Lisa Marie Varon (née Sole) is an American professional wrestler, fitness competitor, and bodybuilder. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring name Victoria, where she is a former two- time WWE Women’s Champion, and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Tara, where she is a former five-time TNA Knockouts Champion. Varon began competing in fitness competitions and won ESPN2’s Fitness America Series in 1997. In 1999, she placed second at a fitness event in New York City to earn her International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) Professional Fitness Card. Through a chance meeting, Varon met World Wrestling Federation (WWF) performer Chyna, who encouraged her to become a professional wrestler. She trained in the WWF’s developmental territories for three years before being moved to the main roster to compete full-time under the ring name Victoria. Her first television appearance came at WrestleMania 2000, where she portrayed one of The Godfather’s “hos”. She debuted in June 2002, and four months later she was pushed to win the WWE Women’s Championship, a title she would go on to hold twice in her wrestling career. After leaving WWE in 2009, Varon debuted in TNA later that year as Tara. In TNA, she became a five-time TNA Knockouts Champion, making her a seven-time Women’s Champion overall. She was also a one-time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion, with Brooke Tessmacher, collectively known as TnT. Varon was married to Lee Varon from 1994 to 2015. The marriage ended in divorce. Varon has a tattoo of a heart on her ankle, which she got in high school and hid from her parents. She is a fan of motorcycles and owns a Suzuki Hayabusa. In an interview for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Varon was quoted as saying she was legitimately jealous of the 2004 WWE Diva Search winner Christy Hemme. She retracted the statement on her website, claiming the reporter had misquoted her when she mentioned that she was jealous of Hemme’s paycheck, as it was a lot higher than what Varon received in her rookie year.
