Here’s Who Joined Brandi Rhodes’ Cult On Dynamite, And Her Future In AEW

Last night on AEW Dynamite, Brandi Rhodes was attempting to recruit Kris Statlander into her cultish and witchy Nightmare Collective, when a formidable-looking woman in the front row of the audience volunteered herself as tribute. By the time Brandi and Awesome Kong brought her up to the ring, it was clear to viewers that she was probably a wrestler, and perhaps a new AEW signee, but a lot of us didn’t recognize her.

Soon enough word got around that the Serena Deeb to Brandi’s CM Punk is a Chicago-based indie wrestler named Melanie Cruise. She debuted in 2008, and has worked for Shimmer, Rise, and too many other indies to count. But it sounds like she’ll be sticking with one company for the foreseeable future, because WrestlingInc has confirmed today that Melanie Cruise is in fact officially signed to a deal with AEW. It sounds like it won’t be long until we see her in-ring debut as a member of the Nightmare Collective.

Melanie Cruise joins Big Swole and Kris Statlander as the latest round of signings to AEW’s women division. With this influx of talent combined with the increase in time for women’s storylines on this week’s AEW Dynamite, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for AEW’s women.