Tito Santana

Tito Santana is a wrestling legend best known from his time in the World Wrestling Federation where he competed almost exclusively from 1979 to 1993. Santana held the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice and the WWF Tag Team Championship twice. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.

His pro debut was for Championship Wrestling from Florida in 1977. He worked with Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1977-78, until he joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1979. After a near 3 year run in the American Wrestling Association from 1980 to 1982 he returned to World Wrestling Federation in 1983.

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.

Tito Santana won his first Intercontinental Championship from the Magnificent Don Muraco on February 11, 1984. Shortly before winning the Intercontinental Championship, Santana fought The Iron Sheik to a double-disqualification for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Santana won the Intercontinental title for a 2nd time from Greg “The Hammer” Valentine in a brutal steel cage match in Baltimore on July 6, 1985. Tito would hold onto the title until February 8, 1986 when he lost it to Randy Savage at the Boston Garden after Savage knocked him out with a foreign object that went unnoticed by referee Danny Davis.

Santana formed the popular tag team Strike Force with Canadian Rick Martel in the late 1980s. They defeated the Hart Foundation for the WWF World Tag Team titles and held them for five months before losing to Demolition at Wrestlemania IV. Santana adopted a Spanish bullfighter gimmick and the nickname "El Matador" in 1991, which lasted until 1993.

Santana, along with only Hulk Hogan, holds the unique distinction of appearing in the first nine WrestleMania events (although his match against Papa Shango at WrestleMania IX was a dark match).

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 WWF rival Don Muraco but forfeited the championship later that year to Shane Douglas.

During 1994 and 1996 Santana wrestled 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. S

Santana returned to the WWF in 1997 as a Commentator at the Spanish Broadcast table, He called on Monday Night Raw, as well as PPV events, he was last doing Spanish commentary at WrestleMania XIV.

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).

His autobiography, Tito Santana's Tales From the Ring was released in 2008.

Tito Santana will be appearing Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He will be located at Booth # 635.