- 1 week ago
Rhea Ripley reacts to her looks over the years
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00:00But I remember getting my first arm tattoo and it was this one right here, my little
00:05demon lady.
00:07And I remember rocking up to NXT absolutely terrified because I didn't get it approved
00:11at all.
00:12Hunter walked up to me as we were going through the cage match and he goes, is that new?
00:18And I go, yeah, I got it a couple of days ago.
00:22And he goes, oh, it looks awesome.
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00:52Oh, Jesus Christ.
00:54This is my WWE tryout in Melbourne, Australia.
00:59I am currently wrestling Kellyanne.
01:01Man, I look like a baby.
01:04I got my bra sticking out of my top.
01:06That's how bad my gear was at the time.
01:09I bought those Asami kick pads in Japan.
01:12And I bought them shooters in Japan too.
01:15And I went there at 17 years old for three months to live in a dojo and train and do shows.
01:22I don't think I was really going for a specific look.
01:26I think I just wanted to show them what I could do and then hopefully have them mold me into
01:32something that they wanted.
01:33That's why I have no tattoos here because I was scared that if I had tattoos, I wouldn't be hired.
01:38The funny thing about the tryout was William Regal literally said to all of us, don't expect
01:44to hear back from us.
01:46We're very busy.
01:47We've got a lot of people on our minds.
01:49We've got a lot of tryouts.
01:51We have a lot of shows coming up.
01:53We're traveling a lot.
01:54It could take months.
01:55It could take years.
01:57I heard back in four days and then I had to start packing up my life and getting ready
02:01for this moment here, the first Mae Young Classic.
02:06And as you can tell, I didn't get any new gear.
02:10I was just like, well, they like this.
02:12So this is what they're getting.
02:15It obviously worked.
02:16It got me the job.
02:17I don't even have much makeup on.
02:19I remember doing the makeup and sitting in the makeup chair and I'm like, as natural
02:22as you can, pretty much like I'm not wearing anything at all because I hate makeup.
02:27As you can see, these days, not as natural as you can.
02:32These days, as black as you can, as dark as you can, make me as pale as you can.
02:39The next evolution is right after the second Mae Young Classic and it is in NXT UK when
02:45I became the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion.
02:50I finally cut my hair.
02:51I was doing things that I wanted to do and I wasn't feeling good about myself and my job
03:00and everything.
03:01I had gone through a lot within the first Mae Young and the second Mae Young.
03:04And it got to a point where I was like, you got to do it for you.
03:07You got to be you.
03:08You got to be comfortable and confident in your own skin.
03:11And it's time to show everyone exactly what the hell you have.
03:16I changed my gear.
03:17I remember them saying in NXT, you can't get tattoos unless they're hidden.
03:25So me being the cheeky little that I am, I was like, all right, well, in this new outfit
03:32that I'm going to be making and debuting on the second Mae Young, I'm going to be wearing pants.
03:39And then I got called over to NXT UK because the second Mae Young Classic, I managed to somehow impress everyone.
03:47Tegan Nox obviously got injured, had to have a match with Io.
03:50We had what, it was like 20 minutes to plan a 15 minute match, didn't speak any English.
03:55It was absolute chaos and we went out there and killed it.
03:58And I think after that, Hannah was just like, okay, well, I see big things for her.
04:03She's impressed me now.
04:04And that was like such limited timing to get ready.
04:08And she didn't crack under pressure.
04:11So that's when I headed to NXT UK.
04:13I understand why people said I look like Pete Dunne.
04:19Just look at that face.
04:21We had the same face at the time and pretty much the same hair.
04:26I was going through some stuff, you know, I was going through some stuff.
04:30Pete could pull it off.
04:31I could not.
04:32This is from the second Mae Young Classic, the Io Sky match that I was talking about.
04:37Io Shirai.
04:38I was just being me, letting my anger out.
04:42And unfortunately for Io, it was all directed towards her.
04:46That's why I stepped on her like a little bug.
04:49This right here is obviously after I came into NXT and I was a little bit slimmer, a little bit more shredded.
04:57Went to the gym more often.
04:59Cut a little bit more on my hair because why not?
05:02I started shaving the sides because I was braiding the sides for the longest time.
05:05And it started literally ripping my hair out to the point that I was balding.
