Tanea Brooks

Tanea Brooks, born September 8, 1978, is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling manager, model, actress, dancer, and cosmetologist best known by her ring name Rebel. Throughout her career, she has performed for major professional wrestling promotions, including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (later known as Impact Wrestling), Ohio Valley Wrestling, World Wonder Ring Stardom, World Wrestling Entertainment, and All Elite Wrestling.

Brooks was born and raised in Owasso, Oklahoma. After performing for a year on the University of Tulsa dance team, she became a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader in 1998 at age 19, remaining with the squad for three seasons and appearing on the cover of the team's swimsuit calendar. Before entering professional wrestling, she performed in the burlesque dance troupe Purrfect Angelz alongside longtime friend Christy Hemme. Brooks later moved to Los Angeles to advance her modeling, acting, and dancing careers. She attended the Napoleon Perdis Makeup academy to become a licensed cosmetologist and competed in the Lingerie Football League for the New York Euphoria team.

In media and television, Brooks was cast as the lead featured dancer in the music video for Trace Adkins' song "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," and she performed as a backup dancer for his live television appearances at the CMT Music Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards. She also appeared in the music video for Brooks and Dunn's "Play Something Country." Her television and film credits include performing as a dancer on Jeff Foxworthy's Big Night Out, appearing across three seasons of the reality series Full Throttle Saloon, participating in an episode of Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, and acting in short films such as Sweet Friggin' Daisies (2002) and Hello (2010).

Brooks entered professional wrestling in 2013 after signing with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) upon a recommendation from Hemme. She debuted on screen in May 2014 under the ring name Rebel as part of the carnival-themed stable The Menagerie alongside Knux, Crazzy Steve, and The Freak. After competing in tag team and Knockouts matches, she aligned with The Dollhouse stable before leaving the promotion in September 2016, though she later returned for limited appearances in 2017 and 2018. Concurrently, she trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) starting in 2014, where she won the OVW Women's Championship in November 2016 and held the title until March 2017.

In April 2017, Brooks made her international debut in Japan for World Wonder Ring Stardom, participating in an eight-week tour where she wrestled competitors such as Toni Storm, Io Shirai, and Hana Kimura. In January 2019, she appeared on an episode of WWE's NXT television show, teaming with Amber Nova in a match against Kairi Sane and Io Shirai. Over the course of her career, Brooks also captured the River City Wrestling Women's Championship and the Tried-N-True Women's Championship.

Brooks was hired by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in August 2019 as a backstage hair and makeup stylist. By April 2020, she transitioned to an onscreen role as Rebel, serving as the personal makeup artist and assistant to Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. Brooks was diagnosed with primary pulmonary lymphoma in November 2025 and terminal amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in May 2026. On September 9, 2026, AEW presented the "Rebel Heart" special episode of Dynamite to support her battle with ALS, where she made a televised appearance alongside Baker.