Once an “ugly duckling” in her Austrian childhood, Astrid turned to judo early and became a youth tournament standout. By the time she grew up, her looks brought her into modeling even as her fighting drive led her into MMA. Though she had early success in MMA, she went 5-0 in her first fights, and 1-2 in her latter 3. She was widely considered to have hit her ceiling when she took the fight against pro wrestling legend Heidi Christenson.

Then she shocked the world by dominating Heidi in the octagon before winning via guillotine choke early in the 2nd round.

And Heidi shocked the world by kicking Astrid in the back of the head while Astrid was being announced as the winner.

The fallout saw Heidi come down with a lifetime ban from combat sports - including not just MMA but pro wrestling - and Astrid coming to some kind of out of court settlement with Heidi and also jumping ship to pro wrestling. She spent the first couple years of her wrestling career in Japan.

Then, Iron City Wrestling opened. And promoter Eric Dane, who had his own bloody history with Heidi Christenson (emphasis on the bloody), of course wanted the woman who'd humiliated her on his roster no matter the cost.

And so Astrid ventured to the States for the first time...