Adelaide’s latest WWE export Zaria says Riot City Wrestling has secret to success

How many top level Australian stars can this city produce? The latest Adelaide export to make it to the big leagues in the US reveals why she thinks we’re a star factory.

It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for Adelaide’s latest star export after she became the fourth South Australian to join professional wrestling giant WWE’s ranks in the US.

WWE NXT star Zaria (real name Daria Hodder), who Australian wrestling fans might recognise as former Riot City Wrestling and Melbourne City Wrestling champion Delta, said the past year had been a blur, as she paid tribute to the Adelaide trainers and co-stars who set her on the path to her dream career on international TV screens.

“It’s so nerve-racking, but so exciting,” she told The Advertiser.

“It’s such a weird mix of emotions because you’re like so excited terrified at the same time, because you know, you’re running through your mind, like, you’re going, ‘What if I mess up? What if I do something really silly?’”

Zaria wrestles for NXT in Houston, Texas. Picture: WWE

Zaria has been partnered with fellow NXT star Sol Ruca since her TV debut. Picture: WWE

The 26-year-old former Gleeson College student said she was also now coming to terms with American food and driving on the opposite side of the road almost a year after she auditioned for WWE during last year’s Elimination Chamber Perth tour, and wrestled her final Australian date with RCW.

“I guess throughout my career in Australia that there were a couple of people that told me, like, ‘Oh, you know, WWE’s watching you,’ and I never I never really believed it. It’s sort of like, ‘Yeah, okay, sure.’”

“It wasn’t really until I got the call for the tryout that I was like, ‘Oh, oh, okay. This is actually really happening’.”

Zaria becomes the fourth South Australian to join WWE, alongside top attractions Rhea Ripley and Bronson Reed, and former NXT wrestler Duke Hudson.

Zaria at the WWE Performance Centerin Orlando, Florida. Picture: WWE

Zaria in the ring for NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Picture: MP/WWE

She also credits the same trainers who propelled Ripley to the limelight with her success after learning her craft under Riot City Wrestling founders Chris and Matt Basso.

“I think it’s maybe it’s in the water, it’s in the veggies,in the protein, and just the wrestling schools from Adelaide,” Zaria said.

“Chris and Matt Basso have built such a great company that is Riot City Wrestling.

“I think it’s just the system that they have created and just like the respect and the discipline, and I think the family, the familyness, Is that even a word?”

Will Zaria be at WWE Crown Jewel Perth?

Zaria said she was now hoping to return to the spotlight in Australia later this year when the company returns to Perth for another major stadium extravaganza.

But she said a Crown Jewel Perth berth was no guarantee.

“I don’t know if I’m part of it or not, but I sure hope I do,” she said.

“I hope I do because I’ve definitely gone through waves of homesickness.”

WWE drew more than 50,000 spectators to Optus Stadium during its last visit to Australia in March last year, featuring Ripley but omitted Reed who remained in the US during the tour, where he welcomed his first child.

WWE will be in Perth for Raw, Smackdown and Crown Jewel shows on October 10, 11 and 12.

Originally published as Adelaide’s latest WWE export Zaria says Riot City Wrestling has secret to success