October 8, 2025October 8, 2025By admin
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Stephanie ‘La Primera’ Vaquer’s WWE career marked by historic firsts


STEPHANIE VAQUER CLIMBED to the top rope as the crowd in Indianapolis rose to its feet. The Chilean star had her sights set on rival Iyo Sky and the WWE Women’s World Championship at Wrestlepalooza on Sept. 20, her dream within reach.

Moments later, she executed a flawless Spiral Tap on her opponent, a high-risk move that she made look effortless.

One. Two. Three. “La Primera” (The First) was a first-time champion — once again. This time, the stage was as big as it gets: WWE, the major leagues of professional wrestling. Vaquer celebrated the historic moment as the first South American woman to win a WWE championship, crowning a meteoric rise of just over a year within the company.

“It was the best [match] of my career so far, and the result of the match was the dream of my life,” Vaquer said in Spanish during a recent interview on ESPN’s “Ahora o Nunca.”

Vaquer made her televised debut in NXT, WWE’s developmental brand, in October 2024, became the first double champion in NXT in March, then debuted on the main WWE roster in June, on her way to making more history at Wrestlepalooza in September.

With two of the best wrestlers in the world putting on a show, the match against Sky earned a B+ grade by ESPN.

“I’m proud because it wasn’t just a match for the most important championship, it was against one of the best in the world, Iyo Sky, someone I’ve admired for many years,” Vaquer said. “So, the fact that I could compete for this title with her proved in the ring why we are both among the best in the world right now.”

Now comes an opportunity for another first. Vaquer faces Tiffany Stratton, the WWE women’s champion, in a champion-versus-champion match at Crown Jewel on Saturday in Perth, Australia (ESPN Unlimited, 8 a.m. ET).

And then she can set her sights on next year’s WrestleMania — and perhaps another first.

HECTOR VAQUER ALVERA had never seen his daughter wrestle on U.S. soil. In fact, he had never seen her wrestle in person at all, not even in her native Chile, where she had her first match in 2009. But his daughter always dreamed of the moment he would be there to see her reach the top of professional wrestling.

At Wrestlepalooza, Vaquer fulfilled that dream. After defeating Sky, she immediately ran to her father, who was in the front row. Stephanie Vaquer and Hector embraced in an emotional moment for the entire Indianapolis audience to enjoy. The new champion handed her father the title belt, which he proudly raised amid the fans’ cheers.

“It was very special because my dad is my No. 1 fan,” Vaquer told ESPN. “He’s the one who has supported me from the beginning and has always been with me, the one who saw me suffer, the one who listened to me when I was 15 and told him, ‘Dad, I want to be a professional wrestler.’ He saw me leave for another country at 19, he saw me struggle day after day, he saw me fail so many times.”

Vaquer said she bought a plane ticket for her father barely a week before Wrestlepalooza, and that gave her more motivation to perform at a high level.

“I [told] myself, I’m not just only going to win and celebrate, I’m going to bring the belt to my dad and tell him, ‘I did it, I did it,'” Vaquer told “Ahora o Nunca.”

“So, having my dad there, seeing me triumph after so many years of sacrifice, was a special emotion for me, especially because it was also his birthday.”

WINNING THE TITLE at Wrestlepalooza represented yet another milestone in the career of Vaquer. It was by no means the first time she’s made history in the ring. As her “La Primera” nickname implies, Vaquer has already been the first South American woman to make her mark across the wrestling world, from Japan’s New Japan Pro-Wrestling promotion (NJPW) to Mexico’s Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) to NXT. At all of those stops, she wore gold around her waist. Then she made it to WWE, where she already has competed this year in the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank in addition to Wrestlepalooza.

But how did Vaquer get the nickname “La Primera”?

“It was born from a journalist in Mexico who wanted to introduce me in an interview and said, ‘The first South American in Japan, the first South American in Mexico, the first South American’… and he said, ‘in short, The First,'” Vaquer explained in an interview with ESPN in March. That was when “La Primera” became the first woman to hold the NXT Championship and the North American Women’s Championship at the same time, after defeating Giulia in the main event of NXT: Roadblock at Madison Square Garden in New York.

“I like it because far from being a character, it’s a reality. I mean, it’s something that has made its mark on history,” Vaquer said. “I’ve had the good fortune, perhaps the great opportunity, to be the first South American in many ways within wrestling, and that has identified me as a pioneer.”

VAQUER’S JOURNEY TO the top was not easy. At 19, she left Chile, where the local wrestling scene was too small for her ambitions, and headed to Mexico, where the popular culture of lucha libre could help her reach her goal. But it didn’t happen immediately.

“I don’t remember if it was my second or third match when I fractured my nose in three places, almost reaching my cheekbone,” Vaquer told ESPN Deportes in March. “This fracture kept me out for over a year because it took a long time to heal.”

