Kacy Catanzaro On Her WWE Release, Katana Chance Name Change, Ninja Warrior, Rhea Ripley

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Kacy Catanzaro (@KacyCatanzaro) is a professional wrestler best known for her time in WWE as Katana Chance. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Los Angeles to discuss her WWE release and what's next, her rise in popularity after competing on American Ninja Warrior, having her first WWE matches against Raquel Rodriguez and Rhea Ripley, her viral Royal Rumble save, the back injury that nearly brought her pro wrestling career to an end, getting paired up with Kayden Carter, breaking her nose twice in the ring and more!

Quote I'm thinking about: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard." — Tim Notke

On being in WWE for 8 years:

"It’s funny. I always say that there was something, I don't know that I'll be able to explain it well. But no matter how long I was in wrestling, I always felt like no matter what, I was the newer person there. Because I had never wrestled before, when I walked into the Performance Center, I'd never wrestled. No matter how long I was at the PC or in the company, I always felt like wherever I was I'm still the newer person here, even though it had been almost a decade that I worked there. It’s hard, I just could never shake that feeling."

Was that a beginner's mentality or having trouble picking it up?

"I think an in-between. Not so much trouble picking it up, as much as it was trouble feeling like I belonged there, I think. No matter how much work I put in, or I felt like I'm doing what I'm supposed to, I've been here, I'm putting the work in. In a room, I still always felt like I don't know if I'm supposed to be here. I just always felt a little bit out of place, I guess. That might be a deeper thing to explain, that maybe I'm not sure how to. But yeah, I never fully felt like, okay, I belong here right now."

On going into the PC with no wrestling experience and how things have changed:

"Yes, 1,000,000%. When I got to the Performance Center eight years ago, it was very rare. Just to give you an example of who I started with, who was in my class. I walked in with Candice LeRae. At that time, I think she had been wrestling for over 10 years. War Raiders was in my group. People who their entire life, for a decade, had already been wrestling, and then it was me. At the time, yes, there were obviously people who were home made at the Performance Center, but it was very, very rare. So I felt very out of place, and very much like, ‘Why is this person here?’ Because it's also such a sacred thing, which I understand. When you know you want to be a wrestler your whole life, then you work really hard, specifically at wrestling to get there, I understand why it's so sacred. With my journey being different, I felt like really, really stuck out in that time of how it was compared to now."

On her first matches being against Raquel Rodriguez and Rhea Ripley:

"Yeah, on the Mae Young Classic, that was my first TV match. So that's wild. Actually, I talk a lot about my first matches with Raquel, because she has such a special place in my heart, and she was my very first match on a live event as well. So my first match outside of practice was with her, and then my first match on TV for the Mae Young Classic was with her. So we always talk about how important that was to me, and how good she was to me, she didn't have to be. So those matches always have, like, a very special place in my heart. And obviously, Rhea as well." 

On being a legend in American Ninja Warrior:

"I'm very, very grateful to have that. I feel like it's something very special to me to have done that, and sometimes I kind of forget about it. I feel like when I'm going through some rougher times, like I said, it feels like different lives. So sometimes I forget about that, and it's good to look back and be like, I put really hard work in and I made a difference. I feel like that's my main goal to inspire people to make a difference, kind of that you can overcome anything. I'm a lot smaller than most people, so that was a huge thing with American Ninja Warrior and in wrestling as well. So I feel like having that little reminder sometimes is nice."

On no longer being with WWE:

"I think at first I thought that I was in shock and not able to process it, because I feel like when you work there, there is a joke of you could literally be fired at any time. We're nervous about it often. Not like I'm sitting there upset every day. But enough that someone will make a random joke every now and then like oh, something happened. Well, what if we get fired? It is in the back of your mind because it does happen, and you know how the business works. But I actually was very surprised. It wasn't on my radar. Then as I was telling the story of kind of how it led up to it, at first I was like, Yeah, I really didn't have any notice. Then as I told the story, I was like wait, maybe I could have taken some of those as signs that something could have been coming. But also things change so often. If every time something got pushed, or every time we didn't travel I went into a spiral thinking that we were gonna get fired, I wouldn't have enjoyed my time. So I feel like I was surprised. It was a shock, but I had been there for so many years that I think that's normal. So now I'm just working on really letting myself process it and kind of feel everything, figure out how I feel. So I'm not really sure. I'm bummed because I know that I have a lot more potential that I could have shown that I didn't get to. But if I think about it, I could really say that about anything I've done. There is no top, there's always more you can do. So I think I will come to terms with that. It's just you kind of have to grieve it, appreciate it, be grateful. Be okay that it's sad and then be kind of excited for whatever's gonna come next."

