Former WWE And Impact Star Kimber Lee Announces Her Retirement From Wrestling

Former "WWE NXT" and Impact Wrestling star Kimber Lee took to Twitter on Saturday to announce her retirement from professional wrestling. In her statement, Lee said that the revelation may appear to be coming out of left field for some as she was gearing up for a return. However, she has discovered that her hiatus — which came after her estranged husband, Nash Carter, was released from WWE in the wake of Lee bringing some questionable photos to light — is turning into retirement after coming to terms with "harsh realities" that her heart is simply not in wrestling anymore. Lee wants to continue her healing journey and will not be taking wrestling bookings going forward. Lee has not competed since October 2022.

"I originally thought that this was just going to be a break from wrestling. That after some time I would be ready to put my heart into this again and come back better than I ever have before, Lee wrote in her statement. "But the thing is, the more I think about it, the more I come to realize that my heart is not in this anymore." She also said that thinking about wrestling now only brings her heartbreak and anxiety, as opposed to the butterflies and joy she once felt.

Lee was signed to "NXT" from December 2016 until March 2018, where she competed under the name Abbey Laith. During that time, she made it to the quarterfinals of the 2017 Mae Young Classic, but only had a handful of televised appearances after that before her release the following year. In 2020, Lee made her debut in Impact and eventually aligned with Deonna Purrazzo. She hasn't appeared for Impact since the end of 2021 but recently claimed she is still under contract.