What Is WWE Star Rhea Ripley's Real Name?
As the reigning WWE Women's World Champion as of this writing, Rhea Ripley has one of the highest profiles among the promotion's female wrestlers. She was born on October 11, 1996, in Adelaide, South Australia, and embarked on her wrestling career in 2013. She started out within her home country's independent circuit, debuting with Riot City Wrestling before making a bigger impression outside Australia. She was determined to make it to the WWE very early on and worked hard to make it happen.
As many people know, wrestlers usually use a stage name when performing. In Ripley's case, her real name is Demi Bennett. When she first started wrestling, Bennett used her birth name but chose the name Rhea Ripley when she left the Australian indie scene for WWE in 2017. Three years later, Ripley appeared in her first-ever WrestleMania, though things didn't go as she hoped. Charlotte Flair defeated Ripley to win the NXT Women's Championship — but that hasn't slowed Ripley down at all.
In the years since then, Ripley has built up a significant fanbase, and she has really gotten into her adopted wrestling persona.
Rhea Ripley says she uses her ring name in real life
Even when she's not cutting a promo or going at it in the WWE ring, Rhea Ripley says she uses her stage name. In an interview with "The Ringer Wrestling Show" in May 2023, Ripley said that she often refers to herself as Rhea, rather than her real name. "I say Rhea. Always," she responded when asked what name she uses whenever she introduces herself. "I always say Rhea, even when ordering at Starbucks. It's Rhea. Everything." She went on to say that only a few people actually use her real name, save for her family back home in Australia. "Rhea is such a confident person where, like, in my everyday life, I am quite shy and quiet," she explained. "So, I wanna bring Rhea into my normal life as well as I want her confidence. So I think I just live through my character sometimes because it's the more confident version of myself that I don't get to be all the time," she added.
As for the meaning of the name Rhea, it comes from the Greek word for "a flowing stream." Rhea's birth name, Demi, is French for the word "half." The name also has a Greek origin and stems from the Greek goddess Demeter — in this version, the name translates to "earth mother."
Rhea Ripley also has a nickname on WWE programming
Rhea Ripley joined WWE's Judgment Day faction, officially becoming a villainous character in the WWE universe. From there, an on-screen relationship with second-generation WWE star Dominik Mysterio, the son of wrestling legend Rey Mysterio, took shape. And it was Dominik that actually gave Ripley her wrestling nickname: Mami. In her interview on "The Ringer Wrestling Show," Ripley explained how the nickname came to be. "I got myself an Eddie Guerrero shirt that boldly proclaimed, 'I'm your Papi.' I decided to give it a whirl, and boy, did the internet go wild," she said. "I kept running with it." The wrestler added that WWE's creative team decided to change it to "Mami" and, thus, Ripley got her own in-ring nickname.
In a September 2022 appearance on WWE's The Bump, Ripley talked a bit more about the nickname. "I love every single aspect of that. I called myself Papi before just to sort of get under his skin and get through to him and also just make fun of Rey. Dom Dom gets what he wants. If he wants Mami, it's Mami. If he wants Papi, it's Papi," Ripley explained, referring to her on-screen relationship with Dominik.
Meanwhile, in real life, Ripley announced her engagement to her fellow Aussie wrestler, AEW's Buddy Matthews, on Instagram on August 9. It's been a great year for Ripley, who not only won the 2023 Women's Royal Rumble match but also got her revenge on Charlotte Flair, nabbing the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 39 in April — this title was renamed the WWE Women's World Championship after Ripley moved from SmackDown to Raw in May.