History Wrestling / TitoSantana

* ThrowTheDogABone: By the late 1980s, it was more common to see Santana on the losing end of matches, although he did have plenty of non-televised (at least on terrestrial television) victories that, until the Internet and YouTube eras weren't commonly known. These include a major push toward the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 1990 (although losing to [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Mr. Perfect]]), a KingOfTheRing championship-round victory over Rick Martel, and a rare victory (in Spain) over Wrestling/TheUndertaker. The latter victory, which came in 1991, in the midst of Undertaker's push as an unbeatable MonsterHeel, and also came a time where the WWF was pondering which direction to find its new face of the 1990s -- Canada (and Wrestling/BretHart) or Mexico (and Santana). While they ultimately settled on Hart (and American Wrestling/ShawnMichaels), Santana's reliability and workmanship in the ring gave the WWF a solid option and a solid wrestler to build around had they decided on a lucha libre direction.

Mercedes Solis (born May 10, 1953) is a semi-retired {{professional wrestl|ing}}er from Mission, Texas best known for his work in Wrestling/{{WWE}} in the 1980s as Tito Santana. He started his career in Florida in 1977 and also worked in Georgia, [=WWE=], the Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation, Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, and the [[Wrestling/TerryFunk Funk family]]'s Western States Wrestling promotion in Amarillo, TX before making his home in [=WWE=]. Santana is a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion]], a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Champion]], holding the belts the first time with Ivan Putski and the second time with Wrestling/RickMartel as Strike Force and a 1x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-h.html NWA ECW Heavyweight Champion]] (see below under TheCameo). He was inducted into the [=WWE=] Hall of Fame in 2004.

* ThrowTheDogABone: By the late 1980s, it was more common to see Santana on the losing end of matches, although he did have plenty of non-televised (at least on terrestrial television) victories that, until the Internet and YouTube eras weren't commonly known. These include a major push toward the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 1990 (although losing to [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Mr. Perfect]]), a KingOfTheRing championship-round victory over Rick Martel, and a rare victory (in Spain) over Wrestling/TheUndertaker. The latter victory, which came in 1991, in the midst of Undertaker's push as an unbeatable MonsterHeel, and also came a time where the WWF was pondering which direction to find its new face of the 1990s -- Canada (and BretHart) or Mexico (and Santana). While they ultimately settled on Hart (and American Wrestling/ShawnMichaels), Santana's reliability and workmanship in the ring gave the WWF a solid option and a solid wrestler to build around had they decided on a lucha libre direction.

[[quoteright:203:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/titosantana_2723.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:203:"''ARRIBA''!"]]

"'''''ARRIBA!'''''"

'''Mercedes Solis''' (b. 1953) is a semi-retired {{professional wrestl|ing}}er from Mission, Texas best known for his work in Wrestling/{{WWE}} in the 1980s as '''Tito Santana.''' He started his career in Florida in 1977 and also worked in Georgia, [=WWE=], the Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation, Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, and the [[Wrestling/TerryFunk Funk family]]'s Western States Wrestling promotion in Amarillo, TX before making his home in [=WWE=]. Santana is a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion]], a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Champion]], holding the belts the first time with Ivan Putski and the second time with Wrestling/RickMartel as Strike Force and a 1x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-h.html NWA ECW Heavyweight Champion]] (see below under TheCameo). He was inducted into the [=WWE=] Hall of Fame in 2004.

!!! "[=Tropo=] Santana":

* CatchPhrase: "¡ARRIBA!"

* PartsUnknown: "[[TyopOnTheCover Tocula, Mexico]]," making Santana possibly the most normal wrestler to be billed from a nonexistent place.

