LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A professional wrestling star who started her career in Louisville before making it to the national stage is now in the toughest fight of her life with ALS.
Tanea Brooks, better known as Rebel in All Elite Wrestling, revealed her terminal diagnosis in May after battling a two-year medical mystery. She has dedicated the time she has left to raising awareness and money for the illness that is killing her.
"I don't expect the cure for me but I expect to find it for everyone after me," Brooks said in a Zoom interview from her Florida home.
Brooks started her wrestling career training with Louisville-based Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2014. The squared circle proved a fit for the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who had also dabbled in women's pro football, modeling and music videos. Brooks said she grew up a tomboy who loved to dress up.
"When I got to train for wrestling, I fell in love," Brooks said. "I'm positive and joyful and bubbly, but I like to hit."
Brooks didn't just fall in love with wrestling in Louisville. It's also where she met her future husband, James Long, an OVW wrestler known as Paredyse. Long went on to work behind the scenes as a producer for WWE, while Rebel performed in front of the camera for its largest competitor, AEW.
Tanea Brooks and James Long
They were living the wrestling dream until two years ago, when the performance stopped and the real fight began.
The diagnosis
"People need to be aware what cruel disease this is," Brooks said. "My speech and my whole body is becoming paralyzed, but I feel everything."
ALS — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease — attacks the nerve cells that control muscle movement. An estimated 35,000 people are living with ALS in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 5,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. There is no cure.
"If you ever tore a muscle or pulled a muscle, it gets warm and it gets heavy and weak and you can't move it," Brooks said.
It took two years for doctors to determine what was wrong. Brooks said she was first hospitalized in May 2024. She was initially told she had pneumonia and then cancer before receiving the ALS diagnosis.
"The greatest thing ALS has given me is to be able to see how much people care and love and support me before I am gone," Brooks said.
Old friends in Louisville stepped up to help. Shiloh Mount, better known as Truth Magnum in AEW, is producing a benefit show July 24 with his Dream Pro Wrestling company at Headliners Music Hall. The event features wrestlers whose careers included early stops in Louisville before they reached a national spotlight.
"We wanted to come back and do a show that celebrates her and raises awareness and hopefully do a small part to fund some research for ALS," Mount said.
Brooks can't attend in person, but all proceeds benefit I Am ALS, an organization she serves as ambassador. Scientists hope to find a cure by 2030. The current life expectancy for an ALS patient is two to five years after symptoms appear. Two of Brooks' years are already gone — taken before she knew what she was fighting.
Documenting the journey
"Please continue to pray for a peaceful journey and a peaceful passing," Brooks said in a May 2026 video posted to social media after learning her diagnosis.
Brooks has more than 300,000 followers on social media and began documenting her medical journey online, answering fan questions and sharing updates about living with ALS. The videos, called ALS Tanea's Tidbits, are generating thousands of views, likes, comments and shares.
"Because so many people don't know about it," she said. "And if they don't know about it, how can we get the awareness? If we don't have awareness, we can't get funds. If we can't get funds, then we can't get research. If we can't get research, we can't get a cure."
Brooks is among the latest public figures to battle ALS. Former NFL running back Chris Johnson recently revealed his diagnosis at age 39. Former Grey's Anatomy star Eric Dane died from ALS in February at age 53.
Both Johnson and Brooks have used their celebrity to reignite the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral fundraising campaign where participants dump ice water over their heads, nominate others to do the same and donate to ALS research. Athletes from the pro wrestling and football worlds are spreading the word alongside fans.
"I want to do a good job," Brooks said. "I don't want to just sit back on the island and do nothing. It's not in my rebel blood."
Dream Pro Wrestling's "Outrunners Summer Vacation" show benefiting I Am ALS in honor of Rebel starts at 8 p.m. Friday, July 24, at Headliners Music Hall on Lexington Road in Louisville. Tickets are still available and those unable to attend but wishing to donate can do so online.
There are also Rebel heart T-shirts and bracelets available on shopaew.com. Brooks said she is not taking any money from the sales and all funds are going to I AM ALS.
Gilbert Corsey and Tanea Brooks in Ohio Valley Wrestling
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