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Condolences To WWE Referee Daphanie LaShaunn

By Monika Thapa • Published Sep 16, 2025 11:07 EDT
Daphanie LaShaunn WWE

Daphanie LaShaunn suffers a devastating loss.

Daphanie LaShaunn, real name Aja Smith Perera, began her wrestling career on the independent circuit, notably with Shine Wrestling from 2017 to 2020, where she won two championships, including the Shine Nova Championship and Shine Tag Team Championship alongside Big Swole. She also held the Girl Fight Championship for over two years.

Daphanie LaShaunn officially signed with WWE on February 5, 2020, where she started officiating matches primarily on the NXT brand. She made history at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022 by becoming the first Black female referee to officiate a match at WrestleMania. Along with fellow referee Jessika Carr, they were the first two women to officiate back-to-back matches on the biggest stage. She even briefly held the 24/7 Championship, winning it in a surprise moment during a live event in 2022.

As of 2025, the 31-year-old star remains active on the SmackDown brand as a referee. She recently logged on to her X/Twitter account to share a sad yet cryptic message saying “goodbye”. This led fans to speculate that she might be on her way out of WWE. However, that was not the case. She clarified to the fans that she isn’t going anywhere and that the tweet was about her grandmother, who passed away recently.

LaShaunn tweeted, “It’s not goodbye. It’s see ya later.”

“Bro I lost my grandma not everything is about wrestling good God!” read another tweet.

WWE Hall of Famers Nikki and Brie Bella also lost their grandmother recently

Around a month ago, Nikki and Brie Bella’s brother, JJ Garcia, announced their grandmother’s passing on Instagram.

My Nana! Words can’t express how lucky I was to have you in my life here on earth! I know you’re still in it looking over me! Anyone person who knew my Nana will tell you that she affected them in a positive way and I am sure she also prayed for you! It will be hard to not be able to pick up the phone and say hi but I know I will get to see you again one day! Please tell PopPop I love and miss him too! See you on the other side Nana! Love you!

We at TJR Wrestling send our condolences to Daphanie LaShaunn.