Raquel | |
---|---|
Birth name | Gabriela Castrovinci |
Born | Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil | January 10, 1986
Children | 1 |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Gabi Castrovinci Gabriela Rio Raquel [1] |
Billed height | 5 ft 4 in (1,62 m) |
Billed weight | 123 lb (56 kg) |
Billed from |
Southington, Connecticut Brazil |
Trained by |
Billy Gunn Booker T Lita WWE Performance Center Afa Anoa'i |
Debut | 2015 |
Gabriela Castrovinci (born January 10, 1986) is a Brazilian professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet, businesswoman and fitness model [2] best known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Raquel. [3] [4] Castrovinci previously appeared on the sixth season of WWE's television show WWE Tough Enough.
Castrovinci was born and raised in Brazil. She grew up practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is a professional athlete for World Beauty Fitness & Fashion. She is an avid surfer and snowboarder. As a self-employed entrepreneur, Castrovinci runs an online business selling Brazilian leggings. [2]
In 2015, Castrovinci appeared as a contestant on the sixth season of the re-launched Tough Enough finishing in tenth place. [5] After her time in WWE Tough Enough, Castrovinci trained further with World Xtreme Wrestling and would later make her in-ring debut for them at the end of 2015. In the beginning of February, she talked with TMZ about "being assaulted" by an opponent during a match with her training company. [6] [7]
In the year of 2016, Castrovinci signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). [8] She appeared on January 9, 2016, tapings of Impact Wrestling, and on January 12 of Impact Wrestling in a vignette, revealing her name as Raquel. When she made her debut, she was involved in segments with Lashley; however, this angle was shortly nixed, and nothing came from her appearances with him.
Raquel made her in-ring debut through the company's One Night Only PPV's mainly on Knockouts Knockdown 4 in a match against Barbi Hayden in a losing effort. During April 23 tapings, Raquel acted as a manager for The BroMans. Raquel later made appearances on Xplosion, losing matches to Madison Rayne and Jade, while being repackaged as a villainess with a "selfie-obsessed" gimmick. On January 6, 2017, Castrovinci revealed she was no longer with TNA. [9]