Emil Sitoci’s life has been anything but ordinary. He was the firstborn child in an unlikely marriage between two former top athletes. Although the family suffered various hardships throughout his youth, Emil kept straight and focused on his school and his sports.
Emil’s father was an accomplished amateur boxer of Kurdish descent, who became a national champion in Turkey. His mother, on the other hand, was a Dutch national gymnastics champion. She also participated in the 1976 Olympic games as part of the Dutch national ladies team. The world of athleticism was in Emils blood. He started to practise judo at the age of four, and added gymnastics at the age of seven. Under the strict training methods of his own mother, he managed to qualify for several national championship competitions. Emil’s lacking shoulder agility prevented him from matching his mothers accomplishments. However, even though he loved gymnastics, his heart was in a different place.
Since he was three years old, Emil has been obsessed by professional wrestling. The action and excitement of the matches fascinated him, and he soon decided that he would grow up to be a wrestler himself. Making use of his judo and gymnastics skills, Emil debuted for FCW (Netherlands) at the age of seventeen, wearing a mask to hide his youthful looks. Even though he was still inexperienced, it wasn’t hard to see his potential and determination. After graduating from high school, Emil pursued his dream by travelling halfway across the world to learn the arts of wrestling in America. He struck a friendship with Chris Hero, who told Emil to remove his mask and dubbed him “The Tremendous One”.
After a year of hard work, the new and improved Emil Sitoci made his way back to Europe. In 2005 he continued to climb the ranks by wrestling in Africa, the United States, France, as well as many European countries. He started to enjoy a great reputation among fans, dazzling the audiences with his technical and Mexican style wrestling, and securing several titles. Especially the female audience members seemed to have a soft spot in their hearts for the Tremendous One.
A remarkable turning point for Emil came in 2006, when he won the wXw light-heavyweight championship. His playful ways changed under the pressure of being a champion, and a different side of his personality started to shine through. His humbleness was replaced by confidence and a rebellious attitude. German wrestling fans turned against him, which triggered Emil to provoke them even more by embracing a flamboyant, narcissistic side of himself. While his trademark pink tights and bodyglitter enraged the German crowds, the French audience embraced Emil even further. He rose to bigger stardom and started appearing in televised matches under the nickname “Le Voltigeur Hollandais”.
In 2006 Emil enrolled himself in the University of Utrecht and majored in Theater- Film- and Television studies. A few years later, he was approached to star in the Dutch reality television series “Hollandse Krijgers” (Dutch Warriors). This project involved Emil travelling to Africa to square off against native tribesmen in wrestling contest, stick fights and other gruelling competitions. The harsh conditions of the two month long competition nearly caused a physical breakdown, but Emil still managed to secure himself the big victory. Merely a week later, he returned to The Netherlands and aced his final exams to obtain his bachelors degree. One year later he earned his Masters degree in Film- and Television Sciences, and took on some editiorial and productional jobs for Dutch television.
Meanwhile, Emils never lost sight of his true passion. He hit the ring hard, won his second wXw World Lightweight Title in September of 2008, and became the longest reigning titleholder to date. These accomplishments led to an official endorsement by Hustler Europe. Over the past two years Emil has taken GSW (Germany) by storm. After chasing the GSW Breakthrough Title for years, in 2010 Emil defeated Zack Sabre Jr. in a ladder match to become the new Breakthrough Champion. No more than 6 months later, he also dethroned Steve Corino to become the GSW Heavyweight Champion in 2011. Later on that year he joined the cast of Jeff Katz’ “Wrestling Retribution Project” in Hollywood, Ca. Meanwhile, his TV career outside of the ring continued to flourish both on and off screen.
The year 2012 marked another turning point in Sitoci’s career. He dropped the “Tremendous” moniker, and became known as “The Untamable” Emil Sitoci. This proved to be more than just a name change: Matured & more dangerous than ever, he has taken on his opponents with a newfound aggressive style. This caught the eye of the biggest wrestling company in the world: WWE. In November 2012, Emil took what he humbly describes as “[...]just a baby step, but a step in the right direction nonetheless” when he faced Jack Swagger at a Smackdown! live event in Birmingham, UK and became the first Dutch wrestler to ever compete for WWE. And this is just the beginning…
Throughout his life Emil his shown great determination to achieve his goals. When he sets his mind to something, he will ultimately make it happen. He has bit, scratched and clawed his way onto the European wrestling scene, defeating some of the best wrestlers that the world has to offer. Wether he is loved or hated, fans can not look away when the charismatic wrestlers steps into the ring. His speed, power and clever mind make Emil one of the most dangerously exciting men you’ll ever see in the ring.