Merced Solis
From Freepedia
Merced Solis, also known by his stage name Tito Santana, is currently a teacher and hair salon owner. Although he was billed as hailing from Toluca, Mexico, he was actually born on May 10, 1953 in Mission, Texas. He is best known as a former Mexican professional wrestler whose career spanned from the late 70s to the early 90s. Despite his Mexican heritage, he rarely competed in Lucha Libre promotions, being more accustomed to the American style of professional wrestling.
Contents |
Before Wrestling
Before becoming a wrestler, Santana played football for West Texas State University. The team was quarterbacked by future professional wrestler Tully Blanchard. After he graduated, He played football for the Kansas City Chiefs and in the Canadian Football League. After his time in football was up, he entered the world of professional wrestling.
Career
He worked briefly in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the American Wrestling Association (AWA), but gained his fame by wrestling in the World Wrestling Federation. On October 22, 1979, He earned the Tag Team Championship with the Polish superstar Ivan Putski. In 1984, he feuded with the Magnificent Don Muraco for the Intercontinental Championship which he won on February 11. He then entered into a historical feud over the Intercontinental Championship with Greg Valentine. Valentine captured it from Santana in September, 1984. In July, 1985, however, Tito Santana won it back in a memorable steel cage match. Greg Valentine smashed the title belt after losing it, which led to the creation of a new belt design, and Santana held the title for another 7 months before losing it to Randy "Macho Man" Savage. In late 1987, Tito Santana formed a tag team with former AWA World Champion Rick Martel named Strike Force. The team quickly won the Tag Team championship from the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) in October, 1987. The successfully defended it until WrestleMania IV (March 1988) where they lost it to Demolition (Ax & Smash). The team disappeared for the rest of 1988 until WrestleMania V in 1989. In a match against the Brain Busters (Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson), Rick Martel left Tito to face both opponents alone.
Santana remained as a single wrestler, later adopting a Spanish bullfighter gimmick and the name El Matador. Tito more or less fell into jobber status during his last years until leaving in 1993.
He won the ECW (Eastern Championship Wrestling) Championship in 1992 by defeating Don Muraco but lost it later that year to Shane Douglas.
Tito Santana will forever be remembered for his finisher, "The Flying Forearm Smash."
Solis is now a Spanish teacher at Eisenhower Middle School in Roxbury Township, New Jersey. He owns Santana's Hair Salon in Succasunna. The rest of his time is spent enjoying time with his family, something he could not do while wrestling.
In 2004, Tito Santana was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Championships/Accomplishments
World Wrestling Federation
- 2-Time WWF Intercontinental Champion
- 2-Time WWF World Tag Team Champion (with Ivan Putski and Rick Martel)
- Winner 1990 WWF King of the Ring
- Member of WWE Hall of Fame (inducted in 2004)
Eastern Championship Wrestling
- 1-Time ECW Heavyweight Champion
National Wrestling Alliance
- 1-Time NWA Western States Tag Team Champion (with Ted DiBiase)
Other Titles
- 1-Time ICCW Heavyweight Champion
- 2-Time ICW Heavyweight Champion
- 2-Time AWF Heavyweight Champion
- 1-Time NWC Heavyweight Champion
- 1-Time UCW Heavyweight Champion
- 1-Time USA Pro Heavyweight Champion
- 1-Time NSWA Heavyweight Champion
- 1-Time EWA Heavyweight Champion
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him # 93 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. He was also ranked twice in the best tag teams during the "PWI Years". He was ranked # 70 with Rick Martel and # 92 with Ivan Putski.
- Tito won the 1979 PWI Tag Team of the Year Award with Ivan Putski.
External Links
| ECW World Heavyweight Champions (inactive title) | |
|---|---|
| Snuka | Hotbody | Snuka | Muraco | Sandman | Muraco | Santana | Douglas | Sabu | Funk | Douglas | Sandman | Whipwreck | Sandman | Raven | Sandman | Raven | Funk | Sabu | Douglas | Bigelow | Douglas | Taz | Awesome | Tanaka | Awesome | Taz | Dreamer | Credible | Lynn | Corino | Sandman | Rhino | |
Categories: Mexican professional wrestlers | National Football League players | Canadian Football League players | 1953 births