05:08So I shaved a little bit and it gradually grew and grew and grew.
05:12And I ended up shaving both sides completely and then the back as well.
05:15But this is one of my first matches in NXT.
05:20You can tell I'm a whole different animal.
05:22Oh God.
05:23And then it just gets better and better.
05:26NXT.
05:27I finally beat Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women's Championship.
05:30And I had my own little mosh pit, my own little celebration in the ring with everyone.
05:36Candice is there to hold my hand.
05:38Wild.
05:39Absolutely wild.
05:40The NXT crowd is one of the best crowds.
05:42They honestly skyrocketed my career.
05:47Like if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be in the position that I'm in right now.
05:52If it wasn't for them believing in me and getting behind me from all the coconut loops,
05:56all the NXT road shows, then I definitely wouldn't have been given the opportunities that I then got.
06:05Wow, I look like a peacock.
06:08This is not a good shot.
06:10I was so nervous this day.
06:12This is WrestleMania.
06:14My first ever WrestleMania.
06:16WrestleMania 36 against Charlotte Flair.
06:21I was the NXT Women's Champion and Charlotte had won the Royal Rumble and she challenged me,
06:27which was a massive accomplishment.
06:29It's the first time the NXT Championship had been shown on WrestleMania.
06:33It was my first ever WrestleMania.
06:36There was supposed to be people.
06:38There was supposed to be my family, but then obviously COVID happened and it went to the performance center.
06:43So I think the decision behind the white gear was I just wanted it to be something special for WrestleMania.
06:48I wanted it to be something different.
06:50I didn't want them.
06:52I didn't want people to be like, oh, her gear looks the same.
06:54Like they couldn't pick out what my WrestleMania gear was.
06:58I just wanted something different and special and sentimental for my first ever WrestleMania.
07:02So I chose Vegeta as someone who I idolized growing up.
07:06I thought he was awesome.
07:08I absolutely loved Vegeta.
07:09He was my favorite Dragon Ball Z character.
07:11And the way that he has so many walls up, but he's also so loving deep down.
07:17That's just who I am.
07:20And that's how I portrayed myself as well.
07:23So, um, yeah, I just, I went with the white to be different.
07:29My first WrestleMania with people in attendance.
07:33Look at that.
07:34I felt so scared this day, like absolutely so terrified.
07:40The bands that I love, they all have cool jackets, right?
07:43Like they all have epic looking jackets.
07:45I used to wear a denim jacket back in, uh, Riot City Wrestling in Australia.
07:49And then when I came to NXT, Ruby Riot at the time was always wearing denim jackets.
07:54So I was like, okay, well, I can't wear my denim jacket.
07:56Cause I don't want to steal Ruby's stuff.
07:59You know, like that's her gimmick.
08:01Um, so I was like, ah, I want to wear leather.
08:04So I started wearing leather, but I was like, oh, the sleeves are just, it's too hot.
08:08It's too hard to get it off.
08:09My shoulders are too broad.
08:10So that's when I started cutting the sleeves off and I started wearing it as a vest.
08:14And I found a lot of joy and happiness in putting studs on them and making them look the way that I wanted them to look.
08:22Like I'd cut my shirts up.
08:23I'd put them on the back, safety pin it on because I didn't have a sewing machine.
08:26So I didn't want to sit there hand sewing it the whole time.
08:29So I just make it look as grungy and as cool as I possibly can to kind of like replicate like Black Bell Brides, Emotionless in White.
08:36Um, their sort of style, just cause that's what I grew up always loving.
08:40So when I first started getting my gauges, I was either grade seven, grade eight, I want to say.
08:46Um, and I got them because my friend Soraya, my best friend, her dad had gauges and I thought he was really cool.
08:53Uh, I liked the way they looked.
08:55So me and Soraya, we both got gauges as well.
08:57I remember buying this spiral stretcher, um, in Australia and it was a two mil.
09:04I hadn't stretched my ears yet.
09:07I remember sitting in the corner at the shops as mum kept shopping.
09:11I licked this stretcher and I'm sitting in the corner trying to shove it through my pierced ears, which is a normal hole size.
09:20I'm trying to stretch it straight to a two mil.
