Kacy Esther Catanzaro (born January 14, 1990) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

and athletics-based

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

. She is currently signed with

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

on the

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * ''WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * ''NXT UK'', the British spin- ...

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under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Katana Chance. She competed at the television sports show ''

American Ninja Warrior American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

'' and became the first woman to complete a City Qualifiers course and the first woman to complete a City Finals course.

Early life and education

Born in

Glen Ridge, New Jersey Glen Ridge is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough’s population was 7,802, reflecting an increase of 275 (+3.7%) from the 2 ...

, Catanzaro grew up in nearby Belleville, where she attended Belleville High School. She is of Italian descent. She stands about 5 ft (1.524 m) tall and weighs . She began doing gymnastics at age 5. She attended

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...

, from 2009 until 2012, studying early childhood education on an athletic scholarship.

Gymnastics career

Junior Olympic

Catanzaro was a Junior Olympic gymnast, having started training at age 6. She reached level 10 in 2007 and competed at the 2007 New Jersey Level 10 State Championships where she placed fifth in the Senior-A division. The following year Catanzaro competed at the 2008 New Jersey Level 10 State Championships where she placed third and advanced to the 2008 Junior Olympic National Championships. She finished 23rd overall but finished 6th on the balance beam.

NCAA

Catanzaro competed in gymnastics for Towson in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

. She made her debut in the 2009 season. Catanzaro helped the

Towson Tigers The Towson Tigers, formerly the ''Towson College Knights'', are the athletics teams of Towson University. All of the major athletic teams compete in the Colonial Athletic Association with 19 Division I athletic teams (13 in women's sports, 6 in ...

gymnastics team win the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location fro ...

Championships in 2009 and 2010. In her senior year she was named the Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year in 2012. She was also named the 2012

Gymnast of the Year and was the top-ranked competitor in that conference for that year.

Obstacle competitor career

American Ninja Warrior

She worked for Alpha Warrior, an obstacle-course gym in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, from February 2013. Catanzaro spent two years training for ''American Ninja Warrior'' alongside her then-boyfriend and co-competitor Brent Steffensen. She did not complete the qualifying course in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

, but was an invited wildcard at the 2013 finals, where she fell early on the Giant cycle/ring. In 2014, Catanzaro became the first woman to complete the qualifying course of ''American Ninja Warrior'' (season 6), making it up the warped wall on her second try at 5:26.18 at the Dallas qualifiers, ranking her 21 out of 30; this also makes her the first woman to make it up the warped wall in competition. Later in 2014, Catanzaro competed in the Dallas finals of ''American Ninja Warrior''. She was the first woman ever to complete a city finals course (and the second woman to attempt it after

Jessie Graff Jessica Lauren Graff (born January 12, 1984)
Ramblin Wreck. Retrieved on 2013-12-10.

in season 5), qualifying for the national finals in Las Vegas with a time of 8 minutes, 59 seconds. (Not until five years later, during the 2019 season, was her accomplishment of a woman completing a City Finals course matched.) Of the 2014 city finals run, host commentator

Akbar Gbaja-Biamila Akbar Oluwakemi-Idowu Gbaja-Biamila (born May 6, 1979) is a former professional American football player in the National Football League (NFL) who is a commentator and co-host on the ''American Ninja Warrior'' television series. He is the forme ...

remarked "I've seen greatness during my NFL career...And I've been in awe of people, but I am really in awe of Kacy". The run had been especially notable because due to her short stature, many of the obstacles looked difficult to manage and in one case, she had to leap between boards whereas other competitors could traverse them. Her achievement made her a social media phenomenon, with her run being viewed over 100 million times; supporters on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

coined the hashtag #MightyKacy. Catanzaro failed to complete the first stage of the National Finals in Las Vegas. She made it past the first three obstacles, including the Giant Ring and the Silk Slider, before she fell attempting the Jumping Spider, where her full extension was simply too short to hold the position.

Subsequent seasons

In the 2015 Houston Qualifying round (season 7), Catanzaro failed to complete the course after falling on the cargo crossing. She was given a wild card spot in Vegas and she failed due to a mistimed trampoline jump at the Propeller Bar at Stage 1 of the national finals. By this time the pressure she felt to live up to her broadcast reputation as ''Ninjas greatest female competitor was reportedly showing and she was tearful in her post-run interview with

Kristine Leahy Kristine Leahy (born October 16, 1986) is an American television host and former sports reporter. She is most known as a former host on NBC's ''American Ninja Warrior''. She is the former co-host and newswoman of Fox Sports 1's simulcast of ''The ...

