Prince Nana

Prince Nana
Nana at a Ring of Honor show in 2011
Personal information
BornNana Osei Bandoh
(1979-08-01) August 1, 1979 (age 47)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Nana
Prince Nana
Billed height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Billed weight235 lb (107 kg)
Billed from"Ghana, West Africa"
Trained byAngel Medina
Vito LoGrasso
D-Von Dudley
Johnny Rodz
Mr. Fabian Street
Debut1996

Nana Osei Ankrah Bandoh (born August 1, 1979), better known as Prince Nana, is a Ghanaian-American professional wrestling manager and former wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he serves as the on-screen manager of Swerve Strickland and The New Level (Kofi and Austin Creed). He is also known for his tenure in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he was the founder and on-screen manager of The Embassy.

Early life

Although Nana was born in the United States, he claims that he is the son of an Ashanti tribe member with royal heritage and the heir to the throne of Ashanti in Ghana. When Nana was three, his family relocated to Ghana for five years, returning so that Nana could be educated in America. As a teenager, he relocated to New York City in America as an exchange student.

In 1992, at the age of twelve, Nana watched WrestleMania VIII, and was inspired by the WWF Championship match between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ric Flair to become a wrestler. A year later, he wrote to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in 2002) and asked their advice as to which professional wrestling school he should attend. The WWF recommended that he train under Larry Sharpe in New Jersey, but Nana felt that Sharpe's school was too far away. Instead, Nana became a photographer for Johnny Rodz, who operated Gleason's Gym in New York. Nana worked for Rodz until he turned eighteen, when Rodz began training him as a wrestler.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1996–2002)

Nana debuted in 1996, wrestling in a church in Spanish Harlem.

Nana worked regularly for the East Coast Wrestling Association in Delaware and USA Pro Wrestling in New York, as well as making appearances with the WWF and with Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX in Japan.

Ring of Honor (2002–2016)

Nana in 2005

In 2002, Nana joined the upstart Ring of Honor promotion, where in 2004 he formed a heel stable known as The Embassy. In storylines, Nana used his wealth gained from the taxes of people of Ghana to hire wrestlers to wrestle his opponents and rivals. Under his management, John Walters defended his ROH Pure Championship and Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley and Abyss won the Trios Tournament in 2006. He remained with Ring of Honor until September 2006, when he gave his notice.

On October 24, 2008, in Danbury, Connecticut, Nana made a surprise return to Ring of Honor, saying he had no more riches or crown and just wanted a job, before he was dragged away by security. The next night, Nana made an appearance at Ring of Honor's Edison, New Jersey show where he was removed in the same fashion. The next time ROH was in Edison on January 17, 2009, Nana again appeared, only to be dragged away by security. He would then be featured in segments on the ROH Video Wire. In a March edition of the Video Wire, Nana revealed that he had regained his riches due to President Obama's stimulus package, and had been directing Bison Smith's attacks on ROH wrestlers. On March 20, at the ROH show in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, Nana declared that he had officially reformed the Embassy, with himself, Bison Smith and Ernie Osiris. The next day in New York City they were joined by the returning Jimmy Rave. Other members of the stable came to include Claudio Castagnoli, Joey Ryan, Erick Stevens, Shawn Daivari and Necro Butcher, but by October 2010 all of them, except Osiris, had left the group. On January 22, 2011, Nana debuted the latest version of the Embassy, consisting of Ernesto Osiris, Mia Yim, R.D. Evans, and Tommaso Ciampa, who would take over Jimmy Rave's former role as Nana's number one wrestler. The following April and June, both Dave Taylor and Rhino made appearances representing the Embassy. On the July 28, 2012 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, The Embassy disbanded, when Ciampa turned on Nana, after R.D. Evans had revealed his deal with Truth Martini, which had cost Ciampa the ROH World Television Championship.

On Monday, June 3, 2013, Nana received a tryout with WWE. Nana commented on the tryout on Facebook, writing, "Great day with the WWE...The future may be bright....Fools."

In mid-2013, Nana was given the new on-screen role of ROH Talent Scout. In late 2014, Nana formed yet another version of the Embassy with Moose, Stokely Hathaway and Veda Scott, which was later disbanded.

Nana was the manager of Donovan Dijak, after he sent him some envelopes every time he wrestled, until he finally departed from The House of Truth that took place on February 25, 2016 episode of ROH tapings.

Independent circuit (2016–2021)

Following his departure from ROH, Nana made only sporadic appearances over the next several years. In 2019, he returned to regular independent wrestling competition, appearing for promotions including Pro Wrestling Empire, Pro Wrestling Magic, and the Renegade Championship Wrestling promotion. He also reunited with former Embassy member Jimmy Rave and Sal Rinauro to form a new version of The Embassy. The trio competed in the King of Trios tournament at Chikara in October 2019, where they were defeated by FIST in the first round. His in-ring activity remained limited during 2020 and 2021.