09:23And I remember this lady walking past me and she had these big gauges and she just goes,
09:29doesn't it?
09:30But that was like the start of the end for me.
09:32I just kept, I kept going.
09:33Every time I'd wrestle, they'd get pulled out, which would like rip it a little bit more.
09:37I'm like, Oh, I think it can size up now because it's a little bit ripped.
09:39So I'd go the next size up.
09:40It's pre-stretched it for me.
09:42I didn't have to stretch it myself.
09:43The match stretched it.
09:45The absolute mega turning point for me in my career is when,
09:52Edge came to me with an idea and we managed to get it all confirmed and then played out.
10:02This is when I first started and joined the judgment day, the OG judgment day.
10:09Me, Edge and Damien Priest, my bestie, my terror twin.
10:15Obviously my gear didn't get finished in time because that's just the story of my life.
10:21So I was freaking the hell out.
10:25I didn't know what to do.
10:26I just knew that I needed matching purple in some way, shape or form.
10:30So I went on to Amazon and I bought a bodysuit.
10:33And that's why I am wearing long sleeves for the first and only time in my career, because this is literally a bodysuit from Amazon that I was just throwing together.
10:43And then these bottoms surat literally made on the day because I had nothing to wear.
10:50So I've always loved tattoos.
10:51Always.
10:52Like since I was a little kid, I was always planning my tattoos.
10:55Yeah.
10:56I mean, I started getting leg sleeves because obviously I was wearing pants and at the time you had to get everything confirmed and that just took forever.
11:02So I was like, okay.
11:03Then when this day happened, when I didn't have gear, that's when I first debuted the shorts because like, it was just, I'm sorry.
11:13Like, that's just what has to happen.
11:14Serac can't make pants in a day, in a few hours.
11:17So that's when the legs finally came out.
11:20But I remember getting my first arm tattoo and it was this one right here, my little demon lady.
11:26And it was a couple of days before my cage match with Mercedes Martinez in NXT.
11:31And I remember rocking up to NXT, absolutely terrified because I didn't get it approved at all.
11:36And I remember Hannah walked up to me as we were going through the cage match and he goes, is that new?
11:44And I go, yeah, I got it a couple of days ago.
11:48And he goes, oh, it looks awesome.
11:51That's sick.
11:52And like walks away.
11:53And I was like, oh my God, are you kidding me?
11:55My boss just said that my tattoo was sick and he didn't yell at me for it.
11:59He didn't tell me off.
12:00So it was at that point where I knew that like, I couldn't really do any wrong.
12:04So I just kept getting tattoos.
12:06And he just kept telling me that they looked really cool.
12:09So I kind of just kept getting away with it.
12:12I don't know how.
12:15WrestleMania, 39.
12:18I beat Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
12:21I finally had the crowd that I had always wanted.
12:23I had my family in attendance.
12:25I was wrestling Charlotte, one of my dream matches at WrestleMania for a title.
12:29And this time I ended up coming out victorious.
12:32And that's where this photo is from.
12:34And this is one of the best days of my life.
12:36This match was just so insane.
12:39And to hear people still talking about this match makes me so proud.
12:44Like it really does.
12:45Because we went out there and we just absolutely battered each other.
12:49Like we didn't hold back at all.
12:51So I did this makeup for my husband.
12:54He's done this strip makeup on one of his shows.
12:57So I wanted to do that.
12:59And the, what do you call it?
13:02Like the rags, the cloak kind of thing that I'm wearing under my jacket.
13:09That's also his.
13:10I stole that from him.
13:11I was like, I want to just be you at WrestleMania 39.
13:15Cause it's going to make me feel comfortable and confident.
13:18And I feel like I have a part of you with me.
13:20So, um, yeah, I put them in there as a little, I love you to him.
13:26In 2024, you both made events to Philly in your home country and received the live music entrance at WrestleMania.
13:35I literally never thought that I would get those two opportunities, especially at being motionless in white at WrestleMania 40.
13:42Like they're my all time favorite band.
13:44Having them there was insane.
13:47Um, and then being able to main event in Australia was just a dream come true.
13:54It really was.
13:55I never, I never could have ever imagined this being my life.
14:02I don't know what I've done to deserve this.
