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Tito Santana

Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953) better known by his ring name Tito Santana, is an American professional wrestler whose heyday spanned from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, though he continues to appear on the independent circuit. He is best known from his time in the World Wrestling Federation. Competing almost exclusively in the WWF from 1979 to 1993, Solis helped bridge the gap between the 1980s "Rock 'n Wrestling Connection" era to the 1990s "New Generation" era. He also won the very first match in WrestleMania history.

Contents

Career

Collegiate and Professional Football

Solis played tight end for West Texas A&M University, where he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. The team was quarterbacked by future professional wrestler Tully Blanchard. After graduation, Solis was cut by the Kansas City Chiefs during training camp. He played one season for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League, appearing in 13 regular-season games.

Early career

He worked briefly in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the American Wrestling Association (AWA) beginning in 1976 until he joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1979.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

1979•1980

He had his first taste of WWF success in 1979 when he teamed with Ivan Putski to defeat Johnny Valiant and Jerry Valiant for the WWF Tag Team Championship at Madison Square Garden in October 1979. The duo held the titles for close to six months before losing to the Wild Samoans in April 1980.

In the beginning, Tito Santana wrestled under the name "Richard Blood" - which is Ricky Steamboat's real name.

1983•1986

In 1983, he engaged in a lengthy feud with Intercontinental Champion Magnificent Don Muraco. Santana finally won the title on February 11, 1984, becoming the first Mexican American wrestler to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. He quickly entered into a feud over the Intercontinental Championship with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. Valentine captured it from Santana in September 1984 in London, Ontario. Soon after, Valentine injured Santana's knee and put Santana out of action for several months.

Santana returned at WrestleMania, and in the opening match defeated a masked wrestler known as The Executioner. Santana and Valentine went on to wrestle a memorable series of singles and tag team matches with neither gaining the upper hand. They wrestled in a variety of different types of matches such as regular title matches, No Disqualification matches, and Lumberjack matches.

In July 1985, Tito Santana regained the Intercontinental Title in a steel cage match in Baltimore, Maryland. When both men tried to escape the cage, it appeared that the champ would retain his title; Tito went over the top while Valentine went through the door. However, Tito was in a position to kick the door closed into "the Hammer" as he tried to escape; he was able to climb to the floor and win the match. Valentine proceeded to throw a tantrum and smashed the title belt repeatedly into the cage, destroying it, which led to the creation of a new belt design that would remain until 1998. Santana held the title for another seven months before losing it to "Macho Man" Randy Savage in a hard-fought match at the Boston Garden. Savage would win the title by hitting Santana with a foreign object, which led to a series of rematches where Savage intentionally got himself disqualified in order to keep the belt. This resulted in a series of no-disqualification matches where Savage barely managed to escape with a win.

Between 1985 and 1987, Santana would also feud with Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Jr., and Butch Reed.

1987•1993

In August 1987, Tito Santana formed a tag team with former AWA World Champion Rick Martel named Strike Force. The team quickly won the Tag Team championship from The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) in October. They successfully defended the titles until WrestleMania IV in March 1988 where they lost to Demolition (Ax and Smash).

Due to a neck injury suffered by Martel shortly after WrestleMania, the team was inactive until the Royal Rumble in 1989. In their WrestleMania match against the Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson), Martel turned on Tito during the match, leaving Tito to face both opponents alone. His feud with the newly heel Martel would last throughout 1989, with both men on opposing teams at both SummerSlam and Survivor Series and Santana defeating Martel in the finals of the 1989 King of the Ring tournament.

After the Ultimate Warrior won the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI and vacated the Intercontinental Title, Santana took part in an eight-man tournament to name a new Intercontinental Champion. Santana made it to the finals, where he lost to Mr. Perfect. Following that loss, Santana occasionally teamed with fellow undercard fan favorite, Koko B. Ware.

At the 1990 Survivor Series, he teamed with Nikolai Volkoff and The Bushwhackers; he was the winner and sole survivor in the elimination-style match against Sgt. Slaughter, Boris Zhukov, and The Orient Express. As a result, Santana advanced to the final elimination match, teaming with Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior against Martel, Ted DiBiase, the Warlord, and Power and Glory. Santana would eliminate the Warlord before being pinned by DiBiase.

Santana would then wrestle at WrestleMania VII, losing to The Mountie in a little over a minute.

