Catanzaro was previously on American Ninja Warrior. She was the first woman to complete a City Qualifiers course and the first woman to complete a City Finals course.[5]
Catanzaro was a Junior Olympic gymnast. She began her training at age 6.[11] She reached level 10 in 2007 and competed at the 2007 New Jersey Level 10 State Championships. At the State Championships, she placed fifth in the Senior-A division.[12] In 2008, Catanzaro competed at the 2008 New Jersey Level 10 State Championships. This time she placed third.[13] This allowed her to compete at the 2008 Junior Olympic National Championships. She finished 23rd overall at Nationals. She finished 6th on the balance beam.[14]
She spent two years training for American Ninja Warrior.[18] She did not complete the qualifying course in Venice, California, but was a wildcard at the 2013 finals.[19]
In 2014, Catanzaro became the first woman to finish the qualifying course of American Ninja Warrior (season 6). She made it up the warped wall on her second try at 5:26.18 at the Dallas qualifiers. She was ranked 21 out of 30 people. She was also the first woman to ever 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 to complete a city finals course. She was only the second woman to attempt it. The first was Jessie Graff in season 5). Catanzaro qualified for the national finals in Las Vegas with a time of 8 minutes, 59 seconds.[20][21] No other woman competed in a City Finals course matched until 2019.[22]
Catanzaro continued to make appearances during 2018. She wrestles as a face and takes inspiration from WWE's Alexa Bliss's slogan "Five Feet of Fury". This also refers to Catanzaro's own small size.[24] The 2nd episode of the Mae Young Classic aired on September 12, Catanzaro had her first televised match, She beat Reina Gonzalez in the first round match. On Episode 5, she lost in the second round to Rhea Ripley. On January 27, 2019, Catanzaro had her first match on the main roster. She entered the women's Royal Rumble match at number 19 and lasting 10:45. She was eliminated by Ripley.[25][26] Her first NXT match was on March 13.
In September 2019, it was reported that Catanzaro had quit the WWE and retired from professional wrestling because of a long term back injury.[27][28] She returned on the January 15, 2020 episode of NXT in a women's battle royal. Catanzaro said that she took some time off because she had doubts about continuing in the Professional Wrestling business.[29][30] On the September 16 episode of NXT, Catanzaro teamed with Kayden Carter. They beat beat Jessi Kamea and Xia Li.[31] The next week, she competed in a battle royal to chose the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship. Catanzaro beat Indi Hartwell to reach the final four. She lost to Dakota Kai, with help from Candice LeRae.[32]
↑Edmonson, Jonathan. "Kacy Catanzaro fails to complete American Ninja Warrior qualifying round", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 9, 2015, updated January 17, 2019. Accessed November 12, 2020. "Catanzaro, a Glen Ridge native who made history when she became the first woman to qualify for the finals on season six of NBC's American Ninja Warrior, was derailed at the Houston qualifying round last night."
↑Schneider, Jeremy. "From N.J. to WWE: Kacy Catanzaro begins pro wrestling journey", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 30, 2018, updated January 30, 2019. Accessed November 12, 2020. "World Wrestling Entertainment announced on Jan. 18 that Catanzaro, a Belleville High School graduate who was born in Glen Ridge, has joined WWE's NXT, the organization's developmental system."