On whether she still wants to wrestle:

"That's a good question. I'm not sure. I'm gonna say I'm not sure, because it could go either way. I feel like most people, they know right away. The second it happens, they're like, Okay, I'm doing this. I think part of it is because I didn't wrestle beforehand. I never got those experiences that people who did are like, Okay, I'm gonna go back to that. I know that I wanna do that. For me, I feel like my whole adult life I've always really gone right from one challenge to the next. I did gymnastics for four years. I had a scholarship. I couldn't really do anything else. I was really locked in. Right after I graduated, I went to American Ninja Warrior for five years. I was in contracts with them each season, which WWE took me right from there. I didn't have any in between. I had to choose to leave, to go there. So eight years there, now I'm like, I really have never not been in a contract, and just thought what does Kacy want to do? And so I think that takes more than a week or two. I'm hoping it's not just me that can't figure it out, but I think it's a really important question to ask myself and figure out. I know the core of things that I'm passionate about, but I think just what direction that's gonna take me is gonna maybe take a little time." 

On signs that the release may have been coming:

"So I didn’t realize there were clues until I was explaining how the last few weeks went, and then I was like, Okay, maybe? So we got moved from Raw to SmackDown in the switch-ups. So it wasn't like a draft, but people were getting moved around. I'm like, Okay, well you always kind of have to take both sides. Everything that happens can feel like it's a bad thing, and then I just won't survive that way. So then I always have to try and make it positive. So we got moved from Raw to SmackDown. Originally, you're like oh man, Raw just got moved to Netflix. That's really big and now they're taking us off of it. Is that bad? But then people are like, well, there's more time on SmackDown, we want more storylines for you guys. Cool, that's believable. I love that. So we get to SmackDown, there's a big pay-per-view coming up, so the stories are all kind of already happening for the pay-per-view for the next two weeks. So we're like, okay, we're not doing anything yet. Again, makes sense. That's how things happen. That totally makes sense. So then the pay-per-view passes. Now it's another month or so, we're pitching stuff. We're pitching all the angles, sending storylines in, trying to get in. We're trying to fit into what's already happening, trying to pitch off the wall stuff that could be cool and different, whatever. So as it gets closer, now we're getting to Mania season. So now it's like a month before WrestleMania. We're like, okay, I know that if something that we're doing isn't in WrestleMania, anything can happen, because everything has to lead up to that. Times get changed and stories need more time or get changed. So we were supposed to be leading to this six-woman tag with me, Lacey [Kayden Carter] and Zelina against Chelsea, Piper and Alba. So we're like, okay, cool, it'll be some tag stuff, some single stuff. This will be great. They start having their singles matches, which is supposed to lead to a tag, which is supposed to lead this, whatever. Things keep changing where it just keeps getting pushed. So they had a singles. The next week was supposed to be the six woman, then it didn't happen. We were like, Oh, well will there be a backstage? But then it didn't happen. Zelina had something, and we're like, Oh, are we gonna be there with her? And they were like, no, no, we're just gonna do this first. Then it was the week of WrestleMania and it was supposed to happen, and then the day before it got pushed. We were like, Okay, again, it's WrestleMania weekend. Of course something more important having to do with the show happened. Not very weird. Move on.

Now we're post WrestleMania, and there was a charity event that I do often with someone who has worked with NXT and with WWE. It wasn't a WWE event, but they would let us go there. We weren't signing anything. It was just for a good cause. I've done it for years, and one of the NXT girls that was invited had messaged me and said something to the effect of I can't do it, and they'll let me know why soon. I was like, sounds weird, but people are weird. Who knows? My boyfriend says, I wonder if it's because they're gonna do releases. I was like, but that wouldn't really make sense because it's not a WWE event, so they wouldn't care. It wasn't being posted anywhere, it was just for a good cause. I'm like, that's weird. Then the person doing the charity event messaged me and said another wrestler was like, Oh, I wonder if releases are happening. I'm like, Okay, two people is weird. I actually made a joke to my boyfriend when he said it. I was like, if I get released, will you still love me? You know how girls are crazy? And he was like yes, of course. But I only made that joke because I didn't actually think that it was happening. Then another joke is, if you get a 203 number because it's a Connecticut area code, you're in trouble. We didn't travel that week, another sign. But I was like, Okay, we don't have a story yet. No big deal. 