Santana then adopted a Spanish bullfighter gimmick and the nickname "El Matador" in 1991. Under this gimmick, he faced Shawn Michaels in the opening bout of WrestleMania VIII at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. Santana claims [citation needed] that at the time he was being considered for a run with the WWF Championship but says that the spot was given to Bret Hart; the WWF was considering expanding into South and Central America, and felt that having Santana, its most high profile Latino wrestler, as champion would aid its cause. The plan was eventually scrapped and the decision was made to expend into Canada, thus making the Canadian-born Hart a more viable option as champion. In any case, Santana wrestled under the "El Matador" gimmick through 1993, mostly as a jobber. This included a loss to Papa Shango at SummerSlam (1992) In his final in-ring WrestleMania appearance, he defeated Papa Shango at WrestleMania IX.

In his final appearance on WWF programming, Santana defeated friend and frequent tag team partner Virgil on a 1993 episode of Wrestling Challenge. As a sign of mutual respect between the two, both men embraced after the match.

In 2004, Tito Santana was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

WrestleMania

Santana, along with only Hulk Hogan, holds the unique distinction of appearing in the first nine WrestleManias, accumulating a 2-7 record during that time. Officially he is recognized only for the first eight Wrestlemanias and a 1-7 record as the match against Papa Shango at WrestleMania IX was dark.

Eastern Championship Wrestling (1993)

Santana played a role in the formative years of ECW. Then known as Eastern Championship Wrestling, he won the ECW Heavyweight Championship in August 1993 by defeating former WWE rival Don Muraco but forfeited the championship later that year to Shane Douglas.

American Wrestling Federation (1994•1996)

Santana finished his full-time career in the short-lived American Wrestling Federation. He was both the first and last AWF Heavyweight Champion, defeating Bob Orton, Jr. in a tournament final for the inaugural belt in November 1994, and losing and regaining the title from Orton on the same night in October 1996.

World Championship Wrestling (2000)

On January 10, 2000, Tito Santana made a one time appearance in WCW. He defeated Jeff Jarrett in a Dungeon Match on WCW Monday Nitro.

Semi-retirement

Tito Santana continues to make appearances on the independent circuit. On March 13, 2004 he was elected to the WWE Hall of Fame, with an induction speech by his WrestleMania VIII opponent Shawn Michaels. In September 2008 he was inducted into the Spanish Hall Of Fame of Pro Wrestling (Salón del Catch).

Santana is also said to have had a hand in training independent wrestler, Vin Gerard.

Personal life

While attending West Texas A&M University, Solis was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.[3] He is now a Spanish teacher and basket ball coach at Eisenhower Middle School in Roxbury Township, New Jersey where he lives with his wife Leah and their three sons Matthew, Michael, and Mark. His wife owns Santana's Hair Salon in Succasunna.[4][5] He also teaches wrestling classes at the New Jersey-based Independent Wrestling Federation.[6] He still wrestles a dozen or so matches per year.[7] He was also a physical education teacher for Smalley Elementary School in Bound Brook, New Jersey.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

1Tito Santana's reign occurred while the promotion was an NWA affiliate named Eastern Championship Wrestling, and was prior to the promotion becoming Extreme Championship Wrestling and the title being declared a world title by ECW.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Tito Santana Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/t/tito-santana.html. Retrieved 2010-06-04.
  2. ^ a b Tito Santana WWE Hall of Fame Profile
  3. ^ "Former Hall of Fame Pro Wrestler". 2008-11-01. http://www.crossandcrescent.com/2008/11/former-hall-of-fame-pro-wrestler/. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  4. ^ "Santana relishes relaxed schedule". 1998-07-20. http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingArchive/jul20_santana.html. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  5. ^ "More on the Upcoming Autobiography of Tito Santana". WrestlingEpicenter. 2008-06-09. http://www.wrestlingepicenter.com/5678articles/215050792.shtml. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
  6. ^ Indy Reporter (February 2, 2007). "INDY NEWS: Stevie Richards & Tito Santana Clinics @ IWF Wrestling School". Impact Wrestling. http://www.impactwrestling.com/Content.aspx?ID=10069. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
  7. ^ Winerip, Michael (2009-02-21). "Generation B: The Ram vs. Tito Santana". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/fashion/22generationb.html. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
  8. ^ "The Name on the Marquee: The History of the Intercontinental Championship #9". 411Mania. http://www.411mania.com/dev/wrestling/video_reviews/117846/The-Name-on-the-Marquee-The-History-of-the-Intercontinental-Championship-9.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  9. ^ "The Wrestling Review Experience: Best Of Randy Savage 1985-1986". 411Mania. http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/video_reviews/33537/The-Wrestling-Review-Experience:-Best-Of-Randy-Savage-1985-1986.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  10. ^ "Dark Pegasus Video Review: The History of the Intercontinental Championship (Disc One)". 411Mania. http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/91269. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
  11. ^ "PDRwrestling Review: The Wrestling Classic". 411Mania. http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/video_reviews/137800/PDRwrestling-Review:-The-Wrestling-Classic.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-28.

