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EVOLVE Champion and Former IMPACT Wrestling Star Headline Class Of WWE Performance Center Signees

By on August 14, 2019
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Days after appearing in the front row at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory has landed in Orlando, Florida as an official recruit of the WWE Performance Center.

Theory joined eight other signees who reported for training this week. While WWE is touting Theory as the headliner of the group, it features Santana Garrett, who performed on national television for IMPACT Wrestling.

Garrett wrestled for IMPACT’s Knockouts division in 2014 under the name Brittany. She feuded with Madison Rayne, Angelina Love, Velvet Sky and Gail Kim, among other Knockouts at the time.

Garrett was a competitor in the inaugural Mae Young Classic and has also been appeared on NXT television several times since 2013 as an enhancement talent. Since making her in-ring debut in 2009, Garrett has accumulated many titles and accolades, including winning the Cauliflower Alley Club’s Future Legend Award in 2014. Garrett has wrestled for countless independent promotions, and internationally as well.

The rest of the class includes:

  • Tehuti Miles,a 210-pound man from Silver Spring, Maryland who played multiple positions for the University of Maryland Terrapins after serving in the military, which included a tour of duty in Afghanistan. He attended WWE tryouts in 2017 and 2018, and gained wrestling experience competing on Maryland’s independent circuit.
  • EJ Nduka, a six-foot-six, 265-pound man with a diverse athletic background. He played professional football for four years, including stints in the CFL, IFL and AFL, and later became a bodybuilder. Nduka has also trained in mixed martial arts and boxing. He attended tryouts at the WWE Performance Center in December 2018 and April 2019.
  • Aleksandar Jaksi, a 24-year-old man who played semi-pro basketball in Germany before becoming a wrestler. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder initially trained under former WWE Superstar Santino Marella at the Battle Arts Academy in Canada and has also received coaching from former WCW Superstar Alex Wright. He has spent the past several years wrestling in Germany under the name LX Ken and he took part in WWE’s tryout in Cologne last November.
  • Briana Brandy, an aspiring female hip-hop artist who toured alongside Soulja Boy, Jadakiss and other rappers. The 5-foot-9 Brandy has years of ninjutsu and “extreme CrossFit” training under her belt. She also played basketball and was a competitive swimmer in high school. Brandy previously attended a WWE tryout in June 2017.
  • Rita Reis, a 24-year-old woman from Brazil, is a Jiu-Jitsu world champion and a multi-time medalist in both Jiu-Jitsu and judo. She’s won titles in not only her native country, but throughout Europe as well. Reis also took home the gold in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2017.
  • Marcos Gomes, a 260-pound man from Brazil who specializes in Jiu-Jitsu. He also trains in boxing and wrestling, and is an instructor in Muay Thai.
  • Catalina Garcia, from Chile, who wrestled under the name “La Diva del Ring” Jessy on the independent wrestling circuit there. Garcia has competed in Chilean promotions 5 Luchas – Clandestino and MAX Lucha Libre, as well as the Santiago-based Revolución Lucha Libre, where she is a two-time women’s champion.
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