Last Updated on March 9, 2024 by Avik Das
Rhea Ripley is gradually conquering the women’s division of WWE as an indomitable force, becoming a main event-level star of the company. The 27-year-old has been associated with the company for six years, with two of these years on the main roster. Besides winning the NXT Women’s Championship and the NXT UK Women’s Championship, she became champions in WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown.
We see Rhea Ripley in goth makeup and her muscle power amuses the fans every day. But the actual face behind the character Rhea Ripley, whose real name is Demi Bennett, is hardly known to the wrestling fans. This article demonstrates the lesser-known facts and rarely-seen Rhea Ripley photos from her personal life, showing her real-life persona. These Rhea Ripley pictures show her friendships, genuine passions besides wrestling, and close-up moments that we barely see in the public eye.
#5 Rhea Ripley in Mae Young Classic
The WWE Mae Young Classic was an all-women tournament, where the best female wrestlers from all over the globe competed, and the winner would be rewarded with a WWE contract. Two editions of the Mae Young Classic were hosted by WWE and Rhea Ripley wrestled both times, even though she didn’t win either of them. In the first edition Mae Young Classic tournament, Rhea won her first match but lost the second round match to Dakota Kai. Eventually, she went far in the semi-finals of the next year, having signed a WWE contract. Contrary to the current look of Mami, she had long hair in the first year of the Mae Young Classic tournament. She is looking like a ‘girl next door’ here with long and blonde hair, making it one of the rarely seen Rhea Ripley photos before making it big.
#4 Mami Was The Miz Fan
Incidentally, Rhea Ripley and The Miz are on the same roster today, with the latter being a full-time star for nearly two decades in WWE. The A-Lister had received a main event push in the early 2010s when he won the WWE Championship and headlined WrestleMania 27. His captivating persona and impeccable talking power made him popular to many fans and a young Mami wasn’t an exception. This image is from his teenage days shows who was her wrestling inspiration while growing up. Ripley was a big fan of The Miz, so much so, that she had a life-size cardboard of the former WWE Champion.
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#3 Rhea Ripley In The Indies
While Mami came to WWE in 2017 through her big break in the Mae Young Classic, her wrestling journey began way before that. After growing up watching WWE, Rhea Riley laced her wrestling boots for the first time in 2013, making her debut for Riot City Wrestling, an Australian-based independent promotion. Then she commented on various independent promotions of Australia wrestling the likes of Toni Storm, Dakota Kai, and Mercedez Martinez. Only a handful of people know about Rhea Ripley’s wrestling career before WWE. During her days in the Indies, she won the Riot City Wrestling Women’s Championship twice. We can see her from independent wrestling days, she can be spotted with long brunette hair looking adorable.
#2 Mami Being People’s Champ
The Rock is an inspiration to myriad people all over the globe, in terms of his popularity as a wrestler or a movie star. In his WWE days, The Great One dominated the Attitude Era, winning the WWE Championship and headlining the big shows. Likewise, as a wrestling fan, The Great One was also a lodestar to Rhea Ripley. With her short hair, this is one of the incredible pictures of her, where she is emulating The Great One. Wearing the black turtle neck and blue jeans, Ripley can easily pull off the iconic look of the People’s Champ.
#1 With Real-Life Partner Buddy Matthews
While WWE Universe is familiar with Rhea Ripley’s relationship with Dominik Mysterio on WWE TV, it’s not her real relationship status. Playing a dominant partner, Ripley has an out-of-box relationship with her Dom Dom, which makes Judgement Day a force to be reckoned with. In their personal lives, Dominik Mysterio has a real-life partner. On the other hand, Rhea Ripley is the partner of AEW wrestler and former WWE Superstar, Buddy Matthews. The two recently announced their engagement, breaking the hearts of many die-hard fans of Mami. In one of the Rhea Ripley pictures from her workout, she is joined by her fiancé, Buddy Murphy. Rhea being muscular and strong, puts a lot of effort into the gym. Similarly, Buddy Murphy shares a common interest, with the couple frequently hitting the gym together.
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Avik Das is the founder of Sportsheed. He is a sports lover with broad knowledge of Professional Wrestling, MMA, Football, and Cricket. He has an English major and has previously written articles for various sports and entertainment websites
