| Vanessa Santiago | |
|---|---|
 Santiago in OWT in early 2019. | |
| Birth name | Vanessa Estrella Santiago Cristobal |
| Born | August 14, 1994 (age 24) Havana, Cuba |
| Resides | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Vanessa Santiago |
| Billed height | 5 ft. 5 in. (1.68 m) |
| Billed weight | 115 lbs. (52 kg) |
| Billed from | Havana, Cuba |
| Trained by | South Florida Power Plant |
| Debut | 2014 |
Vanessa Estrella Santiago Cristobal (born August 14, 1994), better known by her ring name Vanessa Santiago, is a Cuban-American professional wrestler currently signed to Strong Style Wrestling and to a developmental contract with Omega Wrestling Alliance. She also appears in Mexico City-based Azteca de Lucha.
Early Life[]
Santiago was born in Havana, Cuba to parents Benicio Cristobal and Graciela Santiago. She has one older sister, Leyenda (born 1992), and one younger brother, Maximo (born 1999). Shortly after her brother's birth, the family fled to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Two years later, they moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, settling in the Rock Island neighborhood. Her father found work in construction and her mother worked as a bookkeeper for an auto body shop. Growing up, she and her siblings were introduced to combat sports by their father, a former amateur boxer. He enrolled Santiago in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu lessons at the age of twelve and kickboxing classes when she was fifteen. She also had an interest in soccer, playing at Dillard High School before graduating. She then attended Broward College, where she graduated with a degree in biology. Rather than transferring to a four-year institution, she pursued her wrestling career.
Professional Wrestling Career[]
Early Career (2014 - 2017)[]
Santiago began training at the South Florida Power Plant in September 2014 under head trainer Steven Blade. She debuted in June 2015 under her real name, with the in-character backstory of being a distant relative of the Castro family. Over the next two years, she appeared in promotions across the country, including Southern Championship Wrestling, Capital Championship Wrestling, Honor Championship Wrestling, So Cal Pro, and Pacific Wrestling Alliance.
Azteca de Lucha (2017; 2019 - present)[]
Santiago signed with Mexico City-based Azteca de Lucha in September 2017.
Strong Style Wrestling (2018; 2019 - present)[]
The Phantom Troupe (2018)[]
Santiago signed with upstart Japanese promotion Strong Style Wrestling in January 2018, becoming the company's first female signee. The news was made public in a press conference on January 10 where she was one of a handful of talents spotlighted. Ahead of the inaugural show on January 20, it was announced that Santiago would be taking part in a tournament to crown the first-ever SSW Jr. Heavyweight Champion. She also became one of the original members of the villainous Phantom Troupe faction, along with Saul Omen, Khmaoch Sangkat, and leader John Doe. On January 21, the first show of The Rising Sun Tour, Santiago defeated Tetsuya Ishimori by count-out to advance to the triple threat Jr. Heavyweight Championship match. On January 28th, the second night of The Rising Sun Tour, BANG pinned Jaydayne Pendragon to become the first titleholder. The same night, it was also announced that Santiago would take part in an upcoming sixteen-person single-elimination tournament to crown the inaugural SSW Puroresu Heavyweight Champion. Soon thereafter, however, SSW suddenly and unexpectedly halted operations completely.
Shoot Nation (2018)[]
Santiago returned to SSW in April, now using a retooled primarily neutral character with references to her in-character relations to the Castro family having been removed. She subsequently joined Shoot Nation. Her televised return was on the April 28 Heaven's Arena Tour show, where she teamed with The Apparition and King TORA IV in a loss to former Phantom Troupe stablemates CM Nas, Saul Omen, and Khmaoch Sangkat. After the match, Santiago was attacked by John Doe, who had previously alluded to punishing a "traitor". On the May 12 Heaven's Arena Tour show, Santiago teamed with The Apparition to defeat JUDAS II and Masazaku. After the match, Doe confronted Santiago and challenged her to a match at Supremacy, which she accepted. Doe would go on to win the match. On the June 9 Strong Survive Tour show, Santiago confronted Kikyo Himura, and the two exchanged words before Santiago kicked Himura in the face. Santiago went on to defeat Himura on the June 24 Strong Survive Tour show, though Himura would attack her after the final bell. Along with Steven Cassidy, Santiago appeared on night one of Budokai Tenkaichi, celebrating with "honorary" Shoot Nation member Finnegan Wakefield after his successful OWA World Championship defense. Santiago then appeared after the main event of Domination, celebrating with Shoot Nation leader Jaydayne Pendragon after he won the Puroresu Heavyweight Championship. At Civil War, Santiago teamed with Belle Kingsley, April Song, and Kikyo Himura as Team SSW to lose to Team OWA (TyAnna Jupiter, Azumi Goto, Sweet Roxy, and Savannah Sunshine) in the first-ever Brody Sparks Tribute Tag Team Elimination match. On October 31, the promotion shut down.
