Roberts was born in Lubbock, Texas to Nick Roberts and Lorraine Johnson. Both Nick Roberts and Johnson were professional wrestlers and promoted weekly events at the Fair Park Coliseum. During her childhood, Roberts sold programs at her father's events, in the process befriending future wrestlers Bruce and Keith Hart and Kerry and Kevin Von Erich. From an early age, Roberts aimed to become a professional wrestler.[1][3][4]
World Class Championship Wrestling (1984)
In the summer of 1984, while training to become an emergency medical technician (EMT), Roberts overheard her parents say that her childhood crush, World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) wrestler Gino Hernandez, was in need of a valet. Unbeknownst to her parents, Roberts contacted David Manning, the WCCW booker, and proposed that she could manage Hernandez. After Manning agreed, Roberts left college and traveled to San Antonio, Texas, making her debut alongside Hernandez in the sold-out Freeman Coliseum. She went on to train under Nelson Royal for the remainder of the summer.[3]
In December 1985, JCP ran an angle to get J.J. Dillon in as Blanchard's manager. Baby Doll was missing from Blanchard's side for some time and then returned on December 28 at a house show. Tully confronted her in an interview and demanded to know where she had been. The angle played out that J.J. had given her a ticket to Mexico and said it was from Tully for her Christmas present. Dillon denied it and Tully hit Baby Doll who was then "saved" by Dusty Rhodes.[citation needed]
Roberts heard about the WWF restarting their women's division and trained with Nelson Royal to improve her ring-skills alongside her sister-in-law Robin Smith. Both tried out with the WWF, but Smith was chosen over Roberts.[5]
Independent circuit (2005, 2007-present)
At the inaugural WrestleReunion event on January 29, 2005 in Tampa, Florida, Roberts accompanied Jeff Jarrett to ringside for his successful defense of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a bout with Tully Blanchard. She went on to manage a number of wrestlers on the independent circuit throughout the late 2000s (decade).[4] In 2016, Baby Doll appeared for Big Time Wrestling in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Morganton, North Carolina, in "Battle of the Sexes" matches vs. Jim Cornette.
Personal life
While at high school, Roberts set several records for the shot put.[3]
Roberts married fellow wrestler Michael "Sam Houston" Smith on July 30, 1986 in Lubbock, Texas.[6] She gave birth to two daughters; Mikka Tyler Smith, in 1991, and Mikala Joy Smith, in 1992. Roberts retired from professional wrestling upon the birth of her second daughter, opting to devote her time to her children. She and Smith separated in 1991, briefly reconciled in 1992 and ultimately were divorced on February 17, 1995.[2][1][3][7]
After retiring from professional wrestling, Roberts worked in a number of fields, including baggage handling, cable installation, the manufacture of apparel for wrestlers and 13 years at Wal-Mart.[2][3]
Roberts married Chad Byrd on July 4, 2017; they reside in Caldwell County, North Carolina.