WWE star Rhea Ripley reveals she’s battling an eating disorder after fans criticized her weight loss

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WWE superstar Rhea Ripley has revealed that she’s battling an eating disorder.

The 29-year-old former Women’s World Champion recently revealed she’s lost weight and muscle, after fans noticed the change on social media.

Fitness influencer Matthew Angeletti shared a video breaking down how much weight Ripley had lost, noting she’d significantly reduced her body fat.

Ripley replied to the post, sharing that she’s currently working through an eating disorder.

The athlete, who was born in Australia, has been training hard at the gym in preparation for WrestleMania 42, happening this weekend.

She is set to face the current WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill for the belt on Saturday.

She recently told WWE.com about her intense training schedule, explaining she’s been pushing herself even harder than normal to prepare for her match against Cargill.

Last year, she revealed her brutal arm workout in a video with fellow wrestler Sheamus.

Her workout featured a variety of arm exercises, such as biceps curls, triceps extensions, and dumbbell presses, along with exercises like hammer curls and tricep dips.

Ripley is currently one of the most popular stars in professional wrestling.

With 6.7 million Instagram followers, the three-time women’s champion was named the top female wrestler in the sport for 2023.

Ripley is famous for her unique style, a blend of gothic and punk influences that she’s developed over time.

She has extensive tattoos covering her torso, forearms, and legs. When she performs, she completes her look with striking jet-black lipstick and eye makeup.

Before her transformation, Ripley was a fresh-faced blonde with a much more wholesome look. 

She opened up about her extreme image change in an interview with Fox Sports back in 2022. 

When I was growing up, I really admired people like Beth Phoenix. She was strong and physically imposing, and she confidently defeated everyone she faced. She was someone I truly looked up to.

Ripley said that she’d worked hard in the gym to turn her body into ‘a weapon of mass destruction’. 

She also said she was tired of stereotypes about how women are expected to look in society. 

She explained that she dislikes the idea that women should have long hair, and she particularly dislikes when men tell women to grow it out, as if it’s an expectation.

I have the right to make my own decisions about my body. I’m going to do what feels right for me, and I don’t need anyone else’s approval. My self-respect is what matters, not whether or not others approve of my choices.

Ripley became incredibly popular, but this fame also brought problems. Last year, while touring in Europe, she was roughly pushed against a car by overexcited fans.

Okay, so I was near the hotel where Rhea was staying before the Paris show, and honestly, it was WILD. She was just trying to get to her Uber, but a HUGE crowd of guys just descended on her, all yelling for autographs and pictures. It was a bit much, honestly, but she handled it like the queen she is! I just wanted to protect her, she didn’t deserve that kind of chaos just trying to get to work.

Following the widespread sharing of a video showing the event, Ripley used social media to remind wrestling fans about respecting personal boundaries.

‘Remember, we are