Return (2019 - present)[]
On November 9, Santiago signed with the re-opened SSW.
Joshi Extreme Takeover (2018 - present)[]
Alliance with Candice Blair & Virginia Atwood (2018 - present)[]
Santiago signed with the Japanese all-female promotion Joshi Extreme Takeover (JET) in May 2018. She made her in-ring debut for the promotion as a heel at JET 1 on May 30, teaming with Candice Blair and Virginia Atwood to defeat Mizuki Nakata, Tomoyo Hirate, and Yuki Sakabura. At JET 2 on June 6, Santiago and Atwood defeated JUNKO and Saiko Hotaru for the right to challenge LUMINOID (Haruna Sakazaki & Mizuki Nakata) for the JET Tag Team Championships. The following week, at JET 3 on June 13, Santiago and Atwood were defeated by LUMINOID. At JET 4 on June 20, Santiago and Atwood interfered in Blair's match against Mitra Marvel to help her win. At JET 5 on July 4, Santiago, Blair, and Atwood defeated Marvel, Momoko Honda, and Kimiko Hayabusa in the first round of the Rise Together League. The three of them were then eliminated in the semifinals by Mizuki Nakata, Ai Moe, and Midori Miyamoto.
Omega Wrestling Alliance (2018 - present)[]
OWT (2018 - present)
On November 1, 2018, Santiago signed a developmental contract with Omega Wrestling Alliance, and was assigned to Omega Wrestling Tomorrow.
Personal Life[]
Santiago resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is good friends with Candice Blair, Belle Kingsley, Jun Nobunaga, and Stark. She still actively trains in mixed martial arts in her free time and is an avid sports fan, following the Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat, and Miami Marlins. Santiago is fluent in both English and Spanish, and while she can read Japanese, she is only able to speak it conversationally.
In Wrestling[]
- Finishing Moves
- Cuban Missile Crisis (Jumping switch kick)
- The Takeover (Omoplata)
- The Takeover 2.0 (Avalanche double-knee armbreaker, followed by an omoplata crossface)
- Signature Moves
- Ambicion Rubia (Standing dragon sleeper dropped into an inverted DDT)
- Arm-trap elbow strikes
- Axe stomp
- Double-underhook DDT
- Fisherman's suplex, sometimes bridging
- Guantanamera (Shining wizard, into a rana pin)
- Guillotine choke, sometimes with bodyscissors
- Havana Havoc (Feint punch, followed by a straight jab, followed by a roundhouse kick)
- Legsweep, followed by mounted punches and elbows
- Kneebar
- Octopus stretch
- Repeated shoot kicks, to a cornered opponent
- Single-leg takedown, sometimes transitioned by a heel hook or single-leg Boston crab
- Tomoe nage
- Uppercut
- Ura nage
- Nicknames
- "La Dictadora" (Spanish for "The (female) dictator")
- "Una Problema Maldita" (Spanish for "A goddamn problem")
- "The General"
- Entrance Themes
- "Rambo" by Bryson Tiller (ADL; September 2017)
- "Problem" by Natalia Kills (SSW; January - February 2018)
- "Riot" by Yoshihisa Hirano (SSW; January - February 2018; used as a member of The Phantom Troupe)
- "Run That" by Snow Tha Product (April 2018 - present)
- "You Say Run" by Yûki Hayashi (SSW; April 2018; used as a member of Shoot Nation)
- "Shoot All Over Them" by contRoVersy (SSW; May - October 2018; used as a member of Shoot Nation)
- "Lucky You" by Eminem & Joyner Lucas (SSW; November 2019 - present)
Championships and Accomplishments[]
- Azteca de Lucha
- Azteca de Lucha Women's Championship (1 time)
- Joshi Extreme Takeover
- JET Trios Championships (1 time) - with Virginia Atwood and Corrina Grey
- Omega Wrestling Tomorrow
- OWT Spirit Championship (1 time)