When she steps in the ring she is known as the heartless heel who can challenge anyone at any time. But there is one way to get to this villain's heart: dogs.
Taking on opponent after opponent and being crowned the Cross Body Pro Wrestling Women's Champ, Krystal Moon — aka Lacey Miller — has found a way to incorporate her love for dogs into her wrestling career.
"I am kinda known as the crazy dog lady," joked Miller. "I have the name of my two dogs on my wrestling gear, on my knee pads, so it's very much tied into what I do."
Miller has been wrestling as Krysal Moon with CBPW for the past six years and has dedicated her life to making her passion her career.
Having left her job in the corporate world to pick up a pair of boots, some tights and adopt a new persona in the ring, Miller is now living out a lifelong dream.
"I have a degree and everything, but I just wasn't happy and knew I wanted to follow this path," she added. "I was always a big WWF, WWE fan and never thought I could make this a career, but then I found Ben (Ortmans) and Cross Body and found a home."
From watching pro wrestling with her older sister as a kid in Sault Ste. Marie to taking the main stage in the ring in Cambridge, Miller has put in the work and got to a place where she is succeeding at a high level.
Having loved dogs for nearly as long as she's loved wrestling, she was always proud to be a dog mom.
When her childhood dog of 16 years, Hedley, passed away in 2021, Miller was devastated.
"That dog I got when I was 13-years-old and I kid you not when I say he saved my life multiple times. He completely changed my life," said Miller. "We had a second dog at the time Hedley passed and after he was gone, he felt lonely and we knew we had to do something."
Nearly a year later, Miller and her partner decided to adopt a dog from an organization called Dogs in Better Spots, a shelter in Hamilton that brings up dogs from Mexico and other parts of the United Sates.
Miller met a dog named Nemo and instantly fell in love with them.
"So Nemo is considered a tri-pod, because he is missing one of his paws and part of his arm," she added. "We're not sure what exactly happened to him in Mexico, but it wasn't a good situation."
Nemo is named after the fish from the Pixar movie of the same name. The dog's underdeveloped arm resembles that of the small fin on the clown fish from the movie.
Since bringing in the dog from Mexico, it has completely changed Miller's perspective on dogs and she has now become a champion of adoption and foster care.
She may be Heartless inside the ring, but she's got the biggest heart outside of it.
— Cross Body Studios (@CBPWAcademy) December 15, 2023
Go talk to her about the doggos!
🐕 https://t.co/sx5WWPUtDb
Every show that Krystal Moon is performing at, she brings information on local dogs for rescue and takes her time to chat with fans and people in the crowd about dogs and ways they can support local fosters and adoption agencies.
"This is just something so rewarding and you are literally saving lives," she said. "It's amazing, because I can literally meet new people and talk about dogs, some of my favourite things to do."
Just recently, she posted about a dog for adoption who had no applications from potential families; after a few days the list was full and applications for the dog were stopped.
Having a bit of a following, she is now able to spread this message and fight for dogs to find their forever families.
"You know I am the bad guy, but I also have a soft spot for my dogs, but that doesn't mean I don't want to win. I am fierce and angry and I'll do what ever it takes to win," said Miller slipping into her role as Krystal Moon.
"I want to be the best and some people may not agree with my tactics but, I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to win titles."
Another key point Miller wants to remind the community is how much work and dedication goes into owning a dog.
She adds people often get dogs and other pets for gifts around the holiday, but animals should never be given as a surprise as they require a lot of commitment and responsibility.
Some of you may not know but I am a huge animal lover. I am a huge advocate for adoption. So going forward at the merch tables, I will be featuring info on adoptable dog in the area. Ill be at @CBPWAcademy this Friday and will be featuring Cami who is being fostered in Guelph pic.twitter.com/SVfbYv7bCU
— Heartless Krystal Moon (@krystalmoon_pw) December 7, 2023
"You see it all the time where these pets end up back in the shelter system or in bad situations at home, but people need to do more research and think hard before getting a pet," said Miller. "I had my dog for 16 years, so it's not only a few year thing."
Krystal Moon can be seen fighting for her title at CBPW in Preston at 132 Argyle St. N. on most weekends.
"Even if you're not that into wrestling or want to make this your career, Ben at CBPW has so much information to offer and can really change your life like he did with mine," she added. "This place becomes a home quick and everyone just has so much dedication it's awesome to be around."