# @wrestlingnewsco on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DX_btXrkXpO
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/65164891-wrestlingnewsco-instagram
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- **Posted:** 2026-05-06T08:52:52.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Wrestling News - WWE, AEW (@wrestlingnewsco) — https://gondola.cc/wrestlingnewsco

## Caption

The “Arriba!” catchphrase that defined Tito Santana’s WWF run wasn’t his idea. It was Dino Bravo’s, in Minneapolis.

Tito Santana broke down on the In The Front Row In The Front Row podcat (radiomikev, machinegunka) how he ended up with the catchphrase that stuck for 40-plus years. After about a year in New York, Vince McMahon Sr. sent Santana to the AWA in Minnesota for more seasoning. Dino Bravo, who Santana had become friends with in Atlanta in 1977, was already working there.

“I got there, Dino Bravo was there, and I was doing my interviews. I finished my first interview, and Dino says, ‘You need to come up with something catchy.’”

The next week at TV tapings, Bravo had a plan.

“He says, do your interview in English. Finish it in Spanish. Kick it in gear in Spanish. And then when you finish, right before you leave, raise your fist up and ‘Arriba.’ Before you know it, everybody was doing ‘Arriba,’ and they still do it.”

Santana said when the catchphrase caught on, he knew he had broken through.

“It was unbelievable to be able to get the response from the fans. I knew I made it when they were hollering ‘Arriba.’”

The Arriba catchphrase wasn’t Santana’s first new identity. In 

Charlotte’s Mid-Atlantic territory, the bookers had handed him “Richard Blood,” which happened to be Ricky Steamboat’s real name. Andre the Giant later helped him get to New York, where Vince McMahon Sr. said “Merced Solis” was “just not catchy” and christened him “Tino Santana” for his first taping in Allentown. That name lasted exactly one taping. The McMahons made him “Tito” the following week.

#TitoSantana #DinoBravo #RickySteamboat #AndreTheGiant WrestlingHistory

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## Tags

rickysteamboat, andrethegiant, titosantana, dinobravo

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