Rhea Ripley

**Demi Bennett** (Born October 11th 1996) is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to Humiliating Pro Wrestling (HPW) under the ring name **Rhea Ripley**. Before HPW she had wrestled in Riot City Wrestling in Adelaide, South Australia. A young Bennett then debuted in Melbourne City Wrestling and New Horizon Pro Wrestling before Bennett finally worked in World Wrestling Entertainment on the NXT UK and NXT developmental brands. During this tenure, Bennett spent time in Japan, Europe, the USA and North and South Australia.

## **Character Description**

Tall and intensely muscled, Rhea Ripley has the frame of a chiseled marble statue. Her upper body is wide, arms and torso thick with hard-earned muscle. Bursting her way onto the pro-wrestling scene in 2013 (then under her real name) Ripley established herself as a talent to watch. Showing a natural skills in athleticism, a young Rhea was a shining star on the football field, playing everything from netball and rugby to competing in karate and kickboxing. Often labelled as an overachiever, Ripley’s pro-wrestling career is backed up by even more evidence to showcase her talents. Appearing in both of the prestigious Mae Young Classics, Ripley’s complete overhaul of her looks is what set her apart from the rest. A punk rock, goth attire and taking on a cold, ruthless attitude to match.

Getting her start on the Australian Independent circuit, Rhea is a two-time Riot City Wrestling Women’s Champion - as well as competing across Australia and spending 3 months in Japan at just 17 years old. A standout in the WWE Performance Center and the Mae Young Classic, Rhea Ripley entered the world of Sports Entertainment already a seasoned and cutthroat grappler with one goal on her mind, to rip the women of any and all divisions apart. The ultra-aggressive and terrifyingly strong Aussie embraces her true self every time she’s in the ring, and that has spelled bad news for anyone who faces her, as she already had the physical goods to stand toe-to-toe with any wrestler, no matter the opponent. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, it took little time at all for The Nightmare, as she was now known, to secure herself a place in history.

Becoming the first ever NXT UK Women’s Champion and enjoying a steady reign before losing it to longtime rival Toni Storm - Ripley joined the NXT roster and dethroned Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Championship. Competing in both Survivor Series matches that included NXT and both Women’s WarGames matches alongside Candice LeRae,  witnessing the betrayal of Dakota Kai. Spending time on the Main Roster, Ripley had an intense rivalry with Sonya Deville, eventually turning into a friendship and mutual respect/equal narcissism boiling between the women. Since then, Ripley spent another year as NXT Women’s Champion - through WrestleMania 36, until late 2020 - where Rhea finally lost her Championship to Charlotte Flair. During her time as Champion, Rhea established herself as a leader, a brutal competitor and a name to be remembered. Suffering through contract disputes, call-up concerns and the loss of Deville and other female talents from the WWE, Rhea then left the company, asking for her release on March 10th, 2021.

As a talent, Rhea is a feared and powerful competitor. Possessing an arsenal of weaponry ranging from slams and suplexes to deadly kicks and big boots, Rhea wrestles as a hybrid of multiple styles, using her training on the independents as well as her mainstream success. With a picture-perfect powerbomb and northern lights suplex, Ripley has all the tools to completely outlast, outmatch and outperform her opponent. Having an impressive amount of stamina and resilience, it takes more than someone’s best efforts to fell Ripley. Dominant and ruthless, Rhea’s strength proves to be her best asset inside the ropes, but used in different ways. Using it to overwhelm and torture her opponents with slams, strikes and holds. Either disabling them straight away, or suspending the agony until they’re forced to give up.

Rhea is a dominant personality away from the ring as well as in it. Edgy, spiky with a cold attitude and a merciless nose for sniffing out BS. She’s often called a ‘meathead’ for her ability to rush headlong into conflicts - often starting them but still making sure that she gets her shots in. Ripley is a silver-tongued deviant, who raises the ire of most around her. But for those that don’t hate her guts outright, and those that can stomach her unique behavior, they’ll find an utterly loyal and respectful friend, who is willing to listen about as much as she can speak.

## **In Wrestling**

### Finishing Move

* The Riptide (Pumphandle Slam/Pumphandle Powerbomb)
* The Prism Trap (Inverted Standing Texas Cloverleaf/Gorilla Clutch)

### Signature Move

* Big Boot
* Delayed Vertical Suplex
* Northern Lights Suplex
* Superplex
* GTS (Go-To-Sleep)
* Belly-to-Back Facebuster
* Electric Chair Facebuster
* Ripcord Dropkick
* Missile Dropkick
* Short-arm Clothesline
* Cravate Knee Strikes
* Apron Cannonball
* Pop-Up Flapjack
* Full Nelson Slam
* Headbutt

### Notable Moves

* Back Body Drop
* Release German Suplex
* Snap Suplex
* Vertical Suplex
* Powerbomb
* Running Powerbomb
* Snapmare
* Shinbreaker
* Clothesline
* Corner Shoulder Blocks
* Shoulder Block
* Step-up Enziguri
* Dropkick
* Corner ‘Hesitation’ Dropkick
* Basement Dropkick
* Roundhouse Kick
* Capoeira Kick
* Pele Kick
* Spinning Heel Kick
* Bicycle Roundhouse Kick
* Apron Penalty Kick
* Corner Running Big Boot
* Knee Lifts
* Spinal Tap
* Short-arm Lariat
* Diving Crossbody Plancha
* Swanton Bomb
* Somersault Senton
* Tope con Hilo
* Pop-Up Toss Slam
* Fallaway Slam
* Leg-drop
* Biel
* Cutter
* Snap DDT
* Hurricanrana
* Eat Defeat/Solefood
* Fujiwara Armbar