Candice LeRae

Candice LeRae Dawson (born September 29, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. As of September 2022, she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Candice LeRae. She was the inaugural WWE Women's Speed Champion and a former NXT Women's Tag Team Champion.

Dawson began her professional wrestling career in 2002, working for the Empire Wrestling Federation (EWF) promotion until 2006. Over the following years, she competed in various promotions on the independent circuit, including Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Shimmer Women Athletes, DDT Pro-Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where she is a one-time PWG World Tag Team Champion, making her the only female title holder in the promotion's history. Other titles she held include the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship and the FWE Women's Championship.

After competing at the inaugural Mae Young Classic in 2017, Dawson signed with WWE in early 2018 and debuted for the NXT brand, where she became involved in her husband Johnny Gargano's feuds before becoming a singles competitor. In 2020, Dawson joined Gargano, Indi Hartwell, and Austin Theory to form the villainous faction The Way, until it dissolved the following year. She left the company in May 2022 but returned in September that year.