Bertha Faye

**Rhonda Ann Singh** (February 21, 1961 – July 27, 2001) was a Canadian professional wrestler. After training with Mildred Burke, she wrestled in Japan under the name Monster Ripper. In 1987, she returned to Canada and began working with Stampede Wrestling, where she was their first Stampede Women's Champion. In 1995, she worked in the World Wrestling Federation as the comedic character Bertha Faye, winning the WWF Women's Championship.

## Early life

While growing up in Calgary, Singh knew she wanted to be a wrestler from an early age and attended numerous Stampede Wrestling cards as a child with her mother. As a teenager, Singh approached members of the Hart family asking to be trained. Despite being rejected, she still dreamed of becoming a professional wrestler. A trip to Hawaii in 1978 changed her life forever as she saw Japanese women's wrestling on television. A friend gave 17-year-old Singh a wrestling magazine which contained contact information for Mildred Burke's training facility in Encino, California. She wrote the women's wrestling legend and sent along a biography and photo. After receiving a reply from Burke, she made a decision which changed her life.

## Professional wrestling career

After a few weeks of training with Burke, Singh was scouted by All-Japan who wanted to bring her in despite her inexperience. Burke was the only U.S. trainer having women go over to Japan at the time. Her first match in Japan was with partner Mami Komeni against Beauty Pair (Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda) on January 4, 1979.

   A combination of youth and inexperience made life in Japan somewhat difficult for Singh during her first few months there. Many of the established Japanese wrestlers were unwilling to share their experience with the young Canadian wrestler. It was not until she ran into a touring The Dynamite Kid that she was able to gain a greater grasp of how to deal with her fellow wrestlers.

Singh's first run in All-Japan peaked when she won their Women's World Title from Jackie Sato on July 31, 1979 -- a little over six months after her professional debut. Despite losing the title to Sato six weeks later, she regained it on March 15, 1980 via countout after outside interference from the Black Pair (Mami Kumao and Yumi Ikeshita). The title was vacated in August 1980 after another epic battle with Sato.

A brief return to Calgary in the early '80s allowed Singh the chance to finally perform in front of her hometown crowd. After another stint in Japan, Sing returned to Stampede on a regular basis in late 1987 and was named their Women's Champion as she had defeated Wendi Richter before coming back to the territory. She held the title until September 22, 1988, losing to Chigusa Nagayo. Over the next few years, Singh would once again travel throughout the world and wrestle for a number of promotions, holding several titles.

In 1995, Singh was contacted by the World Wrestling Federation to add depth to their fledgling women's division.

However, she was repackaged as Harvey Wippleman's trailer park-dwelling girlfriend Bertha Faye. Sadly, this is how many North American fans remember her. The original plan was to be part of an angle with Bull Nakano, who she had many epic battles with in Japan, which was meant to develop fan interest in the women's division.

But that isn't how it happened. Nakano was found in possession of cocaine which prompted a change of plans. She made her WWF debut on an episode of Monday Night Raw participating in a sneak attack Alundra Blayze making it appear as if they had broken her nose.

Singh was not pleased with the development. Singh also found it incredibly difficult to adopt a new persona after spending almost all of her career as Monster Ripper. With her character creatively restricted, Singh was also limited to what moves she could perform in the ring. She was not allowed to used an overhead press or a powerbomb as other WWF stars were utilizing them at the time.

    Fan interest in women's wrestling sunk once again as the year closed, even with the addition of Japanese star Aja Kong. After a year as Bertha Faye, she had the WWF release her from her contract. She briefly returned to Japan, but found it difficult to adjust to a new system without guaranteed payouts.

In late 1999, she made a brief return with World Championship Wrestling and appeared on several telecasts to generate some interest in a women's division. Women's wrestling had changed greatly in the time since Singh was last with a major North American promotion. While her stay was brief, Singh appeared to enjoy her time with the promotion.

In 2000, she retired from professional wrestling and eventually worked as a caregiver for the handicapped/disabled.

## Death

On July 27, 2001, Singh died after suffering a heart attack in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at the age of 40, most likely due to complications from diabetes.

There were rumors about how Singh died. Most reports noted that she committed suicide, most likely in an interview with Online World of Wrestling Radio where Bruno "Harvey Wippleman" Lauer states that, "she took herself out." A possibility could have been because she might have failed to find success in wrestling due to bad gimmicks. Suffering from weight problems, a few other sources noted Singh had took an overdose of pills which caused her to have a heart attack leading to her death. Her family attributed her death to medical problems.