Adelaide’s Rhea Ripley chosen for WWE’s Mae Young Classic wrestling event
ADELAIDE’S own wrestling superstar, Rhea Ripley, has been chosen as one of the first participants in a global WWE women’s tournament that will be broadcast around the world.
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ADELAIDE’S own wrestling superstar, Rhea Ripley, has been chosen as one of the first participants in a global women’s tournament that will be broadcast around the world.
The Advertiser can exclusively reveal Ripley, aka former Glenelg resident Demi Bennett, will compete in the second annual Mae Young Classic, run by industry giant World Wrestling Entertainment.
The honour is a sign of WWE’s belief in the 21-year-old, who has been training with its veterans in the US since she made history, last year, as the first South Australian to sign a contract with the $991 million company.
On Thursday, Ripley — who made it to the second round of last year’s Classic in a bout hailed, by many, as the match of the tournament — told The Advertiser she was ready to go all the way in 2018.
“I’m still myself, I’m still a mosh-pit kid and I still go out there and have fun — but now I want to win,” she said.
“I’m that little bit more seasoned, that little bit angrier … no more ‘nice Rhea’, now it’s ‘I want to win Rhea’.
“And anyone who’s standing in my way, well, they’re going to get ripped apart.”
Ripley learnt her craft at Riot City Wrestling in Adelaide and on a tour of Japan before signing with WWE in July last year.
She moved to Orlando, Florida and took up residence at WWE’s purpose-built Performance Centre, training five days a week.
On Thursday, Ripley said the transition had been difficult — but she had come through it a stronger person.
“When I first got here, I was very uneasy about everything … a different country, new surroundings, new people,” she said.
“I’m feeling a bit more settled to be honest … I still miss home, I miss my friends and my family, but my training and my dog, Luna, have made me feel a lot more at home.
“I’ve always struggled to make good friends but everyone in the Performance Centre has been so helpful that it’s definitely a family environment.”
She said she and her fellow trainees travelled extensively around Florida, performing up to three shows a week in front of live audiences to further hone their skills.
“The shows could be here in Orlando or they could be two-and-a-half hours away … we have to make our way there, set up, do our stuff at the show, pack up around 11pm and then get home,” she said.
“It’s a very difficult and tiring job at times but it’s so rewarding at the same time.”
Ripley said she had forged close bonds with fellow Australian WWE superstars Nick Miller and Shane Thorne — a team known as “The Mighty”.
She has also benefited from the tutelage of 1990s tag-team champion Scott Garland, aka Scotty 2 Hotty.
“I had Scotty as my coach for a few months and he is amazing, I’ve no bad words about Scotty 2 Hotty,” she said.
“He’s a strict coach but he will also be so positive and make you feel good and that helps with all the mind games … this is, like I said, a tough job and doubts can play on your mind.
“Having him as a coach definitely helped me a lot.”
The Mae Young Classic, named for pioneering female wrestler Mae Young, brings together 32 performers from 12 countries.
The women compete against one another, bracket-style, in a single-elimination tournament.
This year’s field will include former WWE women’s champion Celeste Bonin, AKA Kaitlyn, making her in-ring return after four years.
Last year’s winner, Japanese superstar Kairi Sane, has since gone on to a prominent spot in WWE’s television programming.
Although she was eliminated from last year’s event, Ripley’s performance won her legions of supporters — and catapulted her to household name status — within WWE’s passionate international fandom.
Ripley said she was “blown away” as fans cheered her on via social media — and as she became a favourite subject of amateur and professional artists posting portraits of her online.
“It was insane, my Twitter was blowing up more than ever,” she said.
“A lot of people said they considered me the ‘dark horse’ of the first tournament and that my match was the best of the tournament, which made me feel amazing.
“I left my heart and soul in that ring and to come out with people becoming fans of mine makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something … it really does warm my heart to know that people enjoy my work.”
Many of those fans are in Adelaide — particularly the Bennett family.
“My mum, dad and sister are still excited that I’m here, even though it’s really hard for us to catch each other on the phone because of my work and time-zone differences,” Ripley said.
Her former high school peers have also reached out to her.
“I’ve actually talked, through social media, to a few people from high school and they’ve said ‘you’re the only one of us who chased her dreams and made it’,” she said.
“They’ve said ‘you always talked about being a professional wrestler and now you’re in WWE’ … for me, that’s mind-blowing.
“Every now and then I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is check ‘yep, I’m still in America, this is not a dream’, and it’s an amazing feeling.
“I’m living my dream — I’m actually living my dream.”
The 2018 Mae Young Classic will take place on Thursday, August 9 and be live-streamed on the WWE Network. For more details, visit wwenetwork.com.