The true definition of a champion is not what you wear around your waist, but it is what you have in your heart. Angel Orsini has the heart and talent to do extraordinary things. The Oscar Award-Winning film Rocky was released in 1976.
The making of the film itself was a million to one shot, and the studio originally felt this was going to be a loss. After its release, it became not only a box office success, but it became a piece of Americana.
Rocky, starring Sylvester Stallone, is about a talented underdog who defied the odds by accepting the challenge to go toe to toe with the fictional heavyweight champion “Apollo Creed.” The film was not so much about a championship but what a challenger needs to endure in order to be a champion.
Angel Orsini – The Comeback Kid, Pro Wrestling’s Rocky
Like Rocky, Angel Orsini embodies this and much more. I was introduced to Orsini in 2018 at the premiere of “350 Days” (here) by a dear friend and mentor to many in pro wrestling Evan Ginsburg. We became incredibly close friends and later business partners.
Part of the reason why I am writing this article is to express the value, impact, and influence she has had in my life and many others. At one point, I was incredibly sick and in the hospital for over a month. She stood by my side and helped me get through a difficult time.
She also helped me during my recovery. This article is going to show that one person can make a difference, and we hope this can inspire you all to reciprocate positively in a person’s life.
Pro Wrestler Angel Orsini, aka FBI, aka Riptide, aka The Prodigette, grew up on a farm. There she had many responsibilities and learned quickly about the importance of work ethic. She would walk to school, and after school, she would work on the farm.
When she was young, she did have challenges that she had to overcome and face especially dealing with negative people in her life. This forced her to discipline her mind more. These early life lessons and morals trickled into her adult life.
She was a multisport athlete and competed in bodybuilding, winning several NPC titles. She later excelled in martial arts earning her black belt rank. Later in her career, she was one of the first females to fight in a professional MMA match.
This foundation of experiences helped her to become a versatile talent inside the ring. Trained by Liz Chase and Dusty Rhodes, Angel Orsini’s style is both technical and high flying. Many have considered her style similar to Owen Hart.
Each opponent she had gone against, she always made it a point to give them a great match. Angel got a big push when she joined the ECW roster feuding with such legends as Carlene Begnaud, aka Jazz. She was with Florida Championship Wrestling as their women’s champion, a record four times before this.
She had sensational matches against WWE Hall of Famer’s Luna Vachon, Joanie Chyna Laurer. Jazz had a sensational tag career co-sharing tag titles with TNA’s Simply Luscious and current TNA Knockouts Knockdown Tournament Champion former WWE talent Mercedes Martinez.
She was on her way to the top when a career-ending injury during a horrific car accident put her career on a halt. The recovery was a long and painful process.
Ironically she was in negotiations at the time to go to WWE, and due to both the injury and the recovery time, she no longer had that opportunity. The following year WWE merged with ECW.
The accident enabled her to walk for a long period of time. Despite this obstacle, she refused to quit and put her energy in training and conditioning. She then decided to go back to work and put herself through college.
Angel Orsini worked very hard and eventually would earn herself a master’s degree from Rutgers University. Like in Rocky, “It ain’t how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward.”
And Angel moved forward.
She began to wrestle for several Indy promotions as well as a few groundbreaking all-female promotions such as Women Superstars Uncensored, Women’s Extreme Wrestling, and Professional Girl Wrestling Association, where she was enshrined as one of their champions.
Former titleholders were such legends such as Judy Martin and Susan Tex Green; this helped Angel’s stock rise. She was ranked number 22 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated top 50 female singles wrestlers in 2009 and 2011.
Her drive is nothing I have ever experienced. Since I met her two years ago, we have finished six films, including three features, and won almost thirty IMDB certified international awards. The first several shots were not perfect; however, she became better because she dedicated herself to learning the craft.
While doing this, she saved 20 dogs from being destroyed and found them all homes. She then has become certified in Neuroplasticity and has become a life coach. Both her and Joy Nash will be launching and potentially revolutionizing a new health and wellness method with their business, “Elevated Living.”
She is making one finale come back to wrestling and thus far has wrestled for Test of Strength Wrestling, and will be wrestling with be part of New Evolution Wrestling’s show on November 13, 2021.
She wrestled for ECPW on October 9, 2021. On October 24, thanks to Brandon’s Wrestling Oddities, she will be part of Capitan’s Corner and K and S Wrestlefest event, The Wrestling Classic.
Early this past year, she was in a tag team with Jazz, and Gary Wolf was their manager. The match was in Aug of 2021, and the promotion was Test of Strength Wrestling, and the location was the Columbia Club in Torrington, Connecticut.
They went against Love Doug and Dan DeMan. This was a historical match because it was the first-ever mix gender tag team match in Connecticut History. Jazz put Dan in a submission causing him to submit in front of an astonished crowd.
“Gonna Fly,” composed by Bill Conti, has had many variations in the “Rocky” films. Each version is slightly different and adjusts to the subject matter, but the theme remains the same.
This is Angel’s song, and it’s because throughout her career, especially during the bad times, she never gave up on herself and never gave up hope on people. Despite what others may have done to her, she has always seen the good in people. Each time she gets knocked down, she comes back and fly’s higher and higher.
Check her website out here and promo video here.
Angel is also on the associate board of directors of the Cauliflower Alley Club and was very valuable on the Audio Visual department along with Roy Lucier during this year’s event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
