10 Things We Learned From Rhea Ripley On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show

This is incredible.

Ripley had a tryout with WWE when she was just 17 years old, but the company didn’t realise she was so young. To their credit, coaches were upfront and honest with Rhea. They told her they might have to hold off until she was 21. No weird tryout stories here! So, realising she couldn't just hang around doing nothing, Ripley went to Japan for three months and tried to better herself as a worker. She still doesn’t know how she had the courage to do that, but she did it and cleaned the dojo every morning whilst wrestling on weekends.

Here's the coolest part. Eventually, WWE came to Australia in 2017 and scouts remembered her. They were the ones who reached out and said, ‘We know you’re still only 20, but...". Rhea didn't have to apply for a tryout again - WWE talent scouts were on top of things and wanted to take another look at her skills. They were impressed all over again, and things started progressing from there.

Stephanie McMahon was blown away that WWE remembered Ripley after years of running other tryouts worldwide. She'd obviously left quite the impression on those in charge of the tryout sessions, and her name came up before the promotion had even flown out to Australia to recruit.

In other words, WWE head hunted Rhea Ripley and were determined to get her on their books. That was flattering to the young star, but she knew the hard work was only just beginning. Rhea had no problems putting in a shift and doubling down though.