Tito Santana

This article is about the American professional wrestler. For the current Tito Santana working for AAA, see Tito Santana (AAA).

Tito Santana
Santana in 2011
Birth nameMerced Solís
Born (1953-05-10) May 10, 1953 (age 71)
Mission, Texas, U.S.[1]
Spouse(s)
Leah Solis
​
(m. 1976)​
Children3
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Dino Santana
  • El Matador[1]
  • Merced Solis
  • Richard Blood[1]
  • Tino Santana
  • Tito Santana[2]
Billed height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[3]
Billed weight234 lb (106 kg)[3]
Billed from"Tocula, Mexico"[2]
Trained by
Debut1977
Retired2022
Football career
No. 72
Career information
CFL statusAmerican
Position(s)TE
CollegeWest Texas A&M
Career history
As player
1975*Kansas City Chiefs
1976BC Lions
Career stats
Receptions17
Rec. Yards329
Touchdowns1

Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is an American professional wrestler, trainer, and retired school teacher.[2][4]

Solis has stayed a babyface character his entire career[5][6] and is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1979 and 1993 (missing part of 1980 and returning in 1983)[7] where he was a two-time WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion and a two-time WWF Tag Team Championship with Ivan Putski in his first individual reign, and most notably with Rick Martel in his second individual reign. He also won the 1989 King of the Ring tournament and wrestled and won the first WrestleMania match against The Executioner and competed in the first nine, as well as helping bridge the gap between the 1980s "Rock 'n Wrestling Connection" era to the 1990s "New Generation" era.

Solis was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame class of 2013. During his time in the WWF, Solis, despite being born and raised in Mission, Texas, was billed from "Tocula, Mexico", which may be a misspelled reference to the city of Toluca. To this day, he still appears on the independent circuit while working as a school teacher until June 2023, when he retired from teaching.[8][9]

  1. ^ a b c "Tito Santana Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "Tito Santana". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. DK. p. 306. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  4. ^ Beaston, Erik. "Full Career Retrospective for Tito Santana". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  5. ^ "TheBurningHammer.com • View topic – Tito Santana's time to heel?". www.theburninghammer.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  6. ^ "Tito Santana Talks About What He is Doing Now, Today's WWE, What Held Shawn Michaels Back, His New DVD and More". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  7. ^ Tito Santana, shoot interview YouTube video, posted August 4, 2012.
  8. ^ "Tito Santana Reveals Why He Has Turned Down WWE Job Offers". Wrestling Inc. September 2, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  9. ^ Wire, S. I. "WWE Hall of Famer Tito Santana explains why he hasn't officially retired yet". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 10, 2022.