* ThrowTheDogABone: By the late 1980s, it was more common to see Santana on the losing end of matches, although he did have plenty of non-televised (at least on terrestrial television) victories that, until the Internet and YouTube eras weren't commonly known. These include a major push toward the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 1990 (although losing to [[Wrestling/CurtHennig Mr. Perfect]]), a KingOfTheRing championship-round victory over Rick Martel, and a rare victory (in Spain) over Wrestling/TheUndertaker. The latter victory, which came in 1991, in the midst of Undertaker's push as an unbeatable MonsterHeel, and also came a time where the WWF was pondering which direction to find its new face of the 1990s -- Canada (and BretHart) or Mexico (and Santana). While they ultimately settled on Hart (and American Wrestling/ShawnMichaels

* ThrowTheDogABone: By the late 1980s, it was more common to see Santana on the losing end of matches, although he did have plenty of non-televised (at least on terrestrial television) victories that, until the Internet and YouTube eras weren't commonly known. These include a major push toward the WWF Intercontinental Championship in 1990 (although losing to [[Wrestling/CurtHenning Mr. Perfect]]), a KingOfTheRing championship-round victory over Rick Martel, and a rare victory (in Spain) over Wrestling/TheUndertaker. The latter victory, which came in 1991, in the midst of Undertaker's push as an unbeatable MonsterHeel, and also came a time where the WWF was pondering which direction to find its new face of the 1990s -- Canada (and BretHart) or Mexico (and Santana). While they ultimately settled on Hart (and American Wrestling/ShawnMichaels

** In a dark (non-televised match), Tito d. [[Characters/WWENewGeneration Papa Shango]] at WMIX.

* PartsUnknown: "[[TyopOnCover Tocula, Mexico]]," making Santana possibly the most normal wrestler to be billed from a nonexistent place.

* PartsUnknown: "Tocula, Mexico," making Santana possibly the most normal wrestler to be billed from a nonexistent place.

'''Mercedes Solis''' (b. 1953) is a semi-retired {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er from Mission, Texas best known for his work in Wrestling/{{WWE}} in the 1980s as '''Tito Santana.''' He started his career in Florida in 1977 and also worked in Georgia, [=WWE=], the Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation, Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, and the [[Wrestling/TerryFunk Funk family]]'s Western States Wrestling promotion in Amarillo, TX before making his home in [=WWE=]. Santana is a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion]], a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Champion]], holding the belts the first time with Ivan Putski and the second time with Wrestling/RickMartel as Strike Force and a 1x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-h.html NWA ECW Heavyweight Champion]] (see below under TheCameo). He was inducted into the [=WWE=] Hall of Fame in 2004.

* GratuitousSpanish: Inverted since Spanish really is his first language. He doesn't always do this, but near the end of promos he can be heard speaking a little Spanish before ending with his catchphrase.[[note]]Tito es diferente de los otros luchadores por hablar su lengua nativa cuando hace algunos (pero no todos) de sus promos. ¡Arriba![[/note]]

** In a dark (non-televised match), Tito d. [[Characters/WWENewGeneration Papa Shango]] at WMIX.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Has stated that there were plans for a WWF expansion into South America in the early 90's, and he would have been given the world title to be the company face for it, but the expansion ended up north into Canada instead, putting BretHart as the obvious choice instead.

** PartsUnknown: "Tocula, Mexico," making Santana possibly the most normal wrestler to be billed from a nonexistent place.

* CatchPhrase: "ARRIBA!"

** Wrestling/ShawnMichaels (w/Sensational Sherri) d. Tito at WMVIII.

** In a dark (non-televised match), Tito d. [[Characters/WWENewGeneration Papa Shango]] at WMIX.

** [=Demolition (Ax and Smash)=] (w/Mr. Fuji) d. [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Champions]] Strike Force for the titles at WMIV.

* BashBrothers: Rick Martel, Ivan Putski, Wrestling/JunkyardDog, Pedro Morales

** Made one appearance in Wrestling/{{ECW}} on August 8, 1993, wrestling three matches, including defeating fellow 1980s great Don Muraco for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-h.html NWA ECW Heavyweight Title]], and never wrestled for the promotion again.

