TNA's Sienna runs for a good cause

A beautiful woman running through the streets in her underwear would probably make you take notice.

Why exactly is going on?

The answer to that question will be explained in just a few weeks, as TNA Knockout, Sienna will strip down and dash through the chilly streets of her hometown, Detroit, MI to raise money for a very worthwhile cause. Through Cupid's Undie Run, the motor city native will raise funds for the children's tumor foundation, and there are many incentive for fans to get involved toward this noble cause.

A very unique fundraiser for an individual that always took a very unique path.

Clad in peacock feathers with her pinkies extended, Sienna usually walks to the ring with a scowl on her face as Coolio's "Gangster's Paradise" blares in the background. Despite her hard-hitting and villainous persona inside the ring ropes, this female athlete has a soft side. Yes, when she's not pummeling opponents in the ring or in the cage, Sienna has always looked to give back.

Long before she ran down the sidewalk without pants or appeared on pay-per-view, the competitor once known as Allysin Kay was an enthusiastic fan with a dream. She was a fan of the sport as long as she can remember, watching as much wrestling as she possibly could with her family during her youth. At a very young age, Allysin decided that the role of a hair stylist or a nurse just wasn't for her, she wanted to be a professional wrestler. She was so amazed with the larger than life characters that beamed through the television screen that she decided early on that sports entertainment was the only path for her.

Living in Detroit, a region known for its wrestling as far back as The Sheik's promotion running cards at the Cobo Hall in the 1960s, Allysin wanted to find a reputable school to learn her craft. The eager 20-year-old found the training center of veteran grappler, Matthew Priest and enrolled in the class. Again, this provided a unique set of circumstances for the future Knockouts champion.

"When I started training, I was one of two girls in a class of probably 30 guys. I think a lot of indy girls have this same story, except Shavonne and I didn't try to be one of the boys. We were rougher than the boys! A lot of the guys quit, but we stuck it out. I don't know if it was just in our personalities or if we felt we had something to prove, but we were brutes. In our first practice match, Shavonne slapped me so hard in the face that my teeth were misaligned for a week. I couldn't bite down straight. Funny thing is, I wasn't even mad. Now, I would destroy someone. Training started every Saturday at noon and ran indefinitely. Sometimes we would be in the ring until 9 PM. I remember having specific blocks of our training where we would get in the ring and cut promos to our peers as the audience. The head trainer, Mathew Priest, would go on long tangents about psychology. It felt like we were actually in school, in a good way. If I learned nothing else in training, it was at least those fundamentals, and I believe they've carried on with me throughout my career. We learned how to take different types of bumps, but we never focused on moves," she recalled.

Despite her appearance, Kay always took the tedious process of learning to land on the canvas extremely serious, proving she wasn't just another pretty face among her female contemporaries. However, the absurdity that is often only found in the wrestling business provided an occasional pause from the intense training sessions.

"I do recall one late night in training, being all hopped up on a real sketchy energy drink and learning flying head scissors. We had just moved into a new building in Detroit where we ran our training and shows. We had access to whatever the prior owners left behind. In what became our locker room, we discovered crates upon crates of this obscure energy drink: Red Toe. I can't find any info online about this but I swear it was real. It was like a combination of battery acid and socks, but after the first sip it got surprisingly more tolerable. You'll never see a flying head scissors like a Red Toe flying head scissors," she remembers

During the course of the next five years, Allysin Kay traveled the independent circuit, learning from every opponent, and refined her skills. As she continues to do today, she appeared on cards for every major women's wrestling promotion, including Shine, Shimmer, and Women Superstars Uncensored. She developed a devious persona, and the signature blond streaks through her hair made her a fixture on the independent scene. In 2013, the notoriety that her skills garnered her brought the opportunity to tour Japan, a valuable experience that she considers a career highlight.

"Living and wrestling in Japan for three months is one of my fondest memories in my entire pro wrestling career. It was an incredible experience. I know I'll go back one day, though I'm afraid that no experience could ever top the one I had. It was highly in part to the people I was with, all by chance. I formed a special bond with Crazy Mary Dobson and Serena Deeb there, and that will stay with me forever," Kay said.

She returned from Japan a more polished and confident athlete, prompting her to challenge herself in another form of competition. When she's not relaxing and watching her favorite horror films, fitness goals are a usual hobby. Power lifting, Ju jitsu, and even yoga are on her schedule when she's not in the ring. Considering her background and the popularity of female fighting, Allysin decided to test herself in a mixed martial arts bout in late 2015.

"I had my first MMA fight in December 2015. I won by second round rear naked choke. Some point in the first round I got poked in the eye, completely unbeknownst to me until my eye started to close between rounds. It was entirely shut by the time the second round started. I was so afraid that the ref was going to call the fight, but he let me continue," she said

Kay impressed when she overcame early adversity in the early moments and then used her skills to secure the victory. Her mixed martial arts debut went well enough that a second fight was planned, but a major career event added a new agenda to her career.

Allysin's extensive work on the independent scene earned her an invitation to the TNA Knockouts Knockdown pay-per-view as Sienna, and she was signed to a TNA contract the following month. After competing in Mexico, she won the Knockouts championship on pay-per-view, one of her most notable accomplishments.

"I debuted last spring during their Knockouts Knockdown PPV, facing Gail Kim. I went to Mexico to represent TNA in AAA's Lucha World Cup, and came home to win the Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary. That's pretty intense," she said.

Despite the national television experience and international travels, she remains a humble athlete that looks to use her notoriety as a notorious villain on-screen to make a difference.

I love Cupid's Undie Run's mission, and the gimmick of the race is fun and seems to be an extra incentive for people to donate. I practically fight people in my underwear anyway, just not usually in below freezing temperatures. I'm big on researching charities before donating my time or money to them. The proceeds of this fundraiser go to The Children's Tumor Foundation, which is a great non-profit organization. It has rated 4 out of 4 stars on Charity Navigator for the seventh year in a row in 2016. They're also transparent with their financial statements. Their main focus is finding a cure for neurofibromatosis. I do have friends whose children have had different types of cancer, and it's one of the worst things I can imagine a parent going through. Though I've actually only recently met someone with NF. We live in a world where most people don't really care about something if it's not directly affecting them to some capacity. I never want to be one of those people," she explained

Subzero temperatures haven't stopped Sienna before and she plans to make this year her most successful fundraising campaign saying, "I first did Cupid's Undie Run in 2014, raising $1,000. I was invited by a friend. I enjoyed it so much, I did it again in 2015 and raised $2,500. I missed last year's event due to scheduling conflicts, so this year I'm trying to make up for lost time and I set a super ambitious goal of $10,000! It was $5,000 at first, but then I raised over $3,000 just in October alone! So naturally, I upped my goal. We've passed the original $5,000 goal at this point, but we are still pretty far off from $10,000 with only a couple weeks left!"

Aside from helping toward a good cause, fans that donate will be entered into a raffle to win prize packages, including gifts from TNA, Shimmer and Shine. As an added bonus, Sienna has promised to post pictures of her undie run if the fundraising goal is reached. A unique athlete, Sienna will use this unique opportunity for fans to see her run around in her underwear in the snow for a very good cause in just a few weeks.

For more information on how to donate, you can go to http://my.cupids.org/siennatna