Pro Wrestler Recently Learned She's Daughter Of WWE Hall Of Famer
The daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana is making some in-roads into the world of professional wrestling. Jenni Santana says she only recently confirmed that the former WWF Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion is her father.
"I only found out a few years ago that he is my biological father," Santana told Wrestling Epicenter. "I was already into martial arts heavily. Then I did the interview with Hannibal and he asked if I was interested in trying professional wrestling. I was like, "Yeah! Why not?"
Jenni Santana says connecting with her famous father has not been easy. She says she connected with Tito Santana through his sons, who she's still speaking with periodically.
"I can imagine that it was a shock." Jenni Santana explained. "Here it is, however many years later, and this grown person with children of her own doesn't quite show up on his doorstep but is kind of, "Hi, here I am!" (laughs) I wanted to approach it gently. I know he has a family of his own. And, it wasn't like I had known for a long time – I was finding out right around the same time that he was. I had suspicions when I was younger... There wasn't really DNA so there was nothing that I knew for sure. Time went on and I hadn't really thought about it until a few years ago."
Jenni Santana said she has spoken with Tito Santana on at least one occasion. But she says the two have not spoken recently.
"We had a conversation and we had talked about getting to know each other and meeting up," Jenni Santana said. "And then, I don't really know what happened. It just kind of went silent. So, I'm not really sure. Eventually, hopefully, we'll get to know each other more."
Jenni Santana said she is hoping to connect with her father more in the future. However, she says she doesn't want to push anything.
"Tito has been married for 40 years or something like that," Jenni Santana explained. "It is not like it is a delicate new relationship. Something like this could cause more rifts when you're just starting out and you're younger in life and in your relationship. But, he's older in life now and when you're older in life, you have more life experiences. You have more solid foundations and relationships. So, it really shouldn't rock anything too hard."So, I decided to go for it! Also, my chiropractor and his wife had a similar situation where she had found out who her biological father was. When she contacted him, this guy (her biological father) literally drove across the country as soon as he hung up the phone to see her. So, when you hear that happen, I guess you have that hope.
"You don't have a personal connection but you do have that DNA connection, that blood connection... And, Tito and I do have a lot of similar things that happened to us in life. He's very athletic, I'm very athletic. He succeeded in wrestling. I've succeeded in Jujitsu. He works for a high school. I was working for a high school and in education. There's a lot of connections instead of just the DNA. So, not that I had hoped... But, I thought, "Let's give this a shot!" It didn't actually turn out like that. (laughs) But, You can't control everything."
Jenni Santana's martial arts background was focused on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She found her greatest success in the sport in 2019. Competing under the name Jennifer Haas, she won IBJJF World No-Gi Championships as a purple belt in the female middleweight and open weight categories.
Jenni Santana started her training at Future Stars of Wrestling under Sinn Bodhi. She has had a handful of matches. She's also attached to the upstart Ultimate Women of Wrestling. Santana is listed as the promotion's general manager.
UWW is promoting its first show at the Sahara Las Vegas hotel and casino on May 21. The lineup of women also being promoted for the show includes Ivelisse, Santana Garrett, Jennacide, Ashley D'Amboise, Miranda Alize, Alex Gracia, Shaul Guerrero, and Charlette & Robyn Renegade.
h/t to Wrestling Epicenter for the transcription.