External links

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v • d • ECW World Heavyweight Champions
NWA Jimmy Snuka • Johnny Hotbody • Don Muraco • The Sandman • Tito Santana • Shane Douglas
ECW Shane Douglas • Sabu • Terry Funk • Mikey Whipwreck • Raven • Bam Bam Bigelow • Taz • Mike Awesome • Masato Tanaka • Tommy Dreamer • Justin Credible • Jerry Lynn • Steve Corino • Rhino
WWE Rob Van Dam • The Big Show • Bobby Lashley • Mr. McMahon • John Morrison • CM Punk • Chavo Guerrero • Kane • Mark Henry • Matt Hardy • Jack Swagger • Christian • Tommy Dreamer • Ezekiel Jackson
v • d • WWE Intercontinental Champions
Pat Patterson • Ken Patera • Pedro Morales • Don Muraco • Tito Santana • Greg Valentine • Randy Savage • Ricky Steamboat • The Honky Tonk Man • The Ultimate Warrior • Rick Rude • Mr. Perfect • The Texas Tornado • Bret Hart • The Mountie • Roddy Piper • The British Bulldog • Shawn Michaels • Marty Jannetty • Razor Ramon • Diesel • Jeff Jarrett • Dean Douglas • Goldust • Ahmed Johnson • Marc Mero • Triple H • The Rock • Owen Hart • Steve Austin • Ken Shamrock • Val Venis • The Road Dogg • The Godfather • Edge • D'Lo Brown • Chyna • Chris Jericho • Kurt Angle • Chris Benoit • Rikishi • Eddie Guerrero • Billy Gunn • Jeff Hardy • Kane • Albert • Lance Storm • Christian • Test • William Regal • Rob Van Dam • Booker T • Randy Orton • Shelton Benjamin • Carlito • Ric Flair • John Morrison • Umaga • Santino Marella • Kofi Kingston (current) • CM Punk • John "Bradshaw" Layfield • Rey Mysterio • Drew McIntyre
v • d • King of the Ring winners
Don Muraco • Harley Race • Randy Savage • Ted DiBiase • Tito Santana • Bret Hart • Owen Hart • Mabel • Steve Austin • Hunter Hearst Helmsley • Ken Shamrock • Billy Gunn • Kurt Angle • Edge • Brock Lesnar • Booker T • William Regal
v • d • WWE Hall of Fame
Class of 1993 André the Giant
Class of 1994 Arnold Skaaland • Bobo Brazil • "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers • Chief Jay Strongbow • "Classy" Freddie Blassie • Gorilla Monsoon • James Dudley
Class of 1995 Antonino Rocca • "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd • The Fabulous Moolah • George "The Animal" Steele • Ivan Putski • The Grand Wizard • Pedro Morales
Class of 1996 Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka • Johnny Rodz • Killer Kowalski • "Captain" Lou Albano • "Baron" Mikel Scicluna • Pat Patterson • The Valiant Brothers (Jimmy and Johnny Valiant) • Vincent J. McMahon
Class of 2004 Big John Studd • "Superstar" Billy Graham • Bobby "The Brain" Heenan • Don Muraco • Greg "The Hammer" Valentine • Harley Race • Jesse "The Body" Ventura • Junkyard Dog • Pete Rose • Sgt. Slaughter • Tito Santana
Class of 2005 "Cowboy" Bob Orton • Hulk Hogan • The Iron Sheik • Jimmy Hart • Nikolai Volkoff • "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff • "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
Class of 2006 The Blackjacks (Blackjack Mulligan and Lanza) • Bret "The Hitman" Hart • Eddie Guerrero • "Mean" Gene Okerlund • "Sensational" Sherri • "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas • Verne Gagne • William "The Refrigerator" Perry
Class of 2007 "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig • "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes • Jerry "The King" Lawler • Jim Ross • Mr. Fuji • Nick Bockwinkel • The Sheik • The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika)
Class of 2008 The Brisco Brothers (Gerald and Jack Brisco) • Eddie Graham • Gordon Solie • Mae Young • "High Chief" Peter Maivia • "Nature Boy" Ric Flair • "Soulman" Rocky Johnson
Class of 2009 "Cowboy" Bill Watts • Howard Finkel • The Funks (Terry and Dory Funk, Jr.) • Koko B. Ware • Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat • Stone Cold Steve Austin • The Von Erichs (Chris, David, Fritz, Kerry, Kevin and Mike Von Erich)
Class of 2010 Antonio Inoki • Bob Uecker • Gorgeous George • "Mad Dog" Vachon • Stu Hart • "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase • Wendi Richter
v • d • World Tag Team Champions
1970s Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler • Karl Gotch and Rene Goulet • Mikel Scicluna and King Curtis Iaukea • Chief Jay Strongbow and Sonny King • Mr. Fuji and Professor Tanaka • Haystacks Calhoun and Tony Garea • Dean Ho and Tony Garea • Jimmy Valiant and Johnny Valiant • Dominic DeNucci and Pat Barrett/Victor Rivera • The Blackjacks (Blackjack Lanza and Blackjack Mulligan) • Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi • The Executioners (Executioner #1 and Executioner #2) • Chief Jay Strongbow and Billy White Wolf • Dino Bravo and Dominic DeNucci • The Yukon Lumberjacks (Eric and Pierre) • Tony Garea and Larry Zbyszko • Jerry and Johnny Valiant • Ivan Putski and Tito Santana
