Prince Nana | |
---|---|
Birth name | Nana Osei Bandoh |
Born | Brooklyn, New York, United States | August 1, 1979
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Nana [1] Prince Nana |
Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) [2] |
Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) [2] |
Billed from | "Ghana, West Africa" [2] |
Trained by | Angel Medina Vito LoGrasso [2] D-Von Dudley [2] Johnny Rodz [2] Mr. Fabian Street [2] |
Debut | 1996 [2] |
Nana Osei Bandoh (born August 1, 1979), better known by his ring name, Prince Nana, is an American professional wrestling manager and occasional professional wrestler of Ghanaian descent. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is the manager of Swerve Strickland.
Although Nana was born in the United States, he claims that he is the son of an Ashanti tribe member with royal heritage and the heir to the throne of Ashanti in Ghana. [3] [4] When Nana was three, his family relocated to Ghana for five years, returning so that Nana could be educated in America. As a teenager, he relocated to New York City in America as an exchange student. In 1992, at the age of twelve, Nana watched WrestleMania VIII, and was inspired by the WWF Championship match between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ric Flair to become a wrestler. A year later, he wrote to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in 2002) and asked their advice as to which professional wrestling school he should attend. The WWF recommended that he train under Larry Sharpe in New Jersey, but Nana felt that Sharpe's school was too far away. Instead, Nana became a photographer for Johnny Rodz, who operated Gleason's Gym in New York. Nana worked for Rodz until he turned eighteen, when Rodz began training him as a wrestler.
Nana debuted in 1996, wrestling in a church in Spanish Harlem. [3] [5] [6] [7]
Nana worked regularly for the East Coast Wrestling Association in Delaware and USA Pro Wrestling in New York, as well as making appearances with the WWF and with Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX in Japan.
In 2002, Nana joined the upstart Ring of Honor promotion, where in 2004 he formed a heel stable known as The Embassy. In storylines, Nana used his wealth gained from the taxes of people of Ghana to hire wrestlers to wrestle his opponents and rivals. Under his management, John Walters defended his ROH Pure Championship and Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley and Abyss won the Trios Tournament in 2006. He remained with Ring of Honor until September 2006, when he gave his notice. [8]
On October 24, 2008, in Danbury, Connecticut, Nana made a surprise return to Ring of Honor, saying he had no more riches or crown and just wanted a job, before he was dragged away by security. The next night, Nana made an appearance at Ring of Honor's Edison, New Jersey show where he was removed in the same fashion. The next time ROH was in Edison on January 17, 2009, Nana again appeared, only to be dragged away by security. He would then be featured in segments on the ROH Video Wire. In a March edition of the Video Wire, Nana revealed that he had regained his riches due to President Obama's stimulus package, and had been directing Bison Smith's attacks on ROH wrestlers. On March 20, at the ROH show in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, Nana declared that he had officially reformed the Embassy, with himself, Bison Smith and Ernie Osiris. [9] The next day in New York City they were joined by the returning Jimmy Rave. Other members of the stable came to include Claudio Castagnoli, Joey Ryan, Erick Stevens, Shawn Daivari and Necro Butcher, but by October 2010 all of them, except Osiris, had left the group. On January 22, 2011, Nana debuted the latest version of the Embassy, consisting of Ernesto Osiris, Mia Yim, R.D. Evans, and Tommaso Ciampa, who would take over Jimmy Rave's former role as Nana's number one wrestler. [10] The following April and June, both Dave Taylor and Rhino made appearances representing the Embassy. [11] [12] On the July 28 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, The Embassy disbanded, when Ciampa turned on Nana, after R.D. Evans had revealed his deal with Truth Martini, which had cost Ciampa the ROH World Television Championship. [13]
On Monday, June 3, 2013, Nana received a tryout with WWE. Nana commented on the tryout on Facebook, writing, "Great day with the WWE...The future may be bright....Fools."
In mid-2013, Nana was given the new on-screen role of ROH Talent Scout. [14] In late 2014, Nana formed yet another version of the Embassy with Moose, Stokely Hathaway and Veda Scott, which was later disbanded. [15]
Nana was the manager of Donovan Dijak, after he sent him some envelopes every time he wrestled, until he finally departed from The House of Truth that took place on February 25, 2016 episode of ROH tapings. [16]
On July 23, 2022, at Death Before Dishonor, Prince Nana returned and announced he had purchased Tully Blanchard Enterprises and reformed The Embassy, with Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona. [17] The trio would go on to defeat the team of Alex Zayne, Blake Christian and Tony Deppen during the preshow. [18] At Final Battle, Cage, Liona and Kaun, defeated Dalton Castle and The Boys, to win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships, under Nana's guidance. [19] This victory marked the first time in his 20-year history with the company that Prince Nana had managed his Embassy clientele to ROH gold.
On the April 7, 2023 episode of AEW Rampage, Prince Nana began managing Swerve Strickland as a part of Mogul Embassy, formerly 'The Embassy' in ROH, after Strickland announced he was merging his 'Mogul Affiliates' stable with The Embassy.
