Donna Christanello

Biography

Mary Alfosi was a prominent American professional wrestler, active from 1963 to 1991. She began her career after contacting a wrestling promoter in Pittsburgh and was trained by The Fabulous Moolah, with whom she lived on and off for nearly 40 years. Throughout her career, she competed in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). She formed a successful tag team with Toni Rose, and together they won the NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship in 1970. They defended the title on multiple occasions, including internationally, and were later recognized as the first WWF Women’s Tag Team Champions after the title was integrated into the WWF. Christanello also had a strong presence in the WWWF/WWF between 1965 and 1987, participating in both singles and tag team matches. In 1987, she was part of Sensational Sherri’s team at the Survivor Series event. She retired around 1991. In her personal life, Christanello was of Italian descent and helped train future wrestlers such as Sherri Martel and Brittany Brown. She also trained her niece, Marie Minor (Angie Minelli). After retiring, she worked in the accounting department at Wal-Mart. She passed away at the age of 69, on August 25, 2011, due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).