Former WWE Superstar Bea Priestley is no stranger to fighting, as she was doing just that long before she got in the ring. Speaking on Rule Breakers with Saraya, Priestley recalled experiencing scary medical symptoms in her youth.
I was fine until I was like 14. And then all of a sudden, I started having these really violent seizures, but only at nighttime... There were times I’d fall out of bed, whack my head on my bedside table, and get knocked out. They thought I had childhood trauma or something.
Things took a turn a year later when a 15-year-old Priestley was visiting England to see her family. Mid-flight, she experienced one of her seizures, which was a wake-up call for her family.
I remember blacking out in my seat and waking up with staff restraining me at the back of the plane. That’s when my parents were like, ‘Okay, this is something different.’
Priestley was seen to in her native New Zealand, where doctors finally found the cause of her seizures.
They found I had a brain tumor—but it was on my skull. They think I was born with it, and then as I hit my teenage years, my brain started growing into the tumor, so it was constant.
Though she now knew what the issue was, life didn't get any easier anytime soon. The seizures continued years later, forcing Priestley to have to evaluate what her life could be.
“There were times I had seizures while eating—if my flatmates weren’t there, I would’ve choked. I couldn’t lock the bathroom door in case I had a seizure. Couldn’t sleep with my door closed. I wasn’t even allowed to have a job anymore. My dad had to drive 10 hours to pick me up and take me back home.”
The former WWE Superstar was eventually able to have the tumor removed thanks to surgery. Though her seizures are a thing of the past, they left a permanent mark on the wrestler.
““They cut my skull, pulled my face back, took out the tumor, and reattached it with metal. I’ve got a scar from my ear all the way across and a dent in my skull.
"I’ve never been concussed in my life. I’ve been kicked in the head, dropped on my head, never been concussed. I always say, it’s because I’ve got a metal head.”
Priestley was released from WWE in February 2025 and questions remain about her next move in wrestling. Whatever comes next, the ex-Superstar knows what it means to survive.
