Tito Santana

Merced Solis (May 10, 1953) better known by his ring name Tito Santana is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
==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, who would introduce him into the world of professional wrestling. 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 pro debuted in Championship Wrestling From Florida in 1977, also worked in Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1977-78, until he joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. After a near 3-year run in the American Wrestling Association form 1980-1982 he returned to World Wrestling Federation in 1983.
===World Wrestling Federation (1979–1993)===
====Debut and Tag Team Champion (1979–1982)====
Santana 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.
====Intercontinental Champion (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. During his time as IC champion, he competed on the first match on USA Network, taking on Rene Goulet. 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.
Santana recaptured the Intercontinental Championship in 1985 then lost it to Randy Savage in 1986.
====Strike Force (1987–1989)====
Santana formed the popular tag team Strike Force with Rick Martel in the late 1980s. They defeated The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) for the WWF World Tag Team titles and held them for five months before losing to Demolition (Ax & Smash) at WrestleMania IV. Due to a neck injury suffered by Martel shortly after the loss, the team was inactive until the Royal Rumble in 1989. At WrestleMania V during their match against the Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson), Martel turned on Santana during the match, leaving Santana 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.
====Various rivalries (1990–1991)====
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 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.
====El Matador and departure (1991–1993)====
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 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 to the stars. This included a loss to Papa Shango at SummerSlam (1992). In his final in-ring WrestleMania appearance, he defeated Shango at WrestleMania IX in the untelevised opening match.
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.
===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 Wrestling Federation(1997-1998) ===
Santana returned to WWF in 1997 as Spanish commentator with Carlos Cabrera until WrestleMania XIV
=== 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.
===Sporadic appearances===
Tito Santana continues to make appearances on the independent circuit. On March 13, 2004 he was inducted 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). From 2005-2015, Santana wrestled matches for WrestleReunion, Juggalo Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Pro Wrestling Syndicate, and CHIKARA. On the November 15, 2010 "Old School" episode of Raw, he ring-announced Alberto Del Rio.
==Personal life==
While attending West Texas A&M University, Solis was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. He is now a Spanish teacher and basketball 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 operates Santana's Hair Salon in Succasunna, New Jersey. He also teaches wrestling classes at the New Jersey-based Independent Wrestling Federation. He still wrestles a dozen or so matches per year. He was also a physical education teacher for Smalley Elementary School in Bound Brook, New Jersey.
His autobiography, Tito Santana's Tales From the Ring (ISBN 978-1-59670-325-4), was released in 2008.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
**Figure-four leglock
**Flying forearm smash
*Signature moves
**Arm drag
**Dropkick
**Headscissors takedown
**Knee lift
**Running crossbody
==Championships and accomplishments==
*American Wrestling Federation
**AWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
*Eastern Championship Wrestling
**ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)1
*House of Pain Wrestling Federation
**HoPWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)
*International World Class Championship Wrestling
**IWCCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*NWA Western States Sports
**NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Ted DiBiase
*National Wrestling Council
**NWC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Northern States Wrestling Alliance
**NSWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1979 – with Ivan Putski.
**PWI ranked him # 51 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1995.
**PWI ranked him # 93 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003.
**PWI ranked him # 70 of the 100 best tag teams during the PWI Years with Rick Martel in 2003.
*Renegade Wrestling Alliance
**RWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*USA Pro Wrestling
**USA Pro Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Unified Championship Wrestling
**UCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Universal Superstars of America
**USA Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Chris Michaels
*World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
**WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
**WWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) with Ivan Putski (1), and Rick Martel (1)
**WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)
**WWF King of the Ring (1989)
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.
==External links==
* WWE.com Profile
* Profile
Category:American wrestlers
Category:WWE Hall of Fame inductees
Category:All Japan Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:American Wrestling Association alumni
Category:American Wrestling Federation alumni
Category:Asistencia Asesoría y Administración alumni
Category:Chaotic Wrestling alumni
Category:East Coast Wrestling Association alumni
Category:Extreme Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:Far North Wrestling alumni
Category:Georgia Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:Great Lakes Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:Independent Wrestling Federation alumni
Category:International Wrestling Cartel alumni
Category:Jim Crockett Promotions alumni
Category:Juggalo Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:Maryland Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:National Wrestling Conference alumni
Category:National Wrestling Superstars alumni
Category:New York Wrestling Connection alumni
Category:Power Wrestling Alliance alumni
Category:Pro Wrestling Xtreme alumni
Category:Super World Sports alumni
Category:Top Rope Promotions alumni
Category:World Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni
Category:World Xtreme Wrestling alumni
Category:WrestleReunion alumni
Category:Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:1953 births
Category:WWE Intercontinental Champions
Category:ECW World Heavyweight Champions
Category:1977 debuts
Category:Kings of the Ring
Category:Former football players
Category:WWE World Tag Team Champions
Category:Big Time Wrestling alumni
Category:Canadian National Wrestling Alliance alumni
Category:Canadian Wrestling's Elite alumni
Category:Championship Wrestling From Florida alumni
Category:Chikara Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:Danish Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:Destination One Wrestling alumni
Category:Deutsche Wrestling Allianz alumni
Category:Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:Full Contact Wrestling alumni
Category:Future Wrestling Alliance alumni
Category:High Impact Wrestling alumni
Category:House Of Pain Wrestling alumni
Category:In Your Face Wrestling alumni
Category:International World Class Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:International Wrestling alumni
Category:New Japan Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:NWA Big Time Wrestling alumni
Category:NWA Southwest alumni
Category:NWA Western States Sports alumni
Category:Pro Wrestling Entertainment alumni
Category:Pro Wrestling Fighters alumni
Category:Pro Wrestling Ohio alumni
Category:Pro Wrestling Syndicate alumni
Category:Slam All-Star Wrestling alumni
Category:Stampede Wrestling alumni
Category:United States Wrestling Association alumni
Category:Universal Wrestling Association alumni
Category:USA Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:Windy City Pro Wrestling alumni
Category:World Wide Wrestling Alliance alumni
Category:Texas wrestlers
Category:Living people
Category:Male wrestlers
Category:Billtown Championship Wrestling alumni
Category:Legends Of Wrestling alumni
Category:Commentators