When life is like a video game, you may as well play along

WWE Star Rhea Ripley admits ‘it’s sort of terrifying’ to see yourself in a video game, but is enjoying representing South Australia on screen.

Adelaide-born WWE wrestler Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 37 in Tampa Bay, Florida on April 11, 2021. Picture: WWE

SOME young adults love to talk about what life would be like being the main character in a computer game. While some can only imagine, a small number – like Demi Bennett – may actually know.

The 25-year-old from Adelaide who competes in the WWE as Rhea Ripley has had her wrestling career turned into a video game, playing a central character in WWE’s official 2K22 video game which launched on March 11.

Asked what it’s like to see yourself in a video game, Bennett said: “It’s sort of terrifying.”

A couple months ago she walked into a truck with what seemed like dozens of cameras surrounding her. She didn’t pull a single wrestling move, but that 30-minute shoot allowed game developers to encapsulate her character into the game.

Australian WWE wrestler Rhea Ripley. Picture: Supplied

“I think it was honestly 100 or so cameras – it was ridiculous,” she said. “And then they took photos simultaneously and make you do certain facial expressions and movements with your face. That was a weird but cool experience.

“When I saw it in the game, it was straight up just me, it’s my gear, it’s my face, that’s my walk, that’s my attitude, that’s my facial expression – everything is so spot on,” she said.

Those who get a chance to play Rhea Ripley in WK22 should know her favourite moves vary in real life from the game.

“(In real life), I love the good old riptide because it seems to do the job and, well, it’s probably really my one of my favourites,” she said.

The riptide is a move in which a wrestler pulls their opponents arm through their legs, lifts them up and slams them down on the canvas.

In the game, she’d like to see how her character looks while pulling off a move invented by Japanese Olympic wrestler Hiroshi Hase in 1984.

“I’d love to see like a northern light suplex in the game, just to see the impact of it and see the way that they get into it … it might give me some ideas,” she said. “Even the drop kick, I’d love my drop kicks and I’d like to see how high I can do them in the game.”

Bennett said in previous games she’d noticed developers tended to form their own set-up moves for wrestling slams which aren’t always as good on screen.

“(Game developers) come up with fancy ways to get into things, sometimes moves that I haven’t seen before, so it really does gives me ideas,” she said.

Rhea Ripley defeated Japanese wrestler Asuka at the WrestleMania 37 Women's Championship in Tampa Bay, Florida, on April 11, 2021. Picture: WWE

Bennett’s entry into the game faollows a successful nine-year career as a wrestler. She began when was 16 before making it into Riot City Wrestling as a teen.

While entry into the WK22 is something she is stoked about, the most satisfying part of it all was not seeing herself flykick other characters at the push of a button but rather representing her hometown.

“It’s even more wild to hear ‘from Adelaide, South Australia’ in a video game,” she said. “I love it so much. It really does warm my heart. I’m very, very proud of everything that I’ve accomplished.”

Rhea Ripley at a WWE event in July 2021. Source: Supplied.

As for what’s next in store, Bennett has WrestleMania coming up as well as the Smackdown Women’s Chapmionship.

“I don’t like setting goals. I just like to see how far I can go in this business and how much history that I can actually make.”