WWE star Rhea Ripley recently spoke with Sporting News about all things pro-wrestling, including her experiences on past WrestleManias, and how she hopes WWE returns to Australia for tryouts. Highlights from the interview are below.
Hopes WWE does another tryout in Australia:
Growing up in Australia and especially watching WWE, there was no one. There was no one from Australia, especially in the women’s division, that I could really look up to, so being that person for Australia is insane. Following in the footsteps of The IIconics and Emma and having them girls break through that rooftop before I could get here, I owe it all to them. They got Australia on the map for WWE and I’m just here trying to keep it alive. I really hope that we do another Australian tryout, because there is so much talent in Australia and it’s absolutely insane that some of the people there aren’t here yet. I’m very proud that I get to be the person to represent Adelaide, South Australia – it is wild hearing that every time the ring announcer says it, it just blows my mind.
On getting to work with Charlotte and Asuka at WrestleMania:
It was incredible – Charlotte and Asuka are phenomenal and are such great talents and they have been in the business for such a long time. Asuka is someone that I had wanted to wrestle since being 17, I went to Japan for three months and wrestled on the same show as Asuka. From then on, I wanted to be in the ring with her at some point and it was wild that the first time we got a match was at WrestleMania. I learnt a lot from her in many different ways – a lot about wrestling in general and how to stay calm – she is so incredible. It’s the same with Charlotte – I have stepped in the ring with Charlotte many times, and I feel like every time I step in the ring with her, I perfect my craft a little bit more. She takes me to the absolute limit every single time. I’ve definitely learnt a lot about that and some backstage stuff as well and watching her stay calm with things, it really does help me and my mindset as well.