Catherine Anne Kelley (born September 27, 1988) is an American journalist, television host, model and actress currently signed to WWE, working as a backstage interviewer on the SmackDown brand. She is also known for her previous tenure with WWE from 2016 to 2020. Prior to signing with WWE, she was a panelist on

Maria Menounos Maria Menounos (, gr, Μαρία Μενούνος ; born June 8, 1978) is an American journalist, television presenter and actress. She has hosted '' Extra'' and ''E! News''; she was a TV correspondent for ''Today'', ''Access Hollywood'', and co ...

' online network

AfterBuzz TV AfterBuzz TV is an online broadcast network that specializes in after-show podcasts for several television series including '' Game of Thrones'', '' Big Brother'', '' The Flash'', '' Real Housewives'', and ''Grey's Anatomy''. Created by Maria Me ...

. On October 6, 2022, WWE announced that Kelley has officially joined the RAW brand as a backstage interviewer after a hiatus of two years from the company.

Early life and education

Kelley was born on September 27, 1988, in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...

. She is of

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

and Irish descent. She grew up with a single mother, but spent much of her time on her father's farm in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...

. Her grandfather, Bartram Kelley was an aviation pioneer, as the senior engineer of

Bell Helicopter Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in M ...

s. Kelley became interested in journalism when she was in high school, and started hosting for several of her school's news broadcasts. She graduated from

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States. Its namesake is Saint Ignat ...

with a degree in multimedia journalism. She is a member of

Mensa International Mensa is the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test. Mensa formally com ...

, the world's largest and oldest high IQ society, and is also a certified Mensa journalist.

Career

Kelley has hosted and contributed to WTTW's ''GenYTV'', WOI-DT's ''The Open House Television Show'', ''DSM Living'', and

JUCE TV JUCE TV is a defunct youth-oriented Christian television network and is a current YouTube channel owned and operated by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The channel is aimed at teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 30 years, ...

's ''Hot Off The Press''. Kelley joined

in 2012. She was a panelist on the networks' recap shows of WWE's ''

Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show ...

,'' ''NXT'', and ABC's '' The Bachelor''. In 2013, she began hosting a podcast called "Chatting with Cathy," where she interviewed celebrities, social influencers, and friends of the network. Kelley was signed to WWE in February 2016, and was a correspondent for NXT and special events. She made her official WWE debut on April 1, 2016, on the pre-show of NXT Takeover: Dallas. During her tenure, she hosted WWE Now, a show that airs on WWE's social media platforms and their official website that covers stories, breaking news, previews of upcoming episodes of Raw and

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes sim ...

, and event recaps. During her tenure, she contributed to Sam Roberts' show on

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

. On September 25, 2019, Kelley made her official television debut during an episode of NXT. She also made one night appearance on SmackDown as correspondent on November 1, 2019, after most of the WWE roster were stuck overseas. On February 13, 2020, Kelley announced on social media that she was leaving WWE. Her last day with the company was at NXT TakeOver: Portland on February 16. In 2020, Kelley made her acting debut on the Netflix sitcom '' #blackAF'' as a flight attendant. On October 6, 2022, WWE announced that Kelley will be returning to the company as a backstage interviewer on the Raw brand. In June 2023 she joined the Smackdown brand in the same role.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Cathy 1988 births Living people American television reporters and correspondents American actresses Actors from Oak Park, Illinois Actresses from Illinois Loyola University Chicago alumni American people of Austrian descent American people of Irish descent Participants in American reality television series American women television journalists 21st-century American women