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Viva Van

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Viva Van
Birth nameVictoria Tran
BornLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Viva Van
  • Victorya Van Tran
Trained byRikishi
Debut2018

Victoria Tran, known by her ring name Viva Van,[1] is an American professional wrestler. She is known for her work on the independent circuit, having made appearances for promotions such as All Elite Wrestling,[2] Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, Impact Wrestling, and Championship Wrestling from Hollywood.[3][4] During a modelling career in the early 2010s, she was known professionally as Victorya Van Tran.

Early life

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Van was born and raised in Los Angeles, California[5][6] to a Vietnamese-American family.[7] Growing up, she was a fan of professional wrestling and horror movies.[8] Her favorite wrestler growing up was The Undertaker.[8]

While pursuing a degree in accounting, Van recalled "I remember I was miserable in accounting, I wasn't good at it at all," and "I've always had this secret dream of wanting to be a pro wrestler" instead. She eventually decided to commit to finishing her studies, change her major from accounting to marketing, and then begin training in wrestling. She graduated from California State University, Fullerton in 2020 with a degree in marketing.[9][6]

Van also spent time at a performing arts school where she explored singing. After exploring the genres of R&B and jazz, Van eventually became interested in metal and later join a death metal band as a vocalist.[10]

Professional wrestling career

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Training

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Van was trained by WWE Hall of Famer and Anoaʻi family member Rikishi.[1][11] In an interview with Cultaholic, she talked about how a car accident led to her being able to begin her wrestling training, as well as her work with promotions like Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide.[12]

Van made his professional wrestling debut in 2018.[6] Since her debut, Van has worked for several promotions on the American independent circuit.[5] She worked for independent promotions of the West Coast such as PCW Ultra, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, Hoodslam or DEFY Wrestling.[13][14] She has also worked for national promotions like Impact Wrestling,[15] All Elite Wrestling,[16][17][18] or Ring of Honor.[19] Internationaly, she worked for Mexican promotions Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide[20][21] and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, wrestling for the vacated CMLL World Women's Championship[22][23] and Japanese promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling.[24]

In 2020 and 2022, Van had tryouts for WWE, but was not signed.[25][25]

Other endeavors

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Van is the vocalist for the Southern California heavy metal band Mocking of the Trinity,[26] who appeared on the Last.fm show Maidens of Metal.[27]

Van regularly modelled for various publications and promotions under the name Victorya Van Tran. She appeared in the July 2013 issue of Petite Alternative magazine.[28] In March 2014, she appeared in Tattoo Envy as a centerfold model.[29] In June 2014, she appeared on the cover of Wheels & Heels magazine.[30] In May 2015, she was the cover model for Petite Alternative.[31] In September 2015, Van appeared again in Wheel & Heels magazine during Hot Import Nights in San Diego, California.[32] She also appeared in the December 2020 issue of Gothic Girl magazine, where she discussed both professional wrestling and heavy metal.[33]

Van has her own line of makeup products called HellBent Glam.[10]

