Amanda Rose Saccomanno (born July 18, 1990) is an American
professional wrestler, television personality, and
fitness and figure competitor. She is best known for her career 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 ...
Mandy Rose, and was a former
NXT Women's Champion and the leader of
Toxic Attraction.
Rose began a professional fitness competition career in 2013 and became a bodybuilding competitor the following year. In 2015, she placed second on the WWE competition ''
Tough Enough'', after which she signed a contract with WWE and joined the cast of the reality television show ''
Total Divas''. After a brief stint in WWE's
developmental territory,
NXT, Rose made her main roster debut in November 2017 as part of the short-lived faction Absolution with
Paige and
Sonya Deville. For approximately three years, Rose competed alongside Deville and they were known as
Fire and Desire. The two disbanded in March 2020 at
WrestleMania 36 and eventually had their own
feud
A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...
that culminated in a
Loser Leaves WWE match, which Rose won. After a brief association with
Dana Brooke in 2021, she returned to NXT and formed an alliance with
Gigi Dolin and
Jacy Jayne, dubbed Toxic Attraction. In October at
Halloween Havoc
Halloween Havoc is a professional wrestling List of NWA/WCW closed-circuit events and pay-per-view events, event currently produced by WWE. Since 2020, it has been held annually for the company's WWE brand extension, developmental brand, NXT (WWE ...
, Rose defeated
Raquel González to win her first title in her career, the
NXT Women's Championship. She was released from the company in December 2022.
Early life
Amanda Rose Saccomanno was born in the New York City suburb of
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...
. The youngest and only daughter of four children,
her older brother, Richard, died on October 3, 2022, after several years battling against
depression. She has
Irish and
Italian ancestry.
Her childhood nickname was "Hamburgers".
She attended
Yorktown High School, where she participated in dance. She later earned her
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
at
Iona College, majoring in
speech pathology.
She entered her first
fitness competition in 2013, and took first place in the World Bodybuilding Fitness & Fashion Boston Show. She was also crowned the 2014 World Beauty Fitness & Fashion Bikini Champion.
Professional wrestling career
WWE (2015–2022)
''Tough Enough'' and NXT (2015–2017)
Saccomanno was a contestant in the
sixth season of the
WWE competition ''
WWE Tough Enough
''WWE Tough Enough'' is an American professional wrestling reality competition series that was produced by WWE, wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with WWE. There were two winners per season ...
'', which began airing in June 2015.
She was at risk of elimination on the July 28 episode, but was saved by judge
The Miz. During the season finale, she adopted 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 ...
Mandy Rose, lost a match against
Alicia Fox, and placed second overall, after winners
Sara Lee and
Josh Bredl.
After the ''Tough Enough'' season finale, it was revealed that Rose had signed a five-year contract with the company. Rose made her in-ring debut for WWE's developmental territory,
NXT, during a
six-woman tag team match at a
live event in
Venice, Florida on January 30, 2016. On the August 17 episode of ''NXT'', Rose debuted in a six-woman tag team match along with
Daria Berenato and
Alexa Bliss, in which they were defeated by
Carmella,
Liv Morgan, and
Nikki Glencross.
On the September 28 episode of ''NXT'', Rose lost her first televised singles match to
Ember Moon.
Fire and Desire (2017–2021)
On the November 20, 2017, episode of ''
Raw'', Rose joined
Sonya Deville and
Paige as they attacked
Sasha Banks,
Bayley,
Mickie James
Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979) Additional January 6, 2017. is an American Country music, country singer and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE. She is also signed to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) as Cre ...
, and Alexa Bliss. A week later, the trio's name was revealed as Absolution.
On January 28, 2018, at the
Royal Rumble, Rose entered the first women's
Royal Rumble match at number 4, and she was the first woman eliminated from the match by
Lita. In February, Rose took part of the inaugural women's
Elimination Chamber match, which was won by Bliss. At
WrestleMania 34, Rose participated in the
WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal, which would be won by
Naomi.
Both Rose and Deville were drafted to
SmackDown during the
2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up,
with Paige, who had retired and become the SmackDown general manager, subsequently declaring that Absolution was over.
Rose then continued competing in various tag team matches alongside Deville.
In October, Rose eliminated Deville before she herself was eliminated by Carmella in a
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 ...
at the inaugural all women's pay-per-view,
Evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
.
At
Survivor Series
Survivor Series, branded as Survivor Series: WarGames since 2022, is a professional wrestling event produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving ( ...
in November, Rose competed in her first traditional
five-on-five elimination match as part of Team SmackDown in a losing effort.
Rose later feuded with Naomi after she flirted with Naomi's husband,
Jimmy Uso, to "ruin Naomi's life", which involved Rose hinting at kissing Uso as well as Naomi attacking Rose in a hotel room to which Rose invited Uso. The rivalry continued with Rose and Naomi eliminating each other from the women's Royal Rumble match at the
namesake event in January 2019, where Rose managed to last 25:50.
The two exchanged victories over each other in February.
At
Elimination Chamber in February 2019, Rose and Deville competed in a six-team Elimination Chamber match for the inaugural
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, starting the match and becoming the final team eliminated by Sasha Banks and Bayley, who won the match in the process.
Rose participated in the second WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal during the
WrestleMania 35 pre-show in a losing effort.
She competed in the
Money in the Bank ladder match at the
namesake pay-per-view on May 19.
Deville, who was ringside, unsuccessfully tried to climb the ladder and help Rose in the match, which was won by Bayley.
On the September 3 episode of ''SmackDown'', Rose and Deville, now dubbed Fire & Desire, earned a match at
Clash of Champions for the Women's Tag Team Championship by defeating Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.
At the event, the two failed to capture the title.
