WWE's Rhea Ripley And Dominik Mysterio Discuss Their Career Origins

Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio have quickly become one of the biggest fan-favorite pairings in WWE, despite both being heels in the villainous "Judgment Day" faction. Recently, the duo sat down with "The West Sport," where both stars gave their accounts of getting into pro wrestling. Ripley followed wrestling while growing up in Australia, but it wasn't easy to catch shows due to the timezone difference. However, once she became older, it became a goal to be one of the biggest Australian WWE stars. Ripley then started with an independent promotion in Australia, but had to deal with the reality that a jump to WWE might never happen.

According to Ripley, Buddy Matthews and Emma opened the door for Australian recognition in WWE. "Once WWE had looked at some Australians like Emma made it in, Buddy Murphy made it in, they came back to Australia and they held a tryout and thankfully I got my name thrown in." She also noted that the wrestling scene has since grown in Australia, and many wrestlers are now making the jump to WWE.

Dominik's foray into wrestling is likely known by most fans of Eddie Guerrero and his father, Rey Mysterio, as the two had a Ladder Match for his custody back in 2005. However, Dominik explained that he initially began training with his father, before being shipped off to multiple veterans. "It started off with him and Konnan, and then they just sent me away to Tampa Bay to train with Jay Lethal, then I finished there and did three months with Lance Storm in Canada." Eventually, Dominik began to accompany his father on the road, where he'd grab the attention of none other than Vince McMahon. "I think that's the first time Vince had seen me since I was 12 and I'm 21 at the time, so he was like 'Oh, this guy's not a kid anymore, well let's just throw him on TV, and see what happens.'"

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