So I'm working out in my garage, and I get a phone call, and it's not a 203 number so I ignore it because I'm working out. Then it calls again. You know how sometimes it's like, might be this person? It called a second time, and I was like, Okay. I look and it said, might be so and so. I was like, oh, no. I knew right away. I picked up the phone, and I was like, hello? Then I was like, Oh, this is it. I've thought about that moment so many times that when it happened, I felt like I wasn't in my body. I was on the phone answering and then when I hung up, I was like, I feel like I should have said more or asked more questions. I think I was just like, okay, okay, bye. It's such a weird feeling. So at the moment, I had no idea. Then as I retell the story, I'm like I was trying not to be like, negative and nervous. But as I say it, I'm like, okay, these were probably signs."

On her 2019 back injury:

"I don't really ever talk about this, but there was a time back in 2019. I had started in 2018, I was about a year or so in. I had just done my first Royal Rumble in 2019, and I had a back injury from that. I was struggling with this injury. It was kind of the most serious injury I had had since being there. Also, the Performance Center was mentally very, very tough at that point for me. So there was a period where I was dealing with this injury and really like, can I come back from this? The injury wasn't that serious that I wouldn't be able to come back, but in my head, I was like do I really want to do this? And kind of having this crisis about it, is this something I'm going to continue to do? I was open about that with my job, and they were very supportive about it. They were like, We want you to heal, we want you to come back, and we want you to be here, it's important to us. So when the big releases were happening in COVID, I was like, they're gonna let me go. Because I wasn't sure if I could do it. I didn't know if I would be good enough, or if I could survive, or I was having these doubts, so I really thought they're gonna let me go because they're letting people go that wanted to be here and I didn't know if I could. I'll always be very grateful for that, that they believed in me and they stuck with me even when I was having these struggles. So those big releases are always very, very scary. So when it comes down to it, I'm so grateful to have survived so many of those. To think about it in a weird way that, yes, it's sad. But also, again, trying to spin things and not live in the negative. Yes, I wish I had done more. I wish I had been able to show things, but I was with WWE for eight years, that is the dream. That is a huge accomplishment, something that a very small percentage of the world gets to say that they're doing. So whenever I start thinking about that, I try to lean more towards I am just so grateful I was there and I did that, and it's another section of my life story, if that makes sense." 

On the moment that changed things:

"I want to try to explain it correctly. I was struggling mentally, really struggling at the Performance Center, going back to what I said earlier, really feeling out of place, which just imagine if eight years later I feel that, how much I felt it one year in, and it being that different environment. So I really was struggling with that, and when I started to get physically better from this injury, I really had to make this choice of I either need to be all in and do this or not, I decided that I needed to change my mentality in order to succeed there. So with feeling out of place or feeling like I didn't belong or I wasn't good enough because I didn't come from wrestling, I could either let that eat me up and essentially let me not accomplish this goal, or I can let let the feeling suck, feel that and not live in it and realize okay, I can have these insecurities, and this might be a rough road to go through, but I want to accomplish this, and I want to work hard enough to prove that I can do it, prove people wrong, prove myself wrong even, and go after it. I feel like once I told myself I was going to do this mental switch, I knew that if it didn't work out, I would be okay that it didn't work out, because then that meant that I really gave everything, and it would be okay if it wasn't for me." 

On getting scouted by WWE:

"So it's funny. After my American Ninja Warrior run, I don't know if I'm gonna say this title correctly, but it was something like Sports Illustrated's 50 fittest women athletes, something like that. They do a list, and I was on that list after American Ninja Warrior and WWE, I guess, had seen it and called me and asked me to be on Tough Enough."

