Independent Wrestling Career
Demi Bennett was born on October 11, 1996, in Adelaide, Australia. She is a lifelong wrestling fan and cites The Miz as one of her favorite superstars growing up. During her childhood, Bennett competed in swimming, karate, rugby, netball, and soccer before embarking on her professional wrestling career.
Bennett began working across the Australian independent scene in 2013, wrestling for promotions like Riot City Wrestling and Melbourne City Wrestling.
NXT UK Career
In 2017, Bennett signed with WWE and competed in the Inaugural Mae Young Classic under her new ring name, Rhea Ripley. She established herself as a heel on NXT before becoming a part of WWE’s newest project, NXT UK.
On November 28, 2018, Rhea defeated Toni Storm to become the inaugural NXT UK Women’s Champion. This victory made her the first female Australian champion in WWE (the first Australian WWE champion of any gender was Buddy Murphy, who won the Cruiserweight Championship just a few months earlier).
Rhea held the NXT UK Women’s Championship for 139 days before dropping the title to Toni Storm. She spent the next few months feuding with Piper Niven (Doudrop) and made her first main roster appearance at the 2019 Royal Rumble.
NXT Women’s Championship Reign
On August 28, 2019, Rhea made her surprise return to the American NXT brand and entered a feud with the NXT Women’s Champion, Shayna Baszler. This feud consequently turned Rhea face for the first time since her WWE debut.
At NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Rhea led her own babyface team against Team Baszler in the first-ever women’s WarGames match. Rhea pinned Baszler to secure the victory for her team. Then, a few weeks later, Rhea defeated Baszler to win the NXT Women’s Championship, consequently becoming the first person to hold both the NXT and NXT UK Women’s Championships.
Rhea lost her championship to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36 in what remains a very controversial match.
Main Roster Debut
In February 2021, WWE began airing vignettes foreshadowing Rhea’s arrival to the main roster. She made her Raw debut on March 22 by challenging Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 37. Rhea then defeated Asuka for the championship, marking her first title win on the main roster.
However, a familiar enemy soon crossed paths with Rhea once again; Charlotte Flair started gunning for Rhea’s championship. After a few unsuccessful attempts, Charlotte defeated Rhea for the Raw Women’s Championship at Money in the Bank on July 18, 2021.
Rhea then formed a tag team with Nikki A.S.H. On September 20, 2021, Rhea and Nikki defeated Natalya and Tamina to become the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. When their partnership ended due to Nikki turning heel, Rhea found a new tag partner in Liv Morgan. Unfortunately, that partnership also came to an abrupt end when Rhea attacked Liv Morgan in the ring and turned heel once again.
Rhea Joins The Judgment Day
At WrestleMania Backlash 2022, Rhea came to the aid of Edge and revealed herself to be the newest member of The Judgment Day alongside Edge and Damian Priest. Just a few weeks later, Rhea and Damian betrayed Edge in favor of electing Finn Balor as the group’s new leader.
The Judgment Day then entered a feud against the Mysterios that ultimately ended in Dominik Mysterio betraying his father and entering an onscreen relationship with Rhea. Dominik and Rhea quickly became one of the most despised couples in WWE, though they were an undeniably entertaining duo.
After winning the 2023 Royal Rumble, Rhea defeated her old rival Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 39. The title was soon rebranded as the WWE Women’s World Championship.
