Rhea Ripley

Demi Bennett (born 11 October 1996) is an Australian professional wrestler.

She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Rhea Ripley.

She is a member of The Judgment Day stable and is the current Women's World Champion in her first reign.

Demi Bennett was born on 11 October 1996 in Adelaide, South Australia.

She is of Italian descent through her mother's side.

After competing on the independent circuit under her real name since 2013, Ripley joined WWE as a part of the inaugural Mae Young Classic in 2017.

Bennett began to work in Riot City Wrestling in 2013.

She spent several years in the promotion, where she became a two-time RCW Women's Champion.

Bennett's New Horizon Pro Wrestling debut was made on 24 May 2014 during the opening night of the NHPW Global Conflict where she joined the Global Conflict Tournament.

She was eliminated during the first round of the tournament by Mercedes Martinez.

She returned for the second night of the NHPW Global Conflict event, competing in a four way mixed tag team match paired with Garry Schmidt.

Six months later, Bennett returned and was part of the opening night of the NHPW Final Chapter event, wrestling a Four Way Match against Madison Eagles, Evie and Saraya Knight with the vacant IndyGurlz Australia Championship at stake.

However, Bennett did not win the title.

Bennett made her Melbourne City Wrestling debut on 14 June 2014 at MCW New Horizons where she defended the RCW Women's title in a Three Way match against Savannah Summers and Toni Storm.

On 9 August at MCW Clash Of The Titans, Bennett defeated Miami to retain her Women's Championship.

Bennett continued her winning streak with a third consecutive victory, defeating Savannah Summers at MCW Fight For A Cause.

On 22 April 2017, Bennett wrestled her last RCW match at RCW Strength where she successfully defended the Women's title against Kellyanne.

In 2017, Bennett signed with WWE, and it was announced that she would compete in the inaugural Mae Young Classic under the new name "Rhea Ripley".

She defeated Miranda Salinas in the first round but lost to Dakota Kai in the second round.

Ripley made her NXT television debut on 25 October 2017 episode of NXT, participating in a battle royal to determine one of the contenders for the vacant NXT Women's Championship at TakeOver: WarGames on 18 November, which was won by Nikki Cross.

After reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 edition of the tournament, she was part of the original roster of NXT UK, becoming the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion in August 2018.

Sporting a new look, Ripley competed in the 2018 Mae Young Classic in 2018, displaying a new aggressive and disrespectful attitude.

She defeated MJ Jenkins, Kacy Catanzaro, and Tegan Nox in her first three matches but lost to Io Shirai in the semi-finals.

Shortly after the 2018 Mae Young Classic, Ripley became part of the NXT UK brand as part of the premiere of the newly created NXT UK show.

During the television tapings of the show in August (that aired throughout November), Ripley took part in an eight woman tournament to determine the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion.

She defeated Xia Brookside in the first round, Dakota Kai in the semi-finals, and Toni Storm in the finals to become the inaugural champion.

With the win, Ripley became the first female Australian champion in WWE history, and the second Australian champion altogether after Buddy Murphy.

Ripley also competed in a dark match before the first ever all women's pay–per–view, Evolution, on 28 October, where she successfully retained her title against Dakota Kai (due to the tournament having yet to air at the time, she was not yet recognized on-screen as champion).

Throughout her championship reign, Ripley went on to fend off title contenders such as Isla Dawn and Deonna Purrazzo.

After a run on the NXT brand from 2019 to 2021, which saw her win the NXT Women's Championship and become the brand's first member to defend an NXT title at WrestleMania, WWE's flagship event, she was promoted to the main roster on Raw where she joined The Judgment Day in 2022.

In addition to the NXT UK Women's Championship and NXT Women's Championship, she is a former one-time Raw Women's Champion and a former one-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion (with Nikki A.S.H.).

After winning the SmackDown Women's Championship in April 2023, she became the seventh WWE Women's Triple Crown Champion and fifth WWE Women's Grand Slam Champion, as well as the only wrestler to have held all five of these titles.

She is also the first female Australian champion in WWE history.

Additionally, she was the 2023 Women's Royal Rumble winner, becoming the fourth wrestler and the first woman to win a Royal Rumble match as the number one entrant and also set a record for longest time spent in the women's Rumble match at 1:01:08 (which was subsequently broken by Bayley during the 2024 Royal Rumble at 1:03:03).

On 12 January 2019 at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, Ripley lost her title to Toni Storm, ending her reign at 139 days and marking her first defeat in the brand.

At the Royal Rumble event on 27 January, Ripley made her first appearance on a main roster pay-per-view by entering the women's Royal Rumble match at #24, eliminating Kacy Catanzaro, Dana Brooke, and Zelina Vega before being eliminated by Bayley.

Afterwards, Ripley feuded with the debuting Piper Niven for most of 2019 over which one was the most dominant woman in the NXT UK roster.

The two faced off in a match on 15 June (aired 3 July), where Niven defeated Ripley.

Ripley defeated Niven in a rematch on 31 August (aired 4 September); the two would eventually team up after Ripley saved Niven from an attack by Jazzy Gabert and Jinny, whom they defeated in a tag team match on 4 October.

Ripley wrestled her last match in the brand on 5 October 2019 tapings of NXT UK, defeating Nina Samuels.