1980s The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika) • Bob Backlund and Pedro Morales • Tony Garea and Rick Martel • The Moondogs (Rex and King/Spot) • Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito • Chief Jay Strongbow and Jules Strongbow • Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson • Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch • The U.S. Express (Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham) • The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff • The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine) • The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith) • The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) • Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana) • Demolition (Demolition Ax and Demolition Smash) • The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) • The Colossal Connection (André the Giant and Haku)
1990s Demolition (Demolition Ax, Demolition Smash, and Demolition Crush) • The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) • The Legion Of Doom (Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior Hawk) • Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) • The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) • The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) • The Quebecers (Pierre and Jacques) • The 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty • Men on a Mission (Mabel and Mo) • The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu) • Diesel and Shawn Michaels • The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly • The Smoking Gunns (Billy Gunn and Bart Gunn) • Owen Hart and Yokozuna • The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) • The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) • The British Bulldog and Owen Hart • Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels • Steve Austin and Dude Love • The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) • The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) • Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie • Kane and Mankind • Steve Austin and The Undertaker • The Big Boss Man and Ken Shamrock • Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart • Kane and X-Pac • The Acolytes (Bradshaw and Faarooq) • The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) • The Unholy Alliance (The Big Show and The Undertaker) • The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (The Rock and Mankind) • The Holly Cousins (Crash Holly and Hardcore Holly) • Mankind and Al Snow • The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von)
2000s Edge and Christian • Too Cool (Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) • Right to Censor (Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather) • The Rock and The Undertaker • The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane) • The Two-Man Power Trip (Steve Austin and Triple H) • Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho • Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon • Chris Jericho and The Rock • Booker T and Test • Spike Dudley and Tazz • Billy and Chuck • Rico and Rikishi • Edge and Hulk Hogan • The Un-Americans (Lance Storm and Christian) • The Hurricane and Kane • Christian and Chris Jericho • Booker T and Goldust • William Regal and Lance Storm • Chief Morley and Lance Storm • Kane and Rob Van Dam • La Résistance (René Dupree and Sylvan Grenier) • Evolution (Batista and Ric Flair) • Booker T and Rob Van Dam • Chris Benoit and Edge • La Résistance (Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier) • Eugene and William Regal • William Regal and Tajiri • Rosey and The Hurricane • Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch • The Big Show and Kane • The Spirit Squad (Kenny, Mikey, Nicky, Johnny and Mitch) • Ric Flair and Roddy Piper • Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) • John Cena and Shawn Michaels • Paul London and Brian Kendrick • Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes • Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes • Batista and John Cena • CM Punk and Kofi Kingston • John Morrison and The Miz • The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) • Edge and Chris Jericho • Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho and The Big Show) • D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels)
2010s ShoMiz (The Miz and The Big Show) • The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd) (current)

Categories: 1953 births | American football tight ends | BC Lions players | Living people | Mexican professional wrestlers | West Texas A&M Buffaloes football players | WWE Hall of Fame | American schoolteachers | American sportspeople of Mexican descent | American professional wrestlers of Mexican descent

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