* ArchEnemy: Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Slick, Rick "The Model" Martel (after Strike Force's split at ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} V''), Wrestling/{{Demolition}}

** Tito won the first-ever ''[=WrestleMania=]'' match, defeating the Executioner ("Playboy" Buddy Rose under a mask).

* TagTeam: Strike Force, with Rick Martel

** At ''Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} King of Trios 2012'' Night 1, September 14, 2012, the Spectral Envoy (Wrestling/{{UltraMantis Black}}[=/=]Frightmare[=/=]Wrestling/{{Hallowicked}}) were supposed to face the Submission Squad, but they were not there, so three names were drawn from a hat. The first was [[CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown the Mysterious and Handsome Stranger]], who was there. The second was Kazuaki Mihara of Osaka Pro. The third was Wrestling/StanHansen, who was not there. They tried [[Characters/WWENewGeneration Kwang (Savio Vega doing a lame masked ninja gimmick in WWE from 1994-1995)]], who was not there. They tried Tito Santana, and he was there. The Envoy won after [=UMB=] rolled Tito up from behind for the pin.

** At ''Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} King of Trios 2012'' Night 1, September 14, 2012, the Spectral Envoy (Wrestling/{{UltraMantis Black}}[=/=]Frightmare[=/=]Hallowicked) were supposed to face the Submission Squad, but they were not there, so three names were drawn from a hat. The first was [[CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown the Mysterious and Handsome Stranger]], who was there. The second was Kazuaki Mihara of Osaka Pro. The third was Wrestling/StanHansen, who was not there. They tried [[Characters/WWENewGeneration Kwang (Savio Vega doing a lame masked ninja gimmick in WWE from 1994-1995)]], who was not there. They tried Tito Santana, and he was there. The Envoy won after [=UMB=] rolled Tito up from behind for the pin.

'''Mercedes Solis''' (b. 1953) is a semi-retired {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er from Mission, Texas best known for his work in Wrestling/{{WWE}} in the 1980s as '''Tito Santana.''' He started his career in Florida in 1977 and also worked in Georgia, [=WWE=], the Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation, Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, and the [[Wrestling/TerryFunk Funk family]]'s Western States Wrestling promotion in Amarillo, TX before making his home in [=WWE=]. Santana is a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion]], a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Champion]], holding the belts the first time with Ivan Putski and the second time with Rick Martel as Strike Force and a 1x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ecw/ecw-h.html NWA ECW Heavyweight Champion]] (see below under TheCameo). He was inducted into the [=WWE=] Hall of Fame in 2004.

** At ''Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} King of Trios 2012'' Night 1, September 14, 2012, the Spectral Envoy ([=UltraMantis=] Black/Frightmare/Hallowicked) were supposed to face the Submission Squad, but they were not there, so three names were drawn from a hat. The first was [[CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown the Mysterious and Handsome Stranger]], who was there. The second was Kazuaki Mihara of Osaka Pro. The third was Wrestling/StanHansen, who was not there. They tried [[Characters/WWENewGeneration Kwang (Savio Vega doing a lame masked ninja gimmick in WWE from 1994-1995)]], who was not there. They tried Tito Santana, and he was there. The Envoy won after [=UMB=] rolled Tito up from behind for the pin.

* NamesTheSame: Wrestled for a time as "Richard Blood," which is Wrestling/RickySteamboat's real name.

** The Brainbusters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) (w/[[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan Bobby "The Brain" Heenan]]) d. Strike Force after Martel walked out on the match at WMV.

* TheWorfEffect: Acknowledged by Wrestling/JimCornette in his commentary on the Tito Santana-Kelly Kiniski match on ''Volume 5- Beat Me If You Can'' of the ''[[http://store.vcientertainment.com/product/Wrestling/477 Wrestling Gold]]'' series that if you faced Tito and beat him in [=WWE=] in the mid-80s that meant that you were on the way up and if you faced Tito and lost that meant you weren't. This also contributed to his status as the sort-of [[BizarroUniverse Bizarro World]] version of Wrestling/TheUndertaker, with a ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'' record of 2-7.

** Tito won the first-ever ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'' match, defeating the Executioner ("Playboy" Buddy Rose under a mask).

** [[Wrestling/{{Demolition}} Demolition (Ax and Smash)]] (w/Mr. Fuji) d. [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Champions]] Strike Force for the titles at WMIV.

** The Barbarian (w/[[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan Bobby "The Brain" Heenan]]) d. Tito at WMVI.