Published: 11 minutes ago by Liam | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago by Liam
Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.
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Vanta The Unknown made her official in-ring debut on WWE Evolve tonight, and she could be an upcoming success story in the NXT women’s division.
There have been packages and promotional videos for Vanta on Evolve over the past few weeks, but she finally had her first match on tonight’s episode, picking up a win against Veronica Haven.
Who actually is Vanta The Unknown?
Jessica Bogdanov signed with WWE in November 2025
Back in November 2025, WWE announced three signings to its developmental system – Meghan Walker, Cyrus Habibi-Likio and Jessica Bogdanov.
Walker came through the WWE NIL program and is now known as Alix Brooks in a partnership with Kale Dixon on Evolve. She was originally set to be named Kylee Quinn, but that was changed before her debut, seemingly due to there being a porn star with the name Kylie Quinn.
Habibi-Likio was known as Kai Kavari on Evolve, having a few matches earlier this year but leaving the company in July due to family, financial and faith reasons.
And Bogdanov is, you guessed it, now known as Vanta The Unknown.
She was picked up after the SummerSlam 2025 tryouts, having attended as a pole dancer and gymnast originally from Russia.
It’s all in the name
CM Punk stated under oath in 2018 that the CM part of his name stood for Chick Magnet
Bogdanov made headlines earlier this year when it was revealed she was set to be renamed Vanta The Unknown, with her packaging coming complete with a new look that went somewhat viral on social media after her first outing at an untelevised NXT live event.
A name like Vanta The Unknown is obviously unique, but it’s also something that WWE has lacked for a long time now – an actual gimmick name.
The state of NXT the past few years has been indie wrestlers and athletes coming in and ending up with names that sound like they’re supposed to be real human names, but at the same time, a lot of them are so bizarrely spelled or just strange sounding that they’re not even believable ‘real’ names. Saquon Shugars. Osiris Griffin. Uriah Connors. Jazmyn Nyx. Masyn Holiday. Von Wagner. Rip Fowler. Jagger Reid. Damaris Griffin. You get the point.
It’s so refreshing to have someone coming through with a full-on gimmick name. Some of the most memorable names and top stars in wrestling history have come through that way, and a lot of it can be attributed to their names – The Rock, The Undertaker, Edge, Triple H, CM Punk, Big Show, Ultimate Warrior and so many others had gimmick names, but it seems like it’s just gone out of fashion nowadays, for no good reason.
And if you don’t think it would work in today’s environment, look at the success and popularity of El Grande Americano. It won’t work if everyone does it, but there is absolutely room for someone called Vanta The Unknown to come in and immediately get people’s attention, which is exactly what’s already happened.
The fact she’s debuted with such a unique presentation shows that WWE has faith in her to pull it off with success, which could signal a big push for her in the future.
WWE Evolve is in a weird plance right now
Omfg Vanta the Unknown is dangerous. She was about to rip off Veronica Haven’s arm with this submission move 💀 #WWEEvolve pic.twitter.com/XxRwhZLLVv
— Seth Joseph (@SethJoseph95) September 24, 2026
As noted, it was tonight’s September 23 episode of WWE Evolve that played host to Vanta’s debut, and she picked up a win against Veronica Haven (there’s another ‘real’ name for you).
There’s a bit of an issue with Evolve right now – half the roster appearing on the show don’t work for WWE anymore.
That’s because Evolve is taped months and months in advance, so when news comes out that someone has exited WWE, they continue appearing on Evolve for months afterwards.
It mainly exists as a training exercise for the talent and doesn’t exactly draw any major viewership, but for those who do watch it, it can make it very difficult to get invested in what’s happening when you’re watching people who you know don’t have a future in WWE, especially when seeing the company’s future stars from the very start of their careers is kind of the entire appeal of watching.
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