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Rhea Ripley may have been a huge name in WWE right now, but her early days in the promotion were not as easy. She made her first television appearance for WWE as a participant in the Mae Young Classic tournament back in 2017, and she could only clear the round of 32.
In the round of 16, she was eliminated by the Kiwi professional wrestler Dakota Kai. She returned for the second Mae Young Classic tournament in 2018, and this time she reached the semi finals as she defeated MJ Kenkins, Kacy Catanzaro, and Tegan Nox in the process. But ultimately, she was eliminated by Io Shirai, who now goes by the name of Iyo Sky.
Rhea Ripley remembers her participation in the Mae Young Classic tournaments
Rhea Ripley recently remembered her performance in both of the Mae Young Classic tournaments and she also explained how it impacted her professional wrestling career. Speaking on the “WWE Break It Down” podcast, she revealed the following while looking back at her early beginnings in WWE;
Rhea Ripley participated in both Mae Young Classic tournaments
“As you can tell, I didn’t get any new gear. I was just like, ‘Well, they like this, so this is what they’re getting.’ It obviously worked, it got me the job. I don’t even have much makeup on. I remember doing the makeup, and sitting in the makeup chair and I’m like, ‘As natural as you can. Pretty much like I’m not wearing anything at all, because I hate makeup.’ As you can see these days, not as natural as you can. As black as you can, as dark as you can. Make me as pale as you can.”
She has been active in the main roster of WWE since 2021
She also talked about getting a WWE call up quickly after the tournament, “The funny thing about the tryout was William Regal literally said to all of us, ‘Don’t expect to hear back from us. We’re very busy, we’ve got a lot of people on our minds, we’ve got a lot of tryouts. We have a lot of shows coming up, we’re traveling a lot. It could take months, it could take years.’ I heard back in four days. And then I had to start packing up my life and getting ready.”
Soon after the second Mae Young Classic tournament, Rhea Ripley got a professional contract in WWE, and she started working in the NXT UK, which is the developmental territory of WWE. In 2021, she made her main roster debut, and today she stands as one of the biggest attractions of WWE. She is a three times World Champion and she is also a regular main eventer of WWE.
