WWE Superstar and lover of all things dark and spooky Rhea Ripley guides us through the music that most impacted her life and in-ring career. Yes, there is a lot of metalcore.
The first-ever Australian to hold the title of WWE Women’s World Champion, lifelong mosher and extraordinarily strong person Rhea Ripley talks Kerrang! through her passion for metalcore, singing in the car and why she doesn’t do karaoke anymore...
"My mum would always play Robbie Williams in the house when she was cleaning. If it wasn’t him it would be the Galileo song, Bohemian Rhapsody. They’re probably the first songs I was aware of."
"I was a huge Black Eyed Peas fan growing up. Anything Black Eyed Peas, or Fergie on her own. My first concert was either Black Eyed Peas or Katy Perry, I can’t remember. That and, on a trip to Queensland we would have the Top 100 playing on the TV all day. Taylor Swift’s Romeo and Juliet song was on constant repeat every single day of my holiday, so hearing that instantly takes me back there."
"I jumped straight in at the deep end. I went to Soundwave Festival, this two-day event, and just ran amok, and saw all the bands that I loved. Of Mice & Men, Sleeping With Sirens and Pierce The Veil were all there, and I was living in the moment. That was my first-ever mosh-pit – it was stinkin’ hot in Adelaide, and I was running round all day, dipping my head under the tap when I got too hot. When Of Mice & Men played Second & Sebring, the whole crowd were getting into it, but also showing this side of respect – it’s a song about Austin [Carlile]’s mother and it’s very emotional. You could see him getting emotional as well. I remember that being a very special moment in the mosh-pit."
"I’ve listened to the same bands since high school. Of Mice & Men, Sleeping with Sirens, Pierce The Veil, Suicide Silence… Lots of late-night YouTube sessions, discovering one band from another. I miss [late Suicide Silence vocalist] Mitch Lucker a lot, he was so talented. Every now and then I’ll find a new band. I just found a couple of new ones – From Ashes To New and Of Virtue. They’re great bands. They’ve got a couple of bangers."
"When I joined The Judgment Day [the team currently dominating Monday Night Raw], I knew I needed a new song – something needed to change about me and my entrance for my character to change and be part of this group. I messaged Chris Motionless and asked if he’d be down to do it if I could get it hooked up, and he was like, 'Absolutely!' My music is such a big part of who I am. If I don’t feel my music and it doesn’t get me in the zone and make me feel a certain way, nothing good’s gonna come from it. I’m not going to be the Rhea Ripley you see every week. I told them when to add the screams at the start so I could do my stomp – it’s the Mitch Lucker stomp. I used to try to listen to music before heading out into the ring, and Motionless In White were my go-to, but because Judgment Day run Monday Night Raw, pretty much, I’m out there all night. I don’t have any time to prepare, sit down and listen to anything because I’m running around like a chook with its head cut off. But my song is enough to get me hyped – just that smallest bit of time before I step though the curtain, it gets me as hyped as I need to be."
"I’ve always been a huge fan of Randy Orton’s song. I love it. I sing it every time it plays. I’ll be walking around backstage singing along with it and have to stop myself. It’s been my favourite since I was a kid."
"I used to do Singstar when I was a kid. There was a Shannon Noll song about a little kid in a corner shop I did a lot. Now I’m a lot more shy, which I don't think anyone could guess, but when it comes to singing, I just don’t like singing in front of people."
"There’s a lot of songs that make me cry. One that 100 per cent will make me cry every single time, to the point that I have to skip it if it comes on in the car, is Brother by Falling In Reverse. It’s just a really, really emotional song and it’s very heartfelt, and makes me think of the people I’ve lost. It makes me sad."
"I didn’t listen to New Years Day growing up, but I remember seeing so many pictures of Ash Costello. I didn’t know who she was, and for some reason I didn’t think of looking her up, but she had the half-black, half-red hair, and inspired by her, I did my own hair half-blonde and half-red. I started listening to her a few years later and was like, 'This chick’s sick! She’s so cool!' WWE got her to do my entrance music without me even knowing – when they told me, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t believe it."
"They’re an Australian pop-rock band. Me and my partner will put that on in the car and just absolutely jam. We’ll turn that up all the way, sing it with each other and just have the best time. That always puts a smile on my face when it comes on."
Catch Rhea at WWE Money In The Bank at The O2 in London on July 1 – get your tickets now
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