executives can build around. A main roster call-up is a matter of timing rather than talent.
Whatever comes next, her biography already contains the detail no writer would dare invent: a volleyball player who thought WWE’s message was fake, accepted a decade-long ban from her old sport as the price of a dream, and held championship gold within three years of her first ever wrestling match.
For more wrestling and athlete profiles, read our coverage of Shane McMahon and Christel Khalil on TheWorthWire.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Izzi Dame’s real name?
Izzi Dame’s real name is Franki Carissa Strefling. She briefly wrestled under the name Franki Carissa before adopting the Izzi Dame ring name in WWE NXT.
How old is Izzi Dame?
Izzi Dame was born on July 13, 1999, in Michigan, which makes her 27 years old in 2026.
How tall is Izzi Dame?
Izzi Dame is billed at 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) and 143 lbs, measurements that reflect her background as a Division I and professional volleyball player.
What did Izzi Dame do before WWE?
Before WWE, she was a professional volleyball player. She starred at Eastern Michigan University, then played in Cyprus — until breaking her contract to join WWE earned her a ten-year ban from the Cypriot league.
Has Izzi Dame won a championship in WWE?
Yes. She won the NXT Women’s North American Championship at NXT New Year’s Evil in January 2026, defeating Thea Hail, before later losing it to Tatum Paxley in a steel cage match.
Conclusion
Izzi Dame’s biography reads like a dare: give up the only sport you’ve ever known, in a country that then bans you for a decade, for a business you’ve never watched. Three years on, Franki Strefling is a former NXT champion, a featured member of The Culling and one of WWE’s best recruitment stories — proof that sometimes the message you think is a scam is the one that changes your life.