Today we’d like to introduce you to Viva Van.
Hi Viva, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
A.k.a ”The Hellbent Vixen”. I’m a Professional Wrestler, Published Model, and Death Metal vocalist. I am the first Vietnamese-American Female Pro Wrestler. I’ve wrestled on promotions such as All Elite Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA, Impact Wrestling, PCW Ultra, and many more. I played a big part in raising money for a wrestling school in Vietnam to build their first wrestling ring.
I always wanted to get into wrestling but never had the money to start training. I looked at several wrestling schools in an attempt to get started. One day I saw a post from a local school in LA about a beginners course starting. At the time, I was a broke college student with barely enough money to get by. I remember thinking to myself, “I wish I could chase this dream.” I just didn’t have the money to enroll. A few days before the beginner’s course started, I pretty much lost all hope in joining because I didn’t have any money. I prayed for a miracle. Something, anything to help me join. That same day as I was rear-ended by another vehicle at a stoplight. I thought to myself, “Just my luck.” and pulled over to exchange information. The other driver got out and immediately apologized. He told me, “I really don’t want to get insurance involved. Would you accept cash for your car’s damages?” and offered me the exact amount I needed to enroll in that beginner’s course. I looked at my car and thought, “this is my miracle.” I took the money and enrolled in the course the following Monday. And that is the beginning of my wrestling career. I trained for a year and a half before making my official wrestling debut. At the same time, I did as much networking as I could to help grow my connections. I did seminars, tryouts and “paid my dues”. Paying your dues means earning your spot on wrestling shows by helping out promotions with things like ring crew and selling merch. Finally, in 2018 I made my debut.
Being a fresh talent, I wanted to wrestle as much as possible. In 2019 I wrestled about 75 matches in that year alone and won my very first wrestling championship. When 2020 began, I already had shows booked up to August of that year. These shows were within the US, Mexico, the UK, and Europe. During all of this, I never saw another Vietnamese wrestler. I decided to look up Vietnamese Pro Wrestlers and found the first and only wrestling school in Vietnam (Vietnam Pro Wrestling). They threw shows for fans but had no ring. They just wrestled on a wrestling mat. I reached out to them and decided to start a Gofundme page to raise funds for a wrestling ring. The movement quickly caught momentum thanks to the immense support from the Independent Wrestling Scene in America. Wrestling fans from all over joined together and donated money for the cause. The ring was built and VPW was able to have their very wrestling show with an actual ring in front of fans. The pandemic slowed everything down for the remainder of 2020 but wrestling picked back up in 2021.
Since then, I picked up right where I left off and wrestled over 50 more matches. I made history as the very first Vietnamese wrestler to step foot in All Elite Wrestling. My goal is to continue to break down doors for people like me and show the world that the underdog can win too.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to where I am today has been very tough. Wrestling is a 1-person team competition against thousands of other talented individuals. Wrestling is challenging both mentally and physically. You spend a lot of time on the road, training and dealing with stress. We put our bodies through a lot and have to recover in time for our next match.
Some of the challenges I’ve also had to overcome are racism, sexism, and bullying. I’ve been turned down by promotions in the past because they “already had another Asian booked.” I’ve been told, “you only get the opportunities you get because of how you look.” Which means [as a woman] I have to work twice as hard to prove that I am hardworking and great at what I do. People in the past have tried to bully me out of this business. I was bullied in training and shows.
I’ve dealt with bullies my entire life, and I wasn’t going to let another bully stop my dream.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a Professional Wrestler. I am the first Vietnamese-American Female Pro Wrestler. I’ve wrestled on promotions such as All Elite Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA, Impact Wrestling, PCW Ultra, and many more. I played a big part in raising money for a wrestling school in Vietnam to build their first wrestling ring.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I see the wrestling industry skyrocketing to the next level over the next 5-6 years. Competition is the highest it’s ever been and popularity within not only the bigger promotions but even the independent circuit has begun to explode as well due to this.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellbentvixen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VivaVanOfficial
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HellBentVixen
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hellbentvixen
Image Credits:
Justin Cotterell Sadiel Ruiz El Pollo Lucha Libre
