Angela Carolyn Fong (born February 3, 1985 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian XFC dancer, fitness instructor professional wrestler, cheerleader and actress.
She tried out for the 2007 WWE Diva Search. Although she didn't make it to the finals, she was offered a developmental deal and trained at FCW. Reports started raving about her natural athleticism, comparing her favourably to the likes of fellow Canadian stars Trish Stratus and Gail Kim - and even saying she was on par with some Japanese woman wrestlers. Angela became the first Queen of FCW in 2005, defeating Alicia Fox in the finals. She was called up to TV as a backstage interviewer for ECW under the name Savannah, and later acted as a ring announcer. She was abruptly released from WWE in 2010.
Angela continued to wrestle on the independent circuit, becoming the first Ground-Breaking Ladies Pro Wrestling Champion. She eventually popped up in Lucha Underground portraying the character Black Lotus - a marked departure from her Genki Girl persona in WWE. She has stayed with the promotion since its inception.
Tropes:
- Action Girl: For almost two whole seasons of Lucha Underground, we never got to see her do anything outside of some faux-kung fu in the backstage vignettes, but at Ultima Lucha Dos she went head-to-head with Dragon Azteca Jr. and proved that she can really go! Just a pity about Pentagon Dark, really...
- Amazonian Beauty: Her photo shoots are usually of the glamour type but she was once shot arm wrestling Beth Phoenix. (this was after Fong's FCW days, when she had toned up somewhat) More so when working with women who aren't wrestlers, such as the Knockout Networks models, where pecs and delts like Fong's are less common.
- Amazon Brigade: The Black Lotus Triad, Doku, Yurei and Hitokiri, OKA Kairi Hojo, Mayu Iwatani and Io Shirai, the World Wonder Ring ST★RDOM Aces following Nanae Takahashi and Yuziki Aikawa.
- Arch-Enemy: Rosa Mendes hated Angela for beating her in the Queen of FCW semi-finals and stopped at nothing to antagonise her afterwards. Ironically Rosa wouldn't become Queen herself until Angela had left the company.
- Asian Airhead: Rosa Mendes (and sometimes Jenny Cash) would insinuate that Angela was this.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The first Queen of FCW.
- Awesome Moment of Crowning: After defeating Alicia Fox, Angela got an official coronation where she was presented with the Queen of FCW crown.
- Chickification: She commented on the unusual decision to call her up as an interviewer and ring announcer, especially when the all-women's season of NXT came about. One contestant Jamie Keyes wanted to be an announcer rather than a wrestler, and Angela felt she could have been a good contestant had she not been released. On Lucha Underground she was entirely in a character role, didn't wrestle until the end of the second seasonnote and hasn't done so again since note .
- Combat Parkour: As a former cheerleader, Angela would frequently bridge out of pins, Matrix dodge away from kicks and clotheslines and backroll into headscissors.
- Combat Stilettos: Had no problem brawling with Rosa while wearing six inch heels.
- Cool Crown: She was the inaugural Queen of FCW
, which was represented by a tiara. - Damsel in Distress: She spent a fair bit of the first season of Lucha Underground imprisoned in the same room as Matanza's cage, though both were placed out of each other's reach.
- Declaration of Protection: In Lucha Underground, Chavo Guerrero Jr. made one to protect her while she took revenge against Matanza. Too bad he didn't intend to follow through.
- Darker and Edgier: Black Lotus is a significantly darker character than Savannah.
- Doomed Hometown: Black Lotus' village was destroyed by Matanza.
- Dragon Lady: As Black Lotus, her ethnicity, look and attitude all are meant to invoke this trope.
- Ermine Cape Effect: Josh Matthews claimed he saw her wearing the FCW crown at the gym and justified, as wearing it everywhere was Fong's way of preventing Rosa Mendes from stealing it after Mendes ruined her coronation ceremony.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: Her FCW gear had some sequins and rhinestones on it. And of course she was the first holder of the sparkly Queen of FCW crown.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: When she was called up to TV, her hair was lightened.
- Face: Her natural athleticism and likability made her ideal as FCW's top face Diva.
- Faux Action Girl: In Lucha Underground, most of her accomplishments are off screen; on screen, she was kidnapped, attacked, and generally handled pretty easily on the rare occasions she got physical. Outside of LU/WWE, Fong's win/loss record is well under .500, generally indicating she has either fallen off a step, or her opponents have figured out her weaknesses.