Championships and accomplishments

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  • Arizona Wrestling Federation
    • AWF Women's Championship (1 time) [5]
  • Big Time Wrestling
    • BTW Women's Championship (1 time) [34]
  • Future Stars of Wrestling
    • FSW Women's Championship (1 time) [34]
  • New Tradition Lucha Libre
    • NTLL Women's Championship (1 time) [34]
  • PCW Ultra
    • PCW Ultra Women's Championship (2 times) [35]
  • Tomahawk Professional Wrestling
    • Tomahawk Pro Women's Championship (1 time, inaugural)
  • Vietnam Pro Wrestling
    • VPW Hall of Fame (2023)
  • Venue Wrestling Entertainment
    • VWE Women's Championship (1 time)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Viva Van- Bio, KnokX Pro Entertainment". KnokX Pro Entertainment. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  2. ^ "Mariah May vs. Viva Van Added To 8/7 AEW Dynamite | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  3. ^ "Tetsuya Naito vs. TJP, Mina Shirakawa And HANAKO vs. Trish Adora And Viva Van, More Added To NJPW Capital Collision 2024 | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  4. ^ Varsallone, Jim (July 14, 2023). "Viva Van's drive will be on display during the annual mega-show AAA TripleMania via FITE TV". Miami Herald.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b c "Viva Van". Cagematch. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Salcedo, Denise (November 12, 2021). "Viva Van Talks About Starting Out In Wrestling And Being A Vietnamese Women's Wrestler". Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  7. ^ Denise Salcedo (November 4, 2021). Viva Van On How She Got Started In Pro Wrestling, Her Vietnamese Background & More. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Juice Pro Wrestling: Hellbent Vixen with Viva Van". jpdubpodcast.libsyn.com. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  9. ^ Espinoza, Angelo (December 13, 2021). "Viva Van's journey from the classroom seat to the wrestling ring". Daily Titan. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Mitchell, Scott (November 18, 2022). "Viva Van Opens Up About Working in AEW, AAA, What's Next for Her, and More". Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  11. ^ Kaia McKenna and Kevin McElvaney (July 11, 2024). "Viva Van On Making Viral Magic, Chasing CMLL Title Gold". Pro Wrestling Indiestrated (Podcast). Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  12. ^ "Cultaholic Wrestling: Viva Van | Desert Island Graps #43 on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  13. ^ Greer, Jamie (January 4, 2020). "Viva Van Starts GoFundMe to Help Vietnamese Pro Wrestling". Last Word on Pro Wrestling. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  14. ^ "8/27 AND 8/28 DEFY WRESTLING RESULTS WITH LANCE ARCHER, ALEX HAMMERSTONE AND MORE". PWInsider. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  15. ^ "IMPACT Starstruck Results From Los Angeles, California 8/3/19". Wrestling Headlines. August 4, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  16. ^ "Statlander, Kingston & Penta, Archer part of 17-match AEW Dark lineup". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. July 6, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  17. ^ "SPOILERS: AEW: Dark Taping Results October 24". Cultaholic Wrestling. October 26, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  18. ^ Powell, Jason (January 10, 2023). "1/9 AEW Dark Elevation results: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Josh Woods for the ROH Pure Title, Bandido vs. Christopher Daniels, Luther and Serpentico vs. Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor, Bollywood Boyz vs. Mike Bennett and Matt Taven, House of Black vs. Peter Avalon, Ryan Nemeth, and Ari Daivari, ROH Women's Champion Athena vs. Viva Van in a non-title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  19. ^ Carey, Ian (February 11, 2024). "ROH spoilers from Henderson, Nevada Ring of Honor matches were filmed on Saturday". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  20. ^ "Lita and Essa Rios To Reunite For The First Time In Almost 20 Years This August". www.wrestling-news.net. June 27, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  21. ^ Koyote, Mr (October 6, 2020). "#EMWPromociones | Mirage & Viva Van vs Juve Venegas & Extasis | #AutoLuchas". La neta de las cuerdas (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  22. ^ Manolo Has Pizzazz (July 14, 2024). "Willow Nightingale wins CMLL Women's World Championship". Cageside Seats. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  23. ^ Thompson, Andrew (July 11, 2024). "Viva Van discusses getting CMLL World Women's Title opportunity as a result of Stephanie Vaquer's WWE signing". POST Wrestling | WWE AEW NXT NJPW Podcasts, News, Reviews. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  24. ^ Powell, Jason (August 31, 2024). "8/30 NJPW "Capital Collision" results: Vetter's review of Mercedes Mone vs. Momo Watanabe for the New Japan Strong Women's Title, Tetsuya Naito vs. TJP for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  25. ^ a b Jay, Ella (November 12, 2022). "Viva Van Wants More Southeast Asian Representation In Wrestling". WrestleZone. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  26. ^ "Victorya Van Tran". Tsunami Cables. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  27. ^ "MAIDENS OF METAL II at The Vex Arts (Los Angeles) on 6 Apr 2013". Last.fm. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  28. ^ "The Petite Alternative - August - 20…". MagCloud. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  29. ^ "Tattoo Envy - Vol 4. No 03 - Mar 201…". MagCloud. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  30. ^ "Three Sweet Asian Models at 2014 KKT #OctaneFestival with @victoryavantrannn, @misslynaly @wen_imalay". Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  31. ^ "The Petite Alternative - May - 2015". MagCloud. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  32. ^ "Hot Victorya Van Tran and Glamorous Karen Denise at @Hotimportnights San Diego 2015 #HIN @Victoryavantran @_KarenDenise_". Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  33. ^ "Magazines | Gothic Girl Magazine" (in Spanish). June 2, 2021. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  34. ^ a b c "Wrestlers Database - Viva Van".
  35. ^ "PCW ULTRA All Systems Go Results (10/22): Jacob Fatu, Hammerstone, 2 Cold Scorpio In Action". Fightful. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
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