Sandra Kanayama is a Filipino American professional wrestler known best from her long and distinguished professional wrestling career. She is the founder of the Fit Box Team and works as a counselor at the Ringling College Mental Health Center in Manila, Philippines. Born in Manila she gained her interest in martial arts early in life and was trained in both fencing and wrestling. After high school she joined the Air Force and served two years in the navy but felt like she had left something unfinished. At the age of thirty she entered the National High School wrestling Association where she made two starts but never really thought again of wrestling professionally until a friend urged her to try it.
In her first match she lost by submission to Rica’s Angelina Jolie. After her first match she lost to another wrestler called Gabriela Medina, who at that time was just starting out in the pro ranks. Over the years she has built up quite a reputation in the sport as a top competitor in height and power. Recently she fought and defeated Rene Dupree in the US Women’s National Juniors wrestling tournament but fell short against Ronda Rousey in the finals.
Despite her obvious success in the US National Juniors as well as in the ring she hasn’t been able to get the same recognition from the big national wrestling organizations in the Philippines. Although many people in the Philippines see her as the Philippines’ version of Ronda Rousey she does have her own fan base in the country. She recently appeared on the reality show Top Chef and was immediately mobbed by fans when she was served dessert after her meal, which some people found offensive.