Kacy Catanzaro
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Kacy Esther Catanzaro (born January 14, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and a former
gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...
and obstacle racer. She is best known for her time in WWE, where she performed under the
ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...
Katana Chance. Alongside Kayden Carter, she is a one-time
NXT Women's Tag Team Champion The NXT Women's Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling Women's professional wrestling championship, women's tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE. It w ...
, holding the record for the longest reign in the title's history, and a one-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion. Carter and Chance are also the first women's tag team to have won the WWE and NXT Women's Tag Team Championships. Prior to her professional wrestling career, Catanzaro competed on the television sports show ''
American Ninja Warrior ''American Ninja Warrior'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''ANW'') is an American sports entertainment reality show based on the Japanese television reality show ''Sasuke (TV series), Sasuke,'' which also serves as a successor of ''American Ninja C ...
'' 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, an increase of 275 (+3.7%) from the 2010 United St ...
, Catanzaro grew up in nearby Belleville, where she attended Belleville High School. She is of Italian descent. Catanzaro attended
Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its foundin ...
in
Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 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 College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
. She made her debut in the 2009 season. Catanzaro helped the Towson Tigers gymnastics team win the Eastern College Athletic Conference 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 Eastern College Athletic Conference Gymnast of the Year and was the top-ranked competitor in that conference for that year.


Obstacle racing career


American Ninja Warrior

She worked for Alpha Warrior, an obstacle-course gym in
San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
, 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, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...
, 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 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 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, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
coined the
hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag operator that is prefaced by the hash symbol, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services–especially Twitter and Tumblr–as a form of user-generated tagging that enable ...
#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. 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 to 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 ''American Ninja Warrior'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''ANW'') is an American sports entertainment reality show based on the Japanese television reality show ''Sasuke (TV series), Sasuke,'' which also serves as a successor of ''American Ninja C ...
'', with season 9 being her last.


Professional wrestling career


WWE (2017–2025)


Early career (2017–2020)

On January 4, 2017, Catanzaro received a tryout with WWE at their
WWE Performance Center WWE Performance Center (WWE PC) is a group of professional wrestling schools owned by American company WWE. They serve as tryout and training facilities for WWE, and also contain sports science and medical facilities as well as live events and ...
. It was announced on August 28 during the Mae Young Classic that Catanzaro had been signed to a contract with WWE. On January 18, 2018, WWE officially announced Catanzaro had reported to the
WWE Performance Center WWE Performance Center (WWE PC) is a group of professional wrestling schools owned by American company WWE. They serve as tryout and training facilities for WWE, and also contain sports science and medical facilities as well as live events and ...
. She made her in-ring debut at a NXT live event on April 19, in
Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city and the county seat of Seminole County, Florida, United States. It is located in Central Florida and its population was 61,051 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical ...
, in a losing effort to Reina González. 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 the 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 affect th ...
and took inspiration from WWE's Alexa Bliss's slogan "Five Feet of Fury", making reference to Catanzaro's own diminutive size. In the second episode of the Mae Young Classic, which aired on September 12, Catanzaro made her televised debut in a winning effort against Reina González 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. As of July 2017, she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Rhea Ripley. She is a List of Women ...
. On January 27, 2019, Catanzaro made her main roster debut, entering the
Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...
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 Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...
. 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 (2020–2025)

On the September 16 episode of ''NXT'', Catanzaro teamed with Kayden Carter in a winning effort against Jessi Kamea and Xia Li. They participated in the 2021 Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, defeating Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm 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's Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley in the first round, but lost to Kay Lee Ray and Io Shirai 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 in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match, lastly eliminating Toxic Attraction ( Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne), on the August 2 episode of ''NXT'', marking Kacy's first professional wrestling championship. They defended their titles against Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. at Worlds Collide, and against Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark 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 and Sol Ruca. At NXT Vengeance Day, Chance and Carter lost the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship to Fallon Henley and Kiana James, ending their record-setting reign at 186 days. As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Chance and Carter were drafted to the Raw
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
. Chance and Carter made their main roster debut on the June 5 episode of ''Raw'' in a losing effort against the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey and
Shayna Baszler Shayna Andrea Baszler ( ; born August 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and a former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her time in WWE, where she became a former List of NXT Women's Champions, two-time and lon ...
. Almost six months later, they defeated Chelsea Green and Piper Niven for the titles, becoming the first women's tag team to have won the WWE and NXT Women's Tag Team Championships. Chance and Carter had their first successful title defense on the January 8, 2024, episode of ''Raw'' where they defeated Green and Niven in a rematch. On the January 26 episode of '' SmackDown'', they lost the titles to Damage CTRL's The Kabuki Warriors ( Asuka and
Kairi Sane is a Japanese professional wrestler and actress. she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name . From 2012 to 2017, she wrestled for the Japanese promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom under the ring name . E ...
), ending their reign at 39 days. In February 2025, Chance and Carter were transferred to the SmackDown brand as part of the post-2024 WWE Draft transfer window. On May 2, Chance and Carter were released from WWE.


Other media

Catanzaro made her
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
debut in the ''Banzai Pack'' DLC for '' WWE 2K22''. She also appeared in '' WWE 2K23'', '' WWE 2K24'' and '' WWE 2K25'' under her Katana Chance ring name.


Personal life

Catanzaro previously dated fellow American Ninja Warrior competitor Brent Steffensen, and fellow professional wrestler Trevor Mann, best known under the ring name
Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...
. She is currently in a relationship with fitness trainer Naoufal Abouelhouda.


Championships and accomplishments


Gymnastics

*
USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics Program United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the Sport governing body, national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. It sets the domestic rules and policies that govern the sport, promotes and develops gymnasti ...
**
Level 10 (USA Gymnastics) Level 10 is the highest level in the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics Program. The level is open to women's artistic, men's artistic, trampoline, acrobatic and rhythmic gymnasts. Age Requirements Women's Artistic Gymnasts must have reached their ...
*
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
** Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships (2009, 2010) ** Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year (2012) ** Eastern College Athletic Conference's Gymnast of the Year (2012)


Professional wrestling

* ''
Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...
'' ** Ranked No. 63 of the top 100 female wrestlers in the '' PWI Female 100'' in 2019 ** Ranked No. 78 of the top 100 Tag Teams in the '' PWI Tag Team 100'' in 2023 - with Kayden Carter * WWE **
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling Women's Tag Team Championship, women's tag team Professional wrestling, championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE. It is th ...
( 1 time) – with Kayden Carter ** NXT Women's Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Kayden Carter


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Catanzaro, Kacy 1990 births 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century female professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers American female artistic gymnasts American female professional wrestlers Professional wrestling managers and valets Contestants on American game shows 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 Professional wrestlers from New Jersey Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Towson Tigers athletes WWE Women's Tag Team Champions