Rhea Ripley reveals stories behind tattoos
Adelaide’s claim to fame Rhea Ripley is known for many things, including her signature riptide and hard-hitting brutality in the ring.
But a recent video from the WWE team has taken a more personal look at the stories behind Ripley’s iconic tattoos.
The video, a part of WWE’s Tattooed collection, takes a deep dive into the art behind the ink.
She revealed that she first wanted tattoos when she started watching wrestling and getting into heavier music at a young age, despite some of her family being not too happy with the idea.
“They weren’t really fond of me getting tattoos, but they also weren’t fond of me wrestling and then they started to love that,” she said.
Her first tattoo was the date ‘XXVIII’ in Roman numerals, which she got matching with now AEW star Toni Storm.
The date signified not only the WWE Evolution PPV but also the date she tried out for Riot City Wrestling Academy in Adelaide six years prior.
“It’s technically the start of my wrestling career and it’s also the start of the women’s revolution,” she said.
“It really was the start of my awesome career here in WWE and the gradual change into the nightmare, the eradicator, and the brutality to see today.”
After getting over the “sting” of her first tat, Ripley started her artistic journey.
Ripley also got deep in the interview and shared the story of her most meaningful tattoo; a chicken jar across the outside of her upper arm.
The superstar revealed the tattoo represented a bowl that used to belong to her now passed Nonna, which would hold candy for the children during family visits.
“I wanted a piece of her with me… as a little reminder to me,” she said.
“I think it’s one of my favorites just because of how sentimental it actually is.”
Among some other wrestling-themed tattoos Ripley got with her fellow members of (what once was) The Judgement Day, the Aussie also shared a cheeky story of a thumb tattoo she got with Dominick Mysterio.
After not being booked for SummerSlam 2023, Ripley and Mysterio, in protest, decided to get a matching ghost tattooed on their thumbs to represent them being “ghosted” from the PPV.
It was, however, halfway through the tattoo, that the two were called on to appear on the show.
“Work’s not gonna like this story, whatever, I don’t care… sorry,” she said.
“We went to the tattoo parlor instead of getting on the bus for work… when we sat down we got called so we ran back, but we took our time.”
Check out the full video on the official WWE YouTube channel, or from the link below.
News Writer + Aussies Abroad. Based in Adelaide and winner of the 2023 CPA Young Journo of the year, has been a news and arts journalist for a number of years working across radio and print, but has decided to take her wrestling addiction to PWDU. You can find her at any local wrestling night across the state with a beer in-hand and a front-row ticket to the action.