On Royal Rumble 2019:

"That was really, really cool. I had only been at the Performance Center for a year at that time, and there was about five or six of us from NXT that got to go and do the Royal Rumble. So that was my first really huge thing. I really wasn't even doing NXT TV at the time. Honestly, I didn't have much experience. So the Royal Rumble was, I remember, when my number got called and I walked out, I think I actually did a full spin. When I walked out, I looked around, and then I was like, Okay, you need to go. I almost forgot where I was. I was in such awe of the arena and how many people were there, and the excitement and the energy. I was like, oh my god, this is what people feel like. This is why people love this. I hadn't had any really cool experiences yet, I was just grinding at the PC. So I was like, Oh my gosh, I get it, this is incredible, this feeling. I get what this feeling is now. So I feel like that was my first understanding of how huge it could be. It was really fun to be in it, to be in there with all the women and people I looked up to, legends and stuff like that." 

On her Royal Rumble save:

"I am so grateful for that moment. Because another thing that people will bring up is that was literally seven years ago, something like that. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing that I haven't done anything that cool since, or was it just that cool, but people still will be like, Oh, yeah, your Rumble save was so cool. So I'm really grateful to at least have some really cool staple moments that people can kind of remember.

So I remember when it happened, I had to have a backup plan. If this doesn't go perfect, my feet can't touch. So how do I save this if that happens? So when I do it, I do a back roll to get up to kick up into a handstand. I had always said, okay, if I'm walking and I fall, I just have to fall into a roll where I land on my back and my feet still don't touch so that I can shimmy around to something else and do it. Because that's the other thing too about being in front of a big crowd. I could have done 1 million good handstands in my whole life, and it does not make me not nervous to go out in front of thousands and thousands of people and do a handstand and not screw it up. It’s one of my favourite moments."

On getting paired with Kayden Carter:

"It's crazy. On paper and in real life, we are complete opposites. Opposites attract; that's us. We could not be more different. But when it comes to in the ring, immediately, we randomly just got put together on a live event because they just want more people to wrestle and get experience. So a random Florida live event, we got put together, and she had wrestled before that, so she had more experience, more of that mindset, and she would basically be like, okay, I've seen you do this thing. I can do this first, and then you can do that. Then we would try things, and randomly we were like, this is kind of cool. All right, what if we add this thing to it? It kind of just flowed naturally. The beauty about us being so different is she is more rebellious, and I'm more like, let's rein us in. So it was the perfect combination of some of the stuff that we have done, when she said it originally, or had shown me originally, I would be like, I don't know if we can do that, that’s crazy. Then she would be like, Okay, well, how can we make it work? Then I'd be like, okay, do we change how I'm landing? Do we change where the person is? Do we change where this is? It would be this amazing idea I wouldn't think we could do, but she would have the confidence. Then I would be able to rein in a little bit, and then it would become what we're doing."

Like the kegstand?

"Yes, exactly like that. When we were talking about it, there, it was originally a different idea, without the spin. It was like a handstand, something and I remember being like, Can we do that? Also, I'm the one coming from the ceiling. How am I gonna land? Am I gonna get hurt? Am I gonna hurt them? How can we have more control of this? Then, when we added the spin, obviously, it's me landing forward on somebody felt a lot safer for me, for them, in a normal splash, compared to coming down on my back, or blindly, whatever it might be. So all of these things that I'm so grateful that she had that confidence and that creative mind for this huge, amazing thing. Then, being able to adjust it, to make it actually work for us, it was amazing chemistry for a move like that."

On breaking her nose for a second time:

"That one was worse. That night the doctor actually, three times was trying to put my nose back in place. It was crazy. I forget which way it was, but when I was walking up, they were like, Oh my God. I think I have a picture of it. I'm sure I have a picture of it. But also that one, I got cut on the outside of my nose too. So there was a lot more blood for that one, so you couldn't really see how crooked it was. So yeah, that one was a lot worse. I was bleeding on the outside. They had to adjust it. Lacey's not good with blood and stuff like that. So she was trying to support me and be in the doctor's area with me. Then they went to adjust my nose and I was like, you can go, you don't have to be here. I'm okay, you should leave because she isn't good with blood and stuff like that. So they were just moving my nose and I was just like, okay. So they got it back really well, but it basically was when you put it back, sometimes the bones can be next to each other instead of exactly where they're supposed to be. So it looks good enough. Whenever I'd say my nose is broken, people are like, oh, you can't tell. I know I can tell, but most people are like, oh, you can't tell. So now I basically have to decide if I want to fix it or not. Because it messes with your septum and your breathing and you're sleeping and stuff. So I have to decide.”

What is Kacy grateful for?

"My health, people in my life and the opportunities to come."

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