WWE’s Rhea Ripley – I’m Here to Prove That Outsiders Can Love Themselves
WWE Superstar and Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley does not play a character on TV, but she used to. Since her WWE debut at the 2017 Mae Young Classic, Ripley has slowly shed the template of who she believed a female WWE Superstar had to be, embracing instead her love of dark imagery, metal and all things supernatural.
“I know a lot of people hate [my dark visuals] and they’re gonna call me a Satanist and all that, but at the end of the day I don’t sit at home and hail Satan. I don’t do that,” Ripley explains to Loudwire.
Unlike artists like Lil Nas X, Rhea Ripley has avoided the backlash of a Satanic Panic thus far, but even if WWE fans mistake her demonic tattoos and devilish social media posts for legitimate evil, Ripley is done worrying about how others perceive her.
“I don’t really have a character. I go out there and I’m me. I’m the side of me that you don’t see in everyday life because I would probably get arrested,” Ripley laughs. “It’s definitely a weight lifted off my shoulders. I do get to get a lot of anger out and I do get to show everyone exactly who I am. I don’t care what you say about me. You can say that I suck, you can say that I’m ugly, you can say that I’m a man — I just don’t care. I’m being me and that’s what so special about it. I’m just here to prove to everyone that they can be themselves and they can love themselves.”
“I love darkness, I love supernatural, I love metal… I love all of that stuff. Coming out and being able to be me is just so special and perfect.”
For the better part of her WWE career, Ripley has walked to the ring while Ash Costello’s voice blared through arena speakers. The New Years Day vocalist lent her pipes to “Brutality,” which she just performed live at WrestleMania 37.
“Walking down that ramp with Ash and New Years Day… oh my god. Absolutely incredible, so wild,” Ripley raves. “It’s honestly a dream come true. Not only are they the most humble, amazing people, but they bloody rock.”
And now that Ripley has not just seen, but walked down a WrestleMania ramp to one of her favorite bands live, she’s got a desire to see another one of her favorites from the pit. “I really want to see Motionless in White again,” she says. “They’re someone I’ve got a real itch for to be in the mosh pit again. I’ve grown up looking at these guys and idolizing these guys. I think I’ve slowly morphed into Chris [Motionless], which is quite wild.”
As for her future, the ‘Nightmare’ isn’t setting specific goals. Instead, the Australian-born Superstar wants to see how far she can make it in the sports entertainment business.
“I try not to set too many goals, because once you get to the goal, then you sort of stop. I would love to main event WrestleMania like Sasha and Bianca did, but if that’s not the end goal for me, then that’s not the end goal. I just want to see how far I can get in this business. I just want to fight. I’m ready to prove myself to everyone.”
Thanks to Rhea Ripley for speaking with us. You can see Ripley reign over the Raw Women’s division every Monday night on the USA Network. To watch her victorious WrestleMania performance against Asuka, head over to Peacock in the United States or the WWE Network across the globe.