On April 21, 2024 at Dynasty, Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to win the AEW World Championship. This marked the first time that Prince Nana had managed an Embassy client to any singles championship, and specifically to a world championship. On the May 8 episode of Dynamite, Mogul Embassy was disbanded after Brian Cage, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun attacked Strickland and broke away to form their own stable, Cage of Agony. Despite this, Nana continued to manage Strickland.
Nana managed Strickland for his successful title defenses against Christian Cage at Double or Nothing later that month and against Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door in June 2024. At All In in August 2024, Strickland lost the AEW World Championship to Bryan Danielson.
Tully Arthur Blanchard is a Canadian-American professional wrestler and manager. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of The Four Horsemen and The Brain Busters. Championships held by Blanchard over his career include the NWA World Television Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship, WWF World Tag Team Championship, and NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. He was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2009 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.
Scott Colton, better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same duties for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH). He is a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, two-time NWA National Heavyweight Championship, one-time RevPro British Heavyweight Champion, and one-time JCW World Heavyweight Champion. He worked in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Scotty Goldman and wrestled as old-school masked wrestler Matt Classic in Wrestling Society X and Chikara.
Christopher Lindsey, better known by his ring name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Undisputed Kingdom stable and is a former one-time AEW International Champion. He also performs in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH).
Jamar Shipman, better known by the ring name Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenures in Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
James Michael Guffey, better known by the ring name Jimmy Rave, was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Mogul Embassy, formerly simply the Embassy, was a villainous professional wrestling stable. Formed by Prince Nana in Ring of Honor (ROH) in 2004, in 2022 the Embassy also began appearing with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). In 2023, the Embassy merged with Swerve Strickland's Mogul Affiliates stable to become the Mogul Embassy. The Mogul Embassy disbanded in May 2024 when its members turned on Strickland, ending the stable's run after 20 years.
Gregory Marasciulo, better known by the ring name Trent Beretta, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Don Callis Family. He is also known for his time with WWE as Trent Barreta and New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor under the ring name Beretta. As part of Roppongi Vice alongside Rocky Romero, Beretta is a former four-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. He is also known for his tenures with Pro Wrestling Guerilla and various independent promotions.
Brian Christopher Joseph Button, better known by the ring name Brian Cage, is an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of Cage of Agony and a former one-time FTW Champion. Cage also performs in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions. He also competes on the independent circuit.
Austin Kirk Jenkins, known by the ring name Adam Cole, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he leads the Undisputed Kingdom stable. He is also known for his tenures with WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH).
Kyle Richard Thomas Greenwood, better known by his ring name Kyle O'Reilly, is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Conglomeration. He is also known for working in Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2009 to 2017, and WWE from 2017 to 2021, using the same ring name in both companies. He is a record three-time NXT Tag Team Champion, and was a founding member of The Undisputed Era.
Tommaso Whitney is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Tommaso Ciampa.
Best in the World 2011 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event by Ring of Honor (ROH) that took place on June 26, 2011. It was an afternoon show that began at 4pm and marked the return of ROH to the Hammerstein Ballroom for the first time since 2009. It was the eighth ROH event to be shown live on internet pay-per-view and is also the second Best in the World event with the first taking place in 2006.
Final Battle 2011 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by Ring of Honor (ROH). It took place on December 23, 2011 at the Manhattan Center in New York City. It was the tenth annual event in the Final Battle chronology, with the first taking place in 2002, but only the third to be broadcast live.
Robert Evans is a Canadian professional wrestler. He spent most of his career working for several independent promotions in Texas, but in 2011 also started working in the Northeastern United States, making his debut as a non-wrestling manager R.D. Evans for Ring of Honor (ROH) and as the marching band leader Archibald Peck for Chikara. Evans has also worked with WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as a writer.
Stephen Blake Woltz, better known by his ring name "Hangman" Adam Page, is an American professional wrestler. As of January 2019, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former member of The Elite. He is also a former AEW World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion.
Stephon Strickland is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland and is a former AEW World Champion. He is also the first Black world champion in the history of the promotion.
Keith Gerald Lee II is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his time in WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH), as well as on the independent circuit, in promotions such as Evolve, All American Wrestling (AAW), and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he held the PWG World Championship.
Jasper Kange is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bishop Kaun or Kaun. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a member of Cage of Agony and one-half of Gates of Agony.
Bruce Orlando Leaupepe is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Toa Liona and is a member of Cage of Agony and one-half of Gates of Agony. He also wrestles for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former two-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion.
Cage of Agony is a professional wrestling stable in All Elite Wrestling and its sister promotion Ring of Honor comprising Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage, and Toa Liona. They are former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions. Kaun and Liona are also a tag team named Gates of Agony.
I was born in the U.S., but when I turned three we went back to Ghana for five years. I came back to go to school. My Father is part of the Ashanti tribe in Ghana, West Africa with Royal Heritage. I am part of that because of my relation to the existing chiefs of the Ashanti tribe. If my uncle is to pass away, because he is the chief uncle, legally I will be the next King.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)...it was the classic feud between Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Flair that culminated at Wrestlemania 8 that changed his life.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)A year later I was looking into schools and I wrote to the WWE, who told me to go to Larry Sharpe's school. It was too far away because I was living in New York City as an exchange student from Ghana. After a few months I found Gleason's gym on Front Street. I started as a photographer for Johnny Rodz...
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)