. In 2016, Catanzaro was invited to compete in the 32nd competition of the original Japanese version of ANW, '' Sasuke''. Catanzaro performed well, completing 8 of the stage 1 obstacles before timing out on the final obstacle, the Lumberjack Climb. Since the course's renewal and increased difficulty, Catanzaro set the record for the furthest a female athlete has gone and the closest a female athlete has gotten to completing stage 1 since the 2nd competition (until 2017 when Jessie Graff completed stage 1 and became the first woman ever to complete stage 2.) In the 2016 Oklahoma City Qualifying round (season 8), Catanzaro failed to complete the course after falling on an early obstacle, the Log Runner; however, she was again given a Wild Card spot in Las Vegas. In the Las Vegas National Finals, Stage 1, she fell on the second obstacle. In December 2016 Catanzaro co-hosted as a broadcaster the '' Team Ninja Warrior College Madness'' series of shows. In 2017, Catanzaro competed in ''American Ninja Warrior'' season 9 in the San Antonio city qualifier and finals. In the former she failed on the fourth obstacle, but did well enough to qualify for city finals under the show's new rules. In that latter run she had her best performance since 2014, making it past the Sky Hooks and the fifth obstacle to get the now-higher Warped Wall, which she failed to surmount. Nonetheless she qualified for the national finals. At the national finals, she failed on Stage 1 at the Double Dipper. In 2017, Catanzaro announced her retirement from ''American Ninja Warrior'', with

season 9 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

being her last.

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2017–present)

Early years (2017–2020)

On January 4, 2017, Catanzaro received a tryout with

at their

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE ...

. It was announced on August 28 during the

Mae Young Classic The Mae Young Classic was a women's professional wrestling tournament and WWE Network event produced by WWE, an American-based professional wrestling promotion. The event was named in honor of the late Mae Young, a WWE Hall of Famer who is consi ...

that Catanzaro had been signed to a contract with WWE. On January 18, 2018, WWE officially announced Catanzaro had reported to the

. She made her in-ring debut at a

live event A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

on April 19, in

Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Seminole County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 61,051. Known as the "Historic Waterfront Gateway City", Sanford sits on the southern shore ...

, in a losing effort to Reina González.NXT Sanford, FL, live results: Kacy Catanzaro makes her debut
/ref> Catanzaro continued to make appearances during 2018, both in house shows and on NXT television; she wrestled as a

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

and took inspiration from WWE's

Alexa Bliss Alexis Cabrera (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. In 2013, Bliss signed a contract with WWE and was a ...

's slogan "Five Feet of Fury", making reference to Catanzaro's own diminutive size. The 2nd episode of the

aired on September 12, Catanzaro made her televised debut in a winning effort against Reina Gonzalez in the first round match. On Episode 5, she lost in the second round to

Rhea Ripley Demi Bennett (born 11 October 1996) is an Australian professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Rhea Ripley and is a member of The Judgment Day. She was also the inaugural N ...

. On January 27, 2019, Catanzaro made her main roster debut, entering the

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and WWE Network events, event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named afte ...

at number 19 and lasting 10:45, before being eliminated by Ripley. She would make her NXT debut afterwards, on March 13. In September 2019, it was reported that Catanzaro had resigned from WWE and retired from professional wrestling due to an ongoing back injury she suffered. She returned on the January 15, 2020, episode of ''NXT'' as a surprise entrant in a women's battle royal. Catanzaro revealed in an interview that she took some time off because she had doubts about continuing in the Professional Wrestling business.

Teaming with Kayden Carter (2020–present)

On the September 16 episode of ''NXT'', Catanzaro teamed with

Kayden Carter Allyssa Lyn "Lacey" Lane (born May 20, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under the ring name Kayden Carter, performing on the NXT brand. She is a one-time NXT Women's Tag Team Champion with Katana Chance. Earl ...

in a winning effort against Jessi Kamea and

Xia Li Zhao Xia (; born July 28, 1988) is a Chinese-American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Xia Li ...

