Second Generation Wrestler Destiny Diamond, a high school senior, follows in her father, “Wild Child” Billy Diamond’s footsteps while hitting the books as well as the gym
By Kari Williams
Destiny Diamond spent half of her high school career learning how to wrestle, and on Nov. 1, 2008 showed the fruits of her labor to the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association—Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling (MMWA-SICW), better known in the St. Louis area as ‘South Broadway’ as she fought victoriously against El Uno Loco.
For the better part of two years, she trained and perfected her craft, but the desire the step into the squared circle came much earlier.
“I came to MMWA shows since I was about eight years old with my dad, and I watched him, and I was like, ‘I want to do it!’… He was the biggest influence, like 98%. I don’t know how to explain it, just seeing him do it, he brought me to do it, and it’s something we can do together,” Diamond said.
As proud as her father, ‘Wild Child’ Billy Diamond, is, he had a few reservations about her entering the business.
“My reaction was mixed. I knew the politics in the business but also knew that she had the desire to do it and was going to regardless. So, I looked at it as an opportunity to train her and make sure she wasn’t misguided by the wrong people,” Billy said.
Destiny attends Northwest High School in High Ridge, MO and deals with the task of balancing wrestling and studying for her classes. No matter the cost—and the fact that she believes wrestling gets in the way of school—she would not change a thing.
“It’s hard because all of the big tests come up and you have school the next day after training for a couple hours, and it’s hard to do, but it’s worth it.
“The biggest challenge is having the energy to [wrestle] and trying to cover up the bruises…It’s hard to explain because you can go to school and say, ‘Yeah, I got these bruises from wrestling,’ and people take it the wrong way, thinking I’m getting beat up when really it’s for fun,” Destiny said.
During Destiny’s freshman year, her American History Teacher Bob Wilhelm revealed his love for the sport.
“I had a teacher who coached wrestling, and I wore one of the MMWA shirts to school one day, and he knew about the organization, and he keeps asking me about it every time I walk by,” Destiny said.
An avid pro wrestling fan, Wilhelm watches every Monday and Friday with his son, who also enjoys the sport. Having known Destiny for four years, he has seen her enthusiasm.
“I love that she is interested in wrestling. She has a real passion for it. She is a real go-getter,” Wilhelm said.
Destiny made a personal choice to let others into her life beyond the clasroom.
“I decided to tell people [about wrestling at school] because…guys in general will tell guys [about sports] just becaue they’ll talk about all their guy sports, and I’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, well I wrestle with guys,’” Destiny said.
In addition, she let the whole school into her world through an article in the school newspaper and the yearbook, where she and her twin sister, Natasha, were featured wrestling. According to Destiny, her sister “was in training for a while but she decided to veer off and keep her head in the books for a while, but…there may be another ‘Diamond’ to shine soon.”
“I was training for a while to become a wrestler. I had decided to leave it for a while to focus on school because it is our senior year, and I wanted to make the best of it. I plan on returning to training this year and [will] start wrestling with my sister when I can. Before, when I was in training with her, we had some pretty good tag team moves for us,” Natasha said.
Despite putting her own dreams on hold, Natasha attended the MMWA-SICW show when Destiny made her debut.
“I’m honestly really proud of her. When she wrestled on her debut night, I couldn’t have been more happy. I was cheering her on so much, I think I lost my voice the next day,” Natasha said.
Destiny’s ultimate goal in wrestling is “To get [her] name out there and make a statement. [She wants to] show that young girls like [her] can do this.” After high school, Destiny hopes to branch out and begin working for other promotions in the area and beyond.
“I want to try and hook up with more organizations and get my name out there, and hopefully go big. LWA is good and UWA, and eventually I want to try ROH, but that’s really long down the road obviously, but that’d be cool,’ Destiny said.
With her father’s support and training, Destiny has the opportunity to accomplish the goals she set for herself.
“She is very receptive and listens when she is training and is watching and learning all she can. I never would have dreamed that she would take [wrestling] by storm like she has. She has unlimited potential, and I am amazed everytime I see her in her matches,” Billy said.
![Destiny Diamond holds the Heavyweight Title of the then-champion Jeremy Lightfoot prior to her training. "[Jeremy Lightfoot] taught me the basics, and then he taught me how to jump off the ropes, do some high flying stuff," Destiny said.](https://missouriwrestlingrevival.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/destiny-diamond.jpg?w=480&h=315 "destiny-diamond")
Destiny Diamond holds the Heavyweight Title of the then-champion Jeremy Lightfoot prior to her training. “[Jeremy Lightfoot] taught me the basics, and then he taught me how to jump off the ropes, do some high flying stuff,” Destiny said.
To catch Destiny in action, one can attend the Jan. 10 MMWA-SICW show at the South Broadway Athletic Club located at 2301 S. 7th Street in St. Louis, MO 63104.
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