In December 2019, Rose entered a romance
storyline with
Otis, with Otis helping Rose during her matches.
She later agreed to a date with him on Valentine's Day, but
Dolph Ziggler appeared in Otis's place during the date, which resulted in a romance between Rose and Ziggler. The storyline then evolved into a love triangle involving a feud between Otis and Ziggler over Rose. It was revealed on ''SmackDown'' in April that Deville was working with Ziggler to keep Otis from Rose. At
WrestleMania 36, Rose interfered during a match between Otis and Ziggler by attacking Deville, who was at ringside, and Ziggler, which helped Otis score the victory. Following the match, she and Otis shared a kiss. On the May 22 episode of ''SmackDown'', she and Otis lost to Deville and Ziggler in a tag team match. On July 31, Rose's hair was cut by Deville during a backstage attack, which led to Rose debuting a new look with shorter hair the following week. That same month, she defeated Deville in a
Loser Leaves WWE match at
SummerSlam.
In September, Rose was traded to the
Raw brand. She subsequently formed a tag team with
Dana Brooke. In April 2021, the two competed in a
tag team turmoil match during the first night of
WrestleMania 37, where they were eliminated by the Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and
Ruby Riott).
Toxic Attraction (2021–2022)
In July 2021, Rose returned to the NXT brand and the following month, she formed an alliance with
Gigi Dolin and
Jacy Jayne, dubbed
Toxic Attraction. She subsequently abandoned her blonde hair and dyed it brown. At
Halloween Havoc
Halloween Havoc is a professional wrestling List of NWA/WCW closed-circuit events and pay-per-view events, event currently produced by WWE. Since 2020, it has been held annually for the company's WWE brand extension, developmental brand, NXT (WWE ...
in October, Rose defeated
Raquel González in a
Chucky's choice
Trick or Street Fight match to win the
NXT Women's Championship, the first title in her wrestling career. Earlier that same night, Dolin and Jayne won the
NXT Women's Tag Team Championship, in turn having Toxic Attraction holding all women's championships in NXT.
On December 5, at
WarGames, Rose and Toxic Attraction teamed with
Dakota Kai. They were defeated by the team of
Cora Jade,
Io Shirai,
Kay Lee Ray, and González in a
WarGames match
WarGames is a specialized steel cage match in professional wrestling. The match usually involves two teams of four or more wrestlers locked inside a steel cage that encompasses two rings placed side by side. The cage may or may not have a roof, de ...
.
In January 2022, At
New Year's Evil, Rose defeated Jade and González in a
triple threat match to retain the title. At
Stand & Deliver, Rose defended her championship against Jade, Ray, and Shirai in a
fatal four-way match. Throughout her championship reign, Rose went on to fend off title contenders such as
Roxanne Perez,
Wendy Choo and
Zoey Stark.
At
Worlds Collide, Rose
unified the
NXT UK Women's Championship with the NXT Women's Championship by defeating NXT UK champion
Meiko Satomura and
Blair Davenport in a triple threat match.
At
Halloween Havoc
Halloween Havoc is a professional wrestling List of NWA/WCW closed-circuit events and pay-per-view events, event currently produced by WWE. Since 2020, it has been held annually for the company's WWE brand extension, developmental brand, NXT (WWE ...
, Rose retained her title against
Alba Fyre. On October 26, Rose reached the 365-day mark as champion, becoming only the third woman to hold the title for a continuous reign of one full year. On the December 13 episode of ''NXT'', Rose lost the NXT Women's Championship to Perez in a rematch, ending her reign at 413 days.
The next day, Rose was released from her WWE contract due to her FanTime content. On January 10, 2023, she addressed her release in an episode of ''
The Tamron Hall Show''.
Other media
Saccomanno has been featured in multiple fitness publications including ''
Fitness Gurls'', ''Fit & Firm'', and ''FitFemme''.
Saccomanno appeared as part of the main cast for the
fifth season of the WWE reality television series ''
Total Divas'', which began airing in January 2016.
Business ventures
Saccomanno is an owner of her own beauty and skincare line named Amarose, a combination of her first and middle names.
On July 28, 2022, Saccomanno alongside fellow wrestler Daria Berenato, best known as Sonya Deville, opened their own virtual donut brand named DaMandyz Donutz, delivered by
Uber Eats in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
Personal life
Saccomanno participates in yoga, pilates, and
CrossFit.
In April 2018, she revealed that she was dating fellow professional wrestler Sabatino Piscitelli, better known by the ring name
Tino Sabbatelli. They got engaged in September 2022 and got married on November 2, 2024.
Filmography
Television
Video games
Championships and accomplishments
Fitness and figure competition
* World Bodybuilding Fitness & Fashion
** 2013 WBFF Boston – (first place)
** 2014 WBFF Diva Bikini Pro World Championship – (first place)
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 ...
''
**
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2022)
** Ranked No. 21 of the top 150 female singles wrestlers in the ''
PWI Women's 150'' in 2022
* ''
Slam Wrestling Awards''
** Best NXT Female (2022)
* ''
Women's Wrestling Fan Awards''
** Best Heel of the Year (2022)
*
WWE
**
NXT Women's Championship (
1 time)
** Runner-up
WWE Tough Enough
''WWE Tough Enough'' is an American professional wrestling reality competition series that was produced by WWE, wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with WWE. There were two winners per season ...
(Season 6)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Mandy
1990 births
Living people
21st-century female professional wrestlers
21st-century American professional wrestlers
People from Yorktown, New York
Iona University alumni
Female models from New York (state)
Fitness and figure competitors
American female professional wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from New York (state)
American people of Irish descent
American professional wrestlers of Italian descent
Tough Enough contestants
NXT Women's Champions
21st-century American sportswomen