Sara Del Rey

Sara Ann Amato (born November 13, 1980), better known by her ring name Sara Del Rey, is an American professional wrestling trainer and retired professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE as the assistant head coach of the WWE Performance Center and a producer for their developmental territory at NXT. She was a mainstay for Chikara, Ring of Honor (ROH) and Shimmer, but also appeared for many other independent promotions in the US, including IWA Mid-South and All Pro Wrestling, as well as Mexico's Lucha Libre Femenil. Del Rey also taped several matches, competing under a mask and using the name Nic Grimes, for the MTV promotion Wrestling Society X.

Del Rey was the inaugural Shimmer Champion and co-holder of the Shimmer Tag Team Championship with Courtney Rush, making her the promotion's first double champion. In 2012, she became the fourth woman to make it to Pro Wrestling Illustrated's list of top 500 wrestlers in the world.

As a child, Amato considered herself a fan of professional wrestling, citing Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior as two of her favorites due to their high energy characters and matches. She did not watch it for several years, but became interested again during high school. Amato admits that in high school, she was "really shy and kind of awkward and scared of social situations", which made her doubt whether she would actually make it as a professional wrestler. She briefly attended college following her graduation from high school, but disliked it and decided to become a professional wrestler instead. She initially trained with All Pro Wrestling's boot camp, and was trained by Tommy Drake, Donovan Morgan, and Micheal Modest. In the beginning, Amato had to spend hours training, as wrestling did not come naturally to her. Tommy Drake was later interviewed, admitting Sara was not naturally talented and he didn't think she would make it, but he later said "I was so happy I was wrong, as she was a genuine person and the definition of a book that you don't judge the cover of. She worked her butt off to prove me and everyone else wrong, and that's why she deserves to be where she is". She later went on to train in Japan.

In 2002, Amato tried out for the Japanese promotion Arsion founded by Aja Kong, and she considers it a highlight of her career.

On February 15, 2005, she won Impact Zone Wrestling's Women's Championship by defeating Adrenelyn on an event in Japan. Later in 2005, she toured Japan again, and released a video that depicts six of her matches entitled "Sara Del Rey Japan Tour 2005". She also wrestled in Mexico, using the gimmick "The American Angel", in which she wore a wrestling mask. She was unmasked in a match in the Lucha Libre Femenil promotion on December 16, 2005. She later donned a mask once again as Nic Grimes, the storyline sister of Vic Grimes for Wrestling Society X.

Del Rey debuted for Berwyn, Illinois–based Shimmer Women Athletes at their inaugural show in 2005, where she wrestled Mercedes Martinez to a twenty-minute time limit draw. At Volume 2, she won a four-way elimination match against Daizee Haze, Lacey and Martinez, by lastly eliminating Haze. On February 12, 2006, she was able to defeat Haze in the main event of Volume 3, and then Rain at Volume 4. In the main event of Volume 5, Del Rey pinned Mercedes Martinez in a singles match. Later in the night, The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew challenged Martinez to a tag team match, and Del Rey agreed to be Martinez's partner. At Volume 6, Del Rey and Martinez were defeated by Rain and Lacey. On October 22, Del Rey defeated the debuting Nattie Neidhart. After the match, she was challenged by Martinez to a rematch at Volume 8, which Sara agreed to. In the main event of Volume 8, Del Rey lost to Martinez, and suffered her first singles loss in Shimmer.

On April 7, 2007, Del Rey defeated both Cheerleader Melissa and Nikki Roxx in the main events of Volume 9 and Volume 10, leading her to the Shimmer Championship tournament. On June 1, Del Rey advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament by first eliminating Cindy Rogers, and then Alicia. At Volume 12, she defeated Sarah Stock, and went on to defeat Lacey in the finals to become the first ever Shimmer Champion. Later in the night, she teamed with Nikki Roxx to defeat the Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew. Del Rey made her first successful title defense against Lacey in a rematch at Volume 14. Del Rey defeated Amazing Kong at Volume 15, and Sarah Stock in a two out of three falls match at Volume 16. At Volume 17, Del Rey teamed up with Allison Danger in a losing effort to the team of MsChif and Cheerleader Melissa. At Volume 18, MsChif challenged Del Rey to a championship match, which Del Rey accepted. Later in the night, Del Rey lost the Shimmer Championship to MsChif, ending her reign at 329 days.

On July 5, 2008, Del Rey took part in a 21-woman number one contender's battle royal, but she was eliminated by Portuguese Princess Ariel. Del Rey then attacked Ariel, leading to a match between the two at Volume 19, which Del Rey won. At Volume 20, Del Rey defeated Serena Deeb. On October 19, Del Rey was challenged by Deeb to a rematch, which once again was won by Del Rey. At Volume 22, Del Rey was challenged once again by Deeb, but this time she did not accept. On May 2, 2009, Del Rey defeated Madison Eagles of the Pink Ladies. Later in the night, she and Amazing Kong attacked Shimmer Champion MsChif, only to be scared off by Cheerleader Melissa. At Volume 24, Del Rey teamed up with Amazing Kong to defeat MsChif and Melissa, becoming the number one contenders to the Shimmer Tag Team Championship. However, at Volume 26, Del Rey and Kong failed to capture the titles from defending champions Nevaeh and Ashley Lane after being disqualified. The duo proceeded to attack the champions after the match, but they were forced to leave the ring by Serena Deeb and Mercedes Martinez. Later that night, Del Rey and Kong defeated Deeb and Martinez.