Kacy Catanzaro

Catanzaro eventually made her return when she appeared on the January 15, 2020 episode of NXT as a surprise entrant in a women's battle royal. Catanzaro revealed in an interview that she took some time off because she had doubts about continuing in the Professional Wrestling business.

Catanzaro continued to make appearances during 2018, both in house shows and on NXT television; she wrestles as a face and takes inspiration from WWE's Alexa Bliss's slogan "Five Feet of Fury", making reference to Catanzaro's own diminutive size. The 2nd episode of the Mae Young Classic aired on September 12, Catanzaro made her televised debut in a winning effort against Reina Gonzalez in the first round match. On Episode 5, she lost in the second round to Rhea Ripley. On January 27, 2019 Catanzaro made her main roster debut, appearing in the Royal Rumble, while making her NXT debut afterwards, on March 13.

In August 2019, it was reported that Catanzaro has given her resignation to WWE due to an ongoing back injury she suffered. In September, it was announced by Squared Circle Sirens that Catanzaro has departed from WWE, citing retirement from wrestling. She didn't have any match or appearance since then and, on October 20, 2019, her profile was moved from active competitors page to the alumni page of WWE.com.

In 2017, Catanzaro competed in American Ninja Warrior season 9 in the San Antonio city qualifier and finals. In the former she failed on the fourth obstacle, but did well enough to qualify for city finals under the show's new rules. In that latter run she had her best performance since 2014, making it past the Sky Hooks and the fifth obstacle to get the now-higher Warped Wall, which she failed to surmount. Nonetheless she qualified for the national finals. At the national finals, she failed on Stage 1 at the Double Dipper.

In 2017, Catanzaro announced her retirement from American Ninja Warrior, with season 9 being her last.

On January 4, 2017, Catanzaro received a tryout with WWE at their WWE Performance Center. It was announced on August 27 during the Mae Young Classic that Catanzaro had been signed to a contract with WWE. On January 18, 2018, WWE officially announced Catanzaro had reported to the WWE Performance Center. She made her in-ring debut at a NXT live event on April 19, in Sanford, Florida, in a losing effort to Reina González.

In 2016, Catanzaro was invited to compete in the 32nd competition of the original Japanese version of ANW, Sasuke. Catanzaro performed well, completing 8 of the stage 1 obstacles before timing out on the final obstacle, the Lumberjack Climb. Since the course's renewal and increased difficulty, Catanzaro set the record for the furthest a female athlete has gone and the closest a female athlete has gotten to completing stage 1 since the 2nd competition (until 2017 when Jessie Graff completed stage 1 and became the first woman ever to complete stage 2.)

In the 2016 Oklahoma City Qualifying round (season 8), Catanzaro failed to complete the course after falling on an early obstacle, the Log Runner, on June 20; however, she was again given a Wild Card spot in Las Vegas. In the Las Vegas National Finals, Stage 1, she fell on the second obstacle.

In December 2016 Catanzaro co-hosted as a broadcaster the Team Ninja Warrior College Madness series of shows.

In the 2015 Houston Qualifying round (season 7), Catanzaro failed to complete the course after falling on the cargo crossing. She was given a wild card spot in Vegas and she failed due to a mistimed trampoline jump at the Propeller Bar at Stage 1 of The Finals on September 7. By this time the pressure she felt to live up to her broadcast reputation as Ninja's greatest female competitor was reportedly showing and she was tearful in the post-run interview.

In 2014, Catanzaro became the first woman to complete the qualifying course of American Ninja Warrior (season 6), making it up the warped wall on her second try at 5:26.18 at the Dallas qualifiers, ranking her 21 out of 30; this also makes her the first woman to 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 ever to complete a city finals course (and the second woman to attempt it after Jessie Graff in season 5), qualifying for the national finals in Las Vegas with a time of 8 minutes, 59 seconds. (Not until five years later, during the 2019 season, was her accomplishment of a woman completing a City Finals course matched.)

Of the 2014 city finals run, host commentator Akbar Gbaja-Biamila remarked "I've seen greatness during my NFL career...And I've been in awe of people, but I am really in awe of Kacy". The run had been especially notable because due to her short stature, many of the obstacles looked difficult to manage and in one case, she had to leap between boards whereas other competitors could traverse them. Her achievement made her a social media phenomenon, with her run being viewed over 100 million times; supporters on Twitter coined the hashtag #MightyKacy.

She worked for Alpha Warrior, an obstacle-course gym in San Antonio, Texas, from February 2013.

Catanzaro spent two years training for American Ninja Warrior alongside her then-boyfriend and co-competitor Brent Steffensen. She did not complete the qualifying course in Venice, California, but was an invited wildcard at the 2013 finals, where she fell early on the Giant cycle/ring.

Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Catanzaro grew up and attended high school in nearby Belleville and is of Italian descent. She stands about 5 ft (1.524 m) tall and weighs 95 pounds (43 kg). She began doing gymnastics at age 5. She attended Towson University in Towson, Maryland, from 2009 until 2012, studying early childhood education on an athletic scholarship.

Catanzaro competed in gymnastics for Towson in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. She made her debut in the 2009 season. Catanzaro helped the Towson Tigers gymnastics team win the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships in 2009 and 2010. In her senior year she was named the Southeast Regional Gymnast of the Year in 2012. She was also named the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference Gymnast of the Year and was the top-ranked competitor in that conference for that year.

Catanzaro was a Junior Olympic gymnast, having started training at age 6. She reached level 10 in 2007 and competed at the 2007 New Jersey Level 10 State Championships where she placed fifth in the Senior-A division. The following year Catanzaro competed at the 2008 New Jersey Level 10 State Championships where she placed third and advanced to the 2008 Junior Olympic National Championships. She finished 23rd overall but finished 6th on the balance beam.

Kacy Esther Catanzaro (born January 14, 1990) is an American professional wrestler, gymnast and athletics-based television personality. She is currently signed with WWE on the NXT brand. She was the first woman to qualify for the finals of the television sports show American Ninja Warrior and the first woman to complete a City Finals course. During her time in WWE, she has competed in the 2018 Mae Young Classic and participated in the 2019 Royal Rumble match.