All Elite Wrestling / Return to ROH (2022–present)

Nana at All In in August 2024

On July 23, 2022, at Death Before Dishonor, Prince Nana returned to ROH, purchased Tully Blanchard Enterprises, and reformed The Embassy with Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona, who later won the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship at Final Battle in December, marking the first time a client of Nana's had won a championship. In April 2023, Nana began managing Swerve Strickland in ROH's sister promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), after Strickland announced he was merging his 'Mogul Affiliates' stable with The Embassy into the Mogul Embassy. A year later, Strickland won the AEW World Championship under Nana's managership, marking the first time a member of the Embassy had won any sort of singles championship. The Mogul Embassy later dissolved when Cage, Kaun, and Liona attacked Strickland and formed Cage of Agony, but Nana continued managing Strickland without the Embassy banner. In August 2026, Nana began managing the debuting New Level (Kofi and Austin Creed) alongside Strickland as the trio would win the AEW World Trios Championship.

Other media

In 2020, Nana began hosting The Prince Nana Show, a podcast featuring interviews with professional wrestlers and other figures from the wrestling industry.

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ "Nana". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Prince Nana". OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
  3. 1 2 Clevett, J. (May 31, 2005). "Nana an honorable Prince". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2007. I was born in the U.S., but when I turned three we went back to Ghana for five years. I came back to go to school. My Father is part of the Ashanti tribe in Ghana, West Africa with Royal Heritage. I am part of that because of my relation to the existing chiefs of the Ashanti tribe. If my uncle is to pass away, because he is the chief uncle, legally I will be the next King.
  4. ↑ "Prince Nana at Cagematch.net". Retrieved May 23, 2007.
  5. ↑ Clevett, J. (May 31, 2005). "Nana an honorable Prince". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2007. ...it was the classic feud between Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Flair that culminated at Wrestlemania 8 that changed his life.
  6. ↑ Clevett, J. (May 31, 2005). "Nana an honorable Prince". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2007. A year later I was looking into schools and I wrote to the WWE, who told me to go to Larry Sharpe's school. It was too far away because I was living in New York City as an exchange student from Ghana. After a few months I found Gleason's gym on Front Street. I started as a photographer for Johnny Rodz...
  7. ↑ Schwan, B. (2005). "Ten Questions With Prince Nana". WrestlingClothesline.com. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
  8. ↑ Clevett, J. (May 31, 2005). "Nana an honorable Prince". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2007.
  9. ↑ "10/24 ROH in Danbury, CT. Results & Discussion". October 24, 2008. Archived from the original on February 14, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
  10. ↑ Martin, Adam (January 23, 2011). "Spoilers: 1/22 ROH HDNet tapings in Philadelphia". WrestleView. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  11. ↑ Caldwell, James; Radican, Sean (April 2, 2011). "ROH Internet PPV report 4/2: Caldwell & Radican's ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of live ROH PPV from Atlanta". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  12. ↑ Radican, Sean (June 26, 2011). "Radican's "Best in the World" internet PPV report 6/26: Ongoing "real-time" coverage of live PPV from New York City". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  13. ↑ Namako, Jason (July 28, 2012). "ROH on Sinclair Results - 7/28/12". WrestleView. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Final Battle: Ring of Honor World Tag Team Title Match". Ring of Honor. November 18, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  15. ↑ Caldwell, James (December 7, 2014). "Caldwell's ROH Final Battle 2014 PPV results 12/7: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live PPV from New York City". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  16. ↑ 2/27 Ring of Honor TV Taping Results from Las Vegas, NV - PWInsider.com
  17. ↑ "Prince Nana". Cagematch. Retrieved September 14, 2026.
  18. ↑ "ROH Wrestling.com Death Before Dishonor 2022 Results".
  19. ↑ "The Embassy Win ROH Six-Man Tag Team Titles At ROH Final Battle 2022". December 10, 2022.
  20. ↑ Powell, Jason (April 21, 2024). "AEW Dynasty results: Powell's live review of Samoa Joe vs. Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship, Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson, FTR vs. Young Bucks in a ladder match for the AEW Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  21. ↑ Nason, Josh (April 22, 2024). "Swerve Strickland wins his first-ever World title at AEW Dynasty". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 24, 2024. Strickland becomes AEW's first African-American World Champion, their 11th overall World champion, and eighth unique World Champion
  22. ↑ Mueller, Chris (May 8, 2024). "AEW Dynamite Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From May 8". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  23. ↑ Powell, Jason (May 26, 2024). "AEW Double Or Nothing results: Powell's live review of Swerve Strickland vs. Christian Cage for the AEW World Championship, Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Mone for the TBS Title, Anarchy in the Arena". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  24. ↑ Nason, Josh (August 30, 2026). "Former New Day debuts at AEW All In 2026, wins Trios titles with Swerve Strickland". F4W/WON. Retrieved September 14, 2026.
  25. ↑ "The Prince Nana Show". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved September 14, 2026.
  26. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "ECWA « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  27. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (May 3, 2003). "ECWA - Event @ St. Matthew's Parish Hall in Wilmington, Delaware, USA". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  28. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (May 1, 2004). "ECWA Night Of The Unusual Matches 2004 - Event @ St. Matthew's Parish Center in Wilmington, Delaware, USA". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  29. ↑ ""PWI 500": 301–400". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. July 27, 2010. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  30. ↑ WrestlePurists. January 28, 2024 "WRESTLEPURISTS AWARDS 2023" https://wrestlepurists.com/wrestlepurists-awards-2023-results/"WRESTLEPURISTS AWARDS 2023". Retrieved January 28, 2024. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)