“The landscape of WWE and the women’s division just changed with Stephanie Vaquer becoming women’s champion.”

Paul Michael Levesque, Triple H, on Vaquer’s victory at Wrestlepalooza

While in Mexico, Vaquer needed a place to sleep and train, and she was helped by a restaurant owner who had heard her story about trying to make it in lucha libre.

“My coach, Ricky Marvin, was very good friends with the owner of a restaurant [in Queretaro, Mexico],” Vaquer said. “His name is Ramses. He was a big wrestling fan and he told me I could work there as a waitress. At that time, I didn’t have money to pay rent. He did something very kind. Not only did he let me sleep and have a roof over my head in the restaurant’s kitchen, but I could also eat whenever I was hungry. [Before that] I would go to train on an empty stomach sometimes.”

Vaquer recalled living there for many months, sleeping in the restaurant kitchen.

“I would wake up and start working as a waitress,” Vaquer said. “There was no shower because the restaurant only had one bathroom. Once a week, since there was a hotel almost across the street, I paid 50 pesos to take a shower there.”

Vaquer said that many wrestlers from Arena Mexico used to eat at the restaurant, so she would serve them food and go watch them after training, thinking that someday she would be also training at Arena Mexico, an indoor venue in Mexico City commonly used for professional wrestling.

Eventually, Vaquer started succeeding in wrestling. She had a good run in the CMLL in Mexico after debuting with the company in 2019. With that came opportunities, including one with the prestigious NJPW promotion in Japan in 2023 and 2024, where she became a multi-time champion. There also were other international stops before her time in NXT, her debut in WWE and finally Wrestlepalooza.

AT 32, VAQUER has been positioned as a star since her debut with the WWE in October 2024, and she now is firmly established as a superstar. Vaquer said she has strong support from the company she always dreamed of joining.

It was Stephanie McMahon, a former wrestler and former WWE Chairwoman and Co-CEO, who raised Vaquer’s hand in victory at WWE Evolution in July, when the Chilean won the battle royal that guaranteed her the title opportunity at Wrestlepalooza.

“My relationship with Stephanie [McMahon], with all of them, has been incredible,” Vaquer said. “I’ve had their support, which has pushed me to work even harder. They’re always attentive, not only with me but with everyone — how we feel, how we’re doing, our work environment, our way of working.”

WWE chief content officer Paul Michael Levesque, who wrestled as Triple H, traditionally shares a backstage post on social media praising a new champion after their coronation. It is something he has done since his days running NXT.

At Wrestlepalooza, there was Levesque celebrating Vaquer the wrestler and Ana Stephanie Vaquer Gonzalez the woman.

“It was very emotional to reach gorilla after the match and have everyone applaud and congratulate me, not just the producers and coaches, but the people I work with every day,” Vaquer said. “Someone as important as Triple H, who for me is not only my boss but someone I’ve admired for a long time, not only as a wrestler but also as a businessman now in charge of the WWE family.”

During the Wrestlepalooza post-show, Levesque emphasized the significance of her win, noting that she had just recovered from a “flu-type thing” that caused her to miss television appearances and left her unable to help build up to the match.

“So for her to be able to do that against Iyo, who I consider one of the greatest women of all time in this industry, for her to have a win like that tonight to become the Women’s World champion is incredible,” Levesque said. “And she’s been here for a very short time. So as we move forward now, she becomes a dominant force. The landscape of WWE and the women’s division just changed with Stephanie Vaquer becoming women’s champion.”

VAQUER AND STRATTON are among a deep group of wrestlers carrying the torch passed down by WWE Superstars such as Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Bayley, who helped raise the level of women’s professional wrestling over the past decade. In 2019, Lynch defeated Flair, who was SmackDown women’s champion, and then-Raw women’s champion Ronda Rousey in a Winner Takes All triple-threat match, the first women’s main event in WrestleMania history.

Vaquer is ready to play her part in elevating women’s wrestling.

“I want to face each of my opponents, and I want each of them to show their best in the ring,” Vaquer said. “I love big challenges, I love them. And I’m very brave. I take on every challenge. That’s why we are where we are.”

With Sky finally conquered and Stratton up next in a nontitle match, what woman does Vaquer see as an ideal future opponent, perhaps on the road to become the first South American woman to win in “The Grandest Stage of Them All”?

“I already had one of my dream matches with Sky, but if I had to name one now, I’d say Rhea Ripley. I care about her and love her as a friend, but I know that in the ring she would give me a great battle, and I would love to have that professional challenge,” Vaquer said, pausing briefly after mentioning the Australian, who currently sets the standard as the most popular wrestler and the face of the current generation of women shining inside the ring.

Moments later, Vaquer finished her thought with a smile.

“Why not think about WrestleMania?”





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