The IInspiration Reportedly Leaving TNA Wrestling After Knockouts Tag Team Title Loss

Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay are moving on from TNA Wrestling.

That's the word from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select after the longtime friends and tag team partners dropped the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship to The Elegance Brand on Thursday night's episode of iMPACT!

It was previously reported by Ross Sapp that the duo known as The IInspiration saw their contracts with TNA expire back in October. They stuck around through Thursday night's big debut on AMC, but Lee and McKay will now depart the company roughly seven months after they ended their three-year hiatus from professional wrestling.

Mr. Elegance just helped @justmaggielee and @Heathereckless STEAL the TNA Knockouts World Tag Team titles! #TNAiMPACT pic.twitter.com/t8sShIwAwr
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) January 16, 2026

"Fightful Select has learned that the duo did not sign new contracts after signing a series of short-term deals with TNA," Ross Sapp said in his report Thursday night. "We're told that they were open to remaining with TNA, but ended up opting to finish up after this week."

TNA was able to counter the loss of The IInspiration by debuting two new members of the Knockouts Division Thursday night. Daria Rae, formerly known as Sonya Deville, has now joined the company in an authoritative role. After dressing down Director of Authority Santino Marella, Rae announced that she had signed Elayna Black, formerly known as Cora Jade, to a contract.

What the future holds for Cassie Lee and Jessie McKay, meantime, remains unclear. The former WWE and Knockouts Tag Team Champions stepped away from wrestling in April 2022 to start their families, but felt this past June was the right time and that TNA Wrestling was the right place for their comeback.

The IInspiration are two women on a mission

The Takedown on SI spoke to The IInspiration over the summer, and they said it was their affinity for tag team wrestling that helped draw them back to TNA after they requested their release from the company nearly four years ago.

"We took so much pride in guiding the women's tag division three years ago & that hasn't changed," Cassie Lee said back in June. "We are so passionate about tag team wrestling & fight so hard for the women to be in the spotlight. It will forever be our goal to be the standard of women's tag team wrestling & that mission continues."

That mission could now continue in WWE or AEW, with the women's tag team divisions in both companies having blossomed over the past several months.

AEW President Tony Khan introduced the Women's World Tag Team Championship back in September, with Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale later winning a tournament to become the inaugural titleholders.

Meanwhile, women's tag teams in WWE have suddenly bucked the trend of being put on the back burner with major stars like Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, and others stepping up to push their battles for the WWE Women's Tag Titles into the spotlight on both Raw and SmackDown.

There's been no report, as of this writing, that Lee and McKay are in discussions to join either company, but they would instantly enhance whichever division they join next.

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