. They participated in the 2021 Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, defeating

Mercedes Martinez Jazmin Benitez (born November 17, 1980) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Mercedes Martinez. She also appears for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where she is a form ...

and

Toni Storm Toni Rossall (born 19 October 1995), better known by the ring name Toni Storm, is a New Zealand-Australian professional wrestler. She is currently signed to AEW, where she is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She previously worked for WWE ...

in the quarterfinals, but were beaten by Dakota Kai and Raquel González in the semifinals. They would then feud with Xia Li after constantly being attacked by her throughout the following weeks. Catanzaro lost to Li on the February 24 episode of ''NXT'' and got her leg injured afterwards. The next year, Catanzaro and Carter participated in the 2022 Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic where they defeated

Diamond Mine There are a limited number of commercially available diamond mines currently operating in the world, with the 50 largest mines accounting for approximately 90% of global supply. Diamonds are also mined alluvially over disperse areas, where dia ...

's Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley in the first round, but lost to

Kay Lee Ray Kayleigh Rae (born 11 August 1992), better known as Kay Lee Ray, is a Scottish professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Alba Fyre. Rae began her wrestling career in 2009 and c ...

and

Io Shirai is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Iyo Sky (stylized in all caps). She is a member of Damage CTRL and one-half of the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions ...

in the semifinals. On April 19, Catanzaro's ring name was changed to Katana Chance. Chance and Carter won the

NXT Women's Tag Team Championship The NXT Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling women's tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. The current ch ...

in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match, lastly eliminating

Toxic Attraction Toxic Attraction was a professional wrestling stable in WWE on the NXT brand. The group originally consisted of Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne. After Rose was released from her WWE contract in December 2022, Toxic Attraction became a tag ...

(

Gigi Dolin Priscilla Lee Kelly (born June 5, 1997) is an American professional wrestler. She performs under the ring name Gigi Dolin in the NXT brand, and is one-half of the tag team Toxic Attraction with Jacy Jayne, and she is a former record-tying two-ti ...

and

Jacy Jayne Taylor Grado (born June 2, 1996) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Jacy Jayne as a member of Toxic Attraction. She is a former record-tying two-time NXT Women's Tag Team C ...

), on the August 2 episode of ''NXT'', marking Kacy's first professional wrestling championship. They defended their titles against

Doudrop Kimberly Benson (born 6 May 1991) is a Scottish professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Doudrop. Benson began her career on the independent circuit under the name Viper; aft ...

and Nikki A.S.H. at Worlds Collide, and against

Nikkita Lyons Faith Jefferies (born August 5, 1999) is an American professional wrestler, taekwondo practitioner, and musician. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on its NXT brand under the ring name Nikkita Lyons. Jefferies has also wrestled ...

and

Zoey Stark Theresa Serrano (born January 25, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Zoey Stark, and is a former NXT Women's Tag Team Champion. Professional wrestl ...

on the October 25 and November 8 episodes of ''NXT''. On January 8, 2023, Catanzaro and Carter became the longest reigning NXT Women's Tag Team Champions. On the January 24 episode of ''NXT'', they retained against

Alba Fyre Kayleigh Rae (born 11 August 1992), better known as Kay Lee Ray, is a Scottish professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar t ...

and Sol Ruca. At NXT Vengeance Day, Chance and Carter lost the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship to

Fallon Henley Theresa Schuessler (born September 25, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE performing under the ring name Fallon Henley on the NXT brand and currently is one-half of the NXT Women's Tag Team Champions with ...

and

Kiana James Kayla Klingensmith (' Inlay; born May 23, 1997), is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE performing under the ring name Kiana James and is a former NXT Women's Tag Team Champion. Early life Inlay was born in Sioux ...

, ending the historic reign at 186 days.

Other media

Catanzaro made her

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

debut in the ''Banzai Pack'' DLC for ''

WWE 2K22 ''WWE 2K22'' is a 2022 professional wrestling sports video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the twenty-second overall installment of the video game series based on WWE, the ninth game under the ''WWE 2K'' banne ...

''.

Championships and accomplishments

* ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' ** Ranked No. 63 of the top 100 female wrestlers in the ''

PWI Female 100 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

'' in 2019 *

( 1 time) – with

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Catanzaro, Kacy 1990 births 21st-century American women 21st-century professional wrestlers American female artistic gymnasts American female professional wrestlers American Ninja Warrior contestants American professional wrestlers of Italian descent Belleville High School (New Jersey) alumni Level 10 gymnasts Living people NXT Women's Tag Team Champions People from Belleville, New Jersey People from Glen Ridge, New Jersey Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Towson Tigers athletes