Victorya Van Tran aka Viva Van is the first woman professional wrestler of Vietnamese- American descent. She grew up in Los Angeles citing The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin as some of her favorite wrestlers. Viva Van has wrestled in many promotions such as Mission Pro, PCW Ultra, AEW, Lucha Libre AAA, and many more.
I was fortunate enough to interview Viva Van on my podcast and she was a former guest of Women’s Wrestling Talk as well. Viva Van trained with Rikishi at Knoxpro which is a school located in LA. She told me that she felt Knoxpro was the safest bet with regards to training and knowing what she wanted in her career. Something like a family. Viva made her debut in 2018.
Viva experienced a lot of setbacks with wrestling such as not being taken seriously and being turned down for being an Asian wrestler as some promotions already had the Asian wrestler. Or said her looks were the reason she was getting booked ignoring all of her hard work and training.
When I spoke to her she talked about her experience being on AEW Dark standing across the ring with Kris Statlander. She also came back on October 29, 2021, to face off against Nyla. Rose. Viva spoke highly about both experiences, saying how she was grateful for the opportunity.
Some of her favorite matches would be Sumie Sakai and Thunder Rosa. Both matches that she loved dearly and has said helped her grow as an athlete.
Another point of note in our interview is Viva stating how the south and the east coast had a lot of wrestling happening, but there wasn’t too much on the west coast. She had made it her personal mission to be known as the face of women’s wrestling on the west coast. The pandemic made it possible for wrestling on the west coast to showcase their talent on the wrestling scene more and she was grateful for the chance despite the circumstances.
Viva has also wrestled in Canada and Mexico making her a woman to wrestle in multiple countries.
At one point, Viva had 4 titles at the same time. Those titles were the PCW Ultra Woman Championship (PCW) the New Tradition Lucha Libre Women’s World Champion, the Arizona Wrestling Federation World Champion, and the Big Time Wrestling Women’s (BTW) Champion.
Viva got her college degree in 2020. She also used to be the lead singer in a heavy/death metal band called Mocking of the Trinity. She also has her own company called Hellbent glam which sells accessories and makeup which falls under vegan cosmetics. Van also raised money to fund the construction of a wrestling ring for the first pro wrestling school in Vietnam. The school is called Vietnam Pro Wrestling.
Viva also won the California Women’s Wrestler of the Year for 2021. More and more people are finding out just who Viva Van is. She is beautiful, smart, and absolutely a monster in the ring. I can’t wait to see what else she does and how much hell she continues to raise! She has been on the rise the past year and I know that she will keep bringing her dominance as the years go on! She’s a wrestler that is a must-watch for any wrestling fan or fan of women’s wrestling.
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