Aliyah wrestles first post-WWE match at Destiny Wrestling event

Nhooph Al-Areebi, FKA as Aliyah in WWE, has returned to the ring.

WWE released Aliyah in September 2023 after she hadn’t appeared on television in a year. Her last match was when she and Raquel Rodriguez dropped the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships to Damage CTRL’s Dakota Kai and IYO Sky on the September 12, 2022, episode of WWE Raw.

Aliyah got back in the ring on Sunday for Destiny Wrestling at an event in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. She won the promotion’s Santino Cup Rumble. She later posted about the experience to Instagram, writing, “What a time to be alive.”

“Toronto’s finest,” wrote NXT’s Karmen Petrovic in response to Aliyah’s post.

The 29-year-old was mentioned in Ronda Rousey’s book Our Fight released earlier this year. In the book, Rousey describes an incident backstage involving Aliyah being told by Bruce Prichard that nobody wanted to work with her, which Rousey says was not the case.

Rousey wrote:

“I was rehearsing in the ring with some of the other girls before doors opened to the fans, when Liv made a beeline to the ring from Gorilla. “Have you seen Aliyah?” she asked. We shook our heads. Aliyah had come up to SmackDown the year before. She had been partnered with Raquel Rodriguez and they’d briefly held the tag team titles, but then Aliyah was sidelined with a shoulder injury.”

“I just ran into her, almost hysterically crying,” (Morgan) explained. “(Aliyah) was asking if it’s true that none of the talent wants to work with her.” We exchanged confused looks. I didn’t know Aliyah well, but I’d had nothing but great interactions with her. She was one of the sweetest girls in the locker room.”

“’Why would she think that?’ I asked. (Morgan responded) ‘They wanted her to come back from her shoulder injury right away, but she said she needed more time. That’s when Bruce Prichard told her that all the producers were trying to bury her and no one wanted to work with her. She was really upset.”

“I felt my jaw and fists clench at the mere mention of his name. Bruce Prichard was another Vince McMahon crony.”