Kacy Catanzaro

Catanzaro was a Junior Olympic gymnast, having started training at age 6.[10] 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.[11] The following year Catanzaro competed at the 2008 New Jersey Level 10 State Championships where she placed third[12] and advanced to the 2008 Junior Olympic National Championships. She finished 23rd overall but finished 6th on the balance beam.[13]

Catanzaro competed in gymnastics for Towson in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. 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.[14] In her senior year she was named the Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year in 2012.[15] 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.[16]

She worked for Alpha Warrior, an obstacle-course gym in San Antonio, Texas, from February 2013.[2]

Catanzaro spent two years training for American Ninja Warrior alongside her then-boyfriend and co-competitor Brent Steffensen.[17] She did not complete the qualifying course in Venice, California, but was an invited wildcard at the 2013 finals,[18] 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.[19][20] (Not until five years later, during the 2019 season, was her accomplishment of a woman completing a City Finals course matched.)[21]

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".[22] 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 coined the hashtag #MightyKacy.[18][23]

Catanzaro failed to complete the first round 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.

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 Finals on September 7. By this time the pressure she felt to live up to her broadcast reputation as Ninja's greatest female competitor was reportedly showing and she was tearful in the post-run interview.

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, on June 20; 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 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, with season 9 being her last.[24]

On January 4, 2017, Catanzaro received a tryout with WWE at their WWE Performance Center.[25] It was announced on August 27 during the Mae Young Classic that Catanzaro had been signed to a contract with WWE.[26] On January 18, 2018, WWE officially announced Catanzaro had reported to the WWE Performance Center.[27] She made her in-ring debut at a NXT live event on April 19, in Sanford, Florida, in a losing effort to Reina González.[3]

Catanzaro continued to make appearances during 2018, both in house shows and on NXT television; she wrestles as a face and takes inspiration from WWE's Alexa Bliss's slogan "Five Feet of Fury", making reference to Catanzaro's own diminutive size.[28] The 2nd episode of the Mae Young Classic aired on September 12, Catanzaro made her televised debut in a winning effort against Reina Gonzalez in the first round match. On Episode 5, she lost in the second round to Rhea Ripley. On January 27, 2019, Catanzaro made her main roster debut, entering the Royal Rumble at number 19 and lasting 10:45, before being eliminated by Ripley.[29][30] 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.[31][32] She returned on the January 15, 2020 episode of NXT as a surprise entrant in a women's battle royal. Catanzaro revealed in an interview that she took some time off because she had doubts about continuing in the Professional Wrestling business.[33][34] On the September 16 episode of NXT, Catanzaro teamed with Kayden Carter in a winning effort against Jessi Kamea and Xia Li.[35] The following week, she competed in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, eliminating Indi Hartwell to become one of the final four before being eliminated by Dakota Kai, with help from eventual winner Candice LeRae.[36] On the October 21 episode of NXT, Catanzaro defeated Li in a match, but was attacked by her afterwards.[37]