- Femme Fatale: Black Lotus of course. She's out for revenge and doesn't care how she accomplishes it.
- Finishing Move: An inverted DDT called the Sake Bomb.
- Genki Girl: Her wrestling character was very peppy and excited. Her entrance had her jumping up and down, waving to everyone.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Layla got on the apron as Angela was going for the Sake Bomb on Rosa. Had Angela hit the move, Layla would have broken up the pin. Angela went to knock Layla off the apron, leaving herself in prime position for Rosa to get a sneaky roll-up.
- The High Queen: As the first Queen of FCW she was the only Diva to hold the crown entirely as a face. AJ Lee won it as a face but soon turned heel.
- Humiliation Conga: In a match with Shantelle Taylor, Fong was (admittedly, rather easily) defeated after passing out to a sleeper hold. To make an example, Taylor then wrote the word 'Loser' on a knocked out Fong's forehead.
- I Have Many Names: In FCW she went by her full name, just Angela or Miss Angela. On the main roster Savannah and Black Lotus in Lucha Underground.
- Interchangeable Asian Cultures:
- Black Lotus has a Chinese triad made up of Japanese wrestlers.
- She also had a finisher called the Sake Bomb in WWE. Sake is a Japanese drink. She didn't stop using the move on the independent circuit, but people did stop using that "Name of Power".
- Jerkass Has a Point: Was once blasted by Sara Del Rey for being 'just another model, not a real wrestler' before a match they had; while Fong was fresh off 3 years of WWE at the time, she was mainly a fitness/bikini model before that. Considering Del Rey then absolutely wiped the floor with Fong when the match started, she wasn't 'entirely' wrong..
- Kidnapped by an Ally: Before Black Lotus could face Matanza, she was "kidnapped" by a luchador named Dragon Azteca, who explained to her that she was not ready to face him and offered to teach her lucha libre to be able to fight him properly. Lotus herself acknowledges that Dragon Azteca probably saved her life. It turns out it was actually Prince Puma who kidnapped her and delivered her to Azteca.
- Ms. Fanservice: In pro wrestling she doesn't stand out much in this regard but she was an actress before she was a pro wrestler and appeared topless in Ratko: The Dictator's Son served as eye candy for MMA promotion XFC, was a cheerleader for a time, and did many, many bikini modeling shoots.
- Moment Killer: Rosa interrupted Angela's coronation and stole the crown, proclaiming herself the Queen.
- Mysterious Watcher: Black Lotus would sit in the crowd and watch the matches silently before finally confronting Dario Cueto about Matanza's whereabouts.
- Non-Indicative Name: Her Sake Bomb finisher is not a powerbomb or any kind of 'bomb' move; it's an inverted DDT. On the independent circuit it's called The Scorpion Death Drop instead.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: In season 1 of Lucha Underground stated to Matanza that she will be the one to kill him. At the very end of season 4, she made good on her promise.
- Paper Tiger: For a former fitness model and trainer, with videos online with her showing MMA techniques, Fong is generally unable to win any strength-based fights, and usually cannot escape submission holds if they're locked in properly.
- Perpetual Smiler: In FCW she was always smiling and beaming.
- Playing Both Sides: Was seemingly a faithful ally to Dario Cueto after Cueto took her under his protection, but was seen manipulating Dragon Azteca Jr. into believing that she was his ally as well.
- Pom-Pom Girl: Was a CFL cheerleader before she was in WWE. In her entrance she would excitedly wave to the fans, almost evoking this.
- Prepare to Die: When she was standing next to Matanza's cage in season 1 of Lucha Underground, she recounted how he killed everyone in her village and that from childhood her only desire has been to kill him.
- Racial Face Blindness: Claims that when she was on the main roster, people kept mixing her and Gail Kim up. Angela is Chinese and Gail is Korean, although they are both Canadian by nationality. Post WWE she made jokes about Su Yung, who was pushed out of WWE along with Fong around the time Kim returned, being her lookalike, but since Fong was working with "Black" Yung these jokes went over Yung's head.
- Rage Against the Mentor: She killed her mentor Dragon Azteca, as she was misled by Dario Cueto into believing that Azteca was responsible for killing her parents.
- Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: Sara Del Rey subjected Fong to an extended squash to prove models can't be wrestlers, at least not good wrestlers. This had extra humiliating aspects, as Fong was fresh off leaving WWE, had a strong reputation as a fitness model, and got completely dominated, with Sara winning all 3 falls, and Fong getting no offense whatsoever.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: She was always quite dolled up for her stint as a ring announcer and interviewer.
- She-Fu: As a former cheerleader, she used plenty of this kind of offence. Lots of springboards, headscissors, Matrix dodges and rolls.
- Signature Move: Black Lotus "stole" Pentagón Jr.'s "sacrifice" arm breaker, wanting to get revenge after he broke her arm. As for her own, Fong's known for a couple enziguri variations, a sitdown backslide, a running knee lift and, if necessary, a kip out escape(hook the leg!)
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Spiritual Successor:- Angela Fong seemed to being groomed in preparation for the coming retirement of Trish Stratus, wrestling in a similar manner in developmental, even using the helicopter head scissors, although from a roll rather than a headstand, before being abruptly released without fanfare.
- Naomi is considered one to Angela, considering their careers have a lot of parallels. Both come from athletic and performing backgrounds - Angela as a cheerleader and Naomi a dancer. Both went for the She-Fu high flying wrestling style. Both were the first title holders in their respective divisions - Angela the first Queen of FCW and Naomi the first FCW Divas' Champion. Both also had questionable call-ups to the main roster that put them in non-wrestling roles - Angela as an announcer and Naomi as a dancing valet. Almost prophetically, Naomi defeated Angela to advance in the tournament for the FCW Divas' Championship.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
- After she was released, a new ring announcer debuted on NXT called Jamie Keyes, who ended up competing on the all-female season.
- Her style of wrestling was heavily compared to that of Gail Kim, and the two were mistaken for each other a lot(a more tumbling and technical but less kicking Trish Stratus would be more apt). Character-wise they were much more different - where Gail was more of a serious wrestler, while Angela a glamorous Diva.
- The Triads and the Tongs: In Lucha Underground. According to Dario Cueto, her parents were the leaders of the Black Lotus Triad before they were killed.
- Time to Unlock More True Potential: Enforced on her in Lucha Underground. When she tried to fight the monster Mantaza she ended up kidnapped by Prince Puma and given to Dragon Azteca. Dragon Azteca's view was that if she was insistent on fighting Mantanza she would have to get lucha libre training from him, otherwise she would be simply throwing her life away.
- Token Minority: Filling the 'one Asian Diva limit' in WWE, Lena Yada was released as Angela was rising in prominence, and Angela herself got removed from FCW's revival and a wrestling role a couple months before fellow Chinese wrestler Sonia and released not long afterwards, Sonia who herself was released when Gail Kim returned to WWE.
- The Triads and the Tongs: The Black Lotus Triad, assembled by her in Lucha Underground. Never mind that it's made up of Japanese wrestlers.
- The Unfought: Angela had a couple of issues with Jenny Cash talking trash about her on the Express News & Gossip segment, but they never wrestled each other due to Jenny's sudden ACL injury. They did however wrestle on live events.
- The Worf Effect: Was the first Queen of FCW and the ace of the division, until Serena arrived. One match later, Serena completely dominates Angela and takes her crown, with Angela never recovering from the loss.
- Unnecessary Combat Roll: Angela utilised lots of backrolls into headscissors for Rule of Cool.
- Villain Team-Up: With Dario Cueto at the end of Lucha Underground's Season 1.
- Waif-Fu: Dr X tried to interfere in a match on Rosa Mendes's behalf. Angela ducked his clothesline and gave him a timely enziguri.
- Wrestling Doesn't Pay: Inverted in that her pro wrestling career is used to draw interest to her Knockout Networks fitness instruction videos, although Fong's sometimes called a "model" by other wrestlers due models being the majority of the Knockout Networks' workforce.
- You Are Not Ready: After a few months of training, Black Lotus believed herself ready to face Matanza, Dragon Azteca disagreed and floored her, proving she still had a long way to go before she could face Matanza and hope to win. She should've listened to him.
- You Go, Girl!: Angela advanced to the finals of the Queen of FCW tournament by defeating "The Girl From Mexico" (Trent Baretta Disguised in Drag).
- You Killed My Father: Black Lotus's motivation for revenge on Matanza was the deaths of her parents, though Dario Cueto misled her into believing that Dragon Azteca was the murderer.