14:05I don't know what I've done to earn any of this, but like going back to Australia the first time in a long time,
14:14I hadn't wrestled in front of Australian, Australian crowd for seven years to leave as a RCW women's champion,
14:21but then come back as a WWE women's world champion for a PLE in Perth, Australia, Elimination Chamber and being able to main event a show where normally Elimination Chamber events.
14:37But for it to be a singles match, little Adelaide girl, um, back home living her dream, family in the front row.
14:45It was wild. It was really, really wild. And like, you can see them all like my entire family is so happy for me.
14:55Like, that's my sister, that's my cousin, that's my uncle, my mum, my dad, my cousin, my uncle.
15:04It's just, it's insane. And like, I can't wait to go back. I really can't. I'm so excited.
15:13So the mask. The mask of all masks. My little demon mask. It started off as a clear mask, then went to a black mask, and then became a demon mask.
15:24This is because I broke my face. There's not much more I can really say. I broke my face.
15:31I had a little bro with Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, and Liv gave me a code breaker.
15:41But she gave it to me, and the way that she turned, my face went straight into her knee.
15:46Um, and I remember it hitting my eye, and I instantly, I couldn't like open it, and it was like fluttering, and it kind of hurt a bit.
15:53But like, my pain tolerance was really high. Um, but I just knew that I couldn't see, and I couldn't open it.
15:59And it was watering, and I had to finish the spot. So I had to, with one eye, I was doing the rest of the fighting, and then they went out of the ring.
16:07And then I remember I went over to the ropes, and I was so lost that I just bit the rope.
16:12And I was like, at least I know where I am. And I just remember biting the rope, and holding on, and then doing a creepy smile.
16:18And then I came backstage, and I was like, I think my eye's gonna fall out of my face.
16:22It just doesn't feel like it's stable right now. So that's where this mask kind of came from.
16:27Um, I knew it was the last day that I had to wear the mask for a little bit. I could take it off.
16:33Um, so I wanted it to look as cool as possible. It was war games. Like, you always want to look cool for war games. You're going to war.
16:39So, um, Jason Baker made me look like a little demon, and I absolutely loved it.
16:46WrestleMania 41.
16:48One of my favorite matches. Me versus Erosky versus Bianca Belair for the Women's World Championship.
16:56And I was, uh, the Batman that laughs. So, AKA, the Joker Batman.
17:01It's where the red lipstick came in. It looked kind of crazy. I was scared to look in the mirror.
17:06I looked in the mirror, and I scared myself. But I love it. This was, like, such a look, you know?
17:11Like, I tried to do the wet hair look. But this is probably one of my favorite looks that I've done.
17:15One of my favorite gears, and definitely one of my favorite matches. Summer Slam!
17:21It's also one of my favorite gears. I literally messaged my gear lady, um, Wicked Lester. And I was like, I have no idea what I want to do for gear.
17:31Can you guys please just put something together for me? Like, I've got no inspiration. I've got nothing I want to dress as.
17:37I was so lost. And they pulled out this gear, and it was the best gear ever. And, like, Wicked Lester pretty much replicated the gear that I wore at Summer Slam the year prior where Dom turned on me.
17:49I pretty much paid homage to that while making it better. Like, I haven't forgotten, but this is the new me.
17:57It's so weird looking back at the evolution, like, to see how unconfident I was. To now see the absolute animal I've become.
18:09Obviously, I started with very natural makeup. I didn't like having too heavy makeup because I thought I looked really stupid.
18:16And then once I did it and I found someone that did it well on my face, I kind of didn't look back. Then I found Jet.
18:24Jet does my makeup really nicely. She's kind of helped me make Rhea into Rhea.
18:31When Rhea Ripley takes over my body, it's very hard to find Demi in all of that.
18:37Rhea's a whole different animal. People have talked about it before. Like, Zelina Vega's mentioned it a couple times.
18:42Like, I have a look in my eye which is like, I'm gonna kill you. We're doing this. I'm fighting. Like, I have no remorse.
18:48I am fully immersed in Rhea Ripley where I didn't have that look in my eye when you go back to the first May Young Classic and my tryout.
18:56I was just trying to do my job. So it's wild to see how far I've come and I'm very proud of how far I've come.
19:04I am very proud of how I've come.
19:09.
19:10.
19:14.
19:18.
19:25.
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