WWE’s Australian superstar Rhea Ripley centre of attention at NXT TakeOver

Rhea Ripley’s WWE career hits yet another high on Monday when she bids for the NXT women’s title against current champion ‘Queen’ Charlotte Flair and Japanese grappler Io Shirai.

IF not for a family holiday on the Gold Coast when she was a child, Rhea Ripley may never have been a WWE superstar.

Ripley’s burgeoning professional wrestling career hits another high on Monday when she attempts to regain the NXT women’s title against current champion Charlotte Flair and Japanese grappler Io Shirai at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.

But it was at a much smaller show that South Australia’s Ripley first developed her love for wrestling.

“My family and our family friends, we always went to the Gold Coast and went to all the theme parks, and it just so happens that one time we came across a flyer and it was wrestling, and I was like `we have to go’,” said Ripley, who at the time was 10-year-old Demi Bennett.

“I was so young. I just wanted to watch wrestling. I didn’t really look at the names. I was just like ‘yeah, wrestling, let’s go, let’s do it, someone hit someone with something’.”

Rhea Ripley celebrates her NXT women's championship win in December with WWE legend Triple H. Picture: WWE

Fast forward to 2020 and 23-year-old Ripley is among a growing list of Australians, including former Brisbane Broncos winger Daniel Vidot, who are making their presence felt with sports entertainment giants WWE.

“We went from a time where Australians weren’t even in WWE that often … to now have all of us Superstars here is incredible,” Ripley said.

“I’m so proud about how far all of us have come as a country and individuals. It’s amazing.

“We all support each other immensely because we know how hard it is and we’re all here for each other. We all back each other.”

Ripley won the NXT women’s championship in December last year by beating Shayna Baszler, before losing the belt to Flair, the daughter of professional wrestling legend Ric Flair, in April at WrestleMania 36.

Ric Flair and his daughter Charlotte Flair. David Banks/Getty Images/AFP

It was a bittersweet experience for Ripley as her match with Flair took place at the WWE Performance Centre in Florida in front of no fans due to coronavirus restrictions.

“At the start I was bummed out because my parents were supposed to be there, my sister was supposed to be there, a lot of people that I knew from Australia were coming down,” she said.

“Not seeing them in person and not having them down here to support me was very heartbreaking, but it’s still WrestleMania, it’s still a huge deal, and it’s something that I worked for my entire career, so it was a still a very special moment, and they were still at home cheering me on.

“I knew that they were still there with me every second of it, so I just had to remind myself of that, and I think we knocked it out of the park, Charlotte and I. I feel like we stole the show, and that’s all I really wanted to do.”

Former NRL winger Daniel Vidot grabs his WWE opportunity with prized SmackDown wrestling bout

Former Brisbane Broncos star Daniel Vidot in Australia for WWE Live show

Ripley is promising a similarly epic contest on Monday in her battle with Flair and Shirai.

“Io Shirai, the best from Japan, Charlotte Flair the best from America, Rhea Ripley, I want to claim to be the best from Australia … we’re all stepping into the ring together and it’s going to be absolutely insane,” she said.

“There’s a lot of tensions that have been built … so tune in because it’s going to be brutal.”

NXT TakeOver: In Your House streams on Monday June 8 at 9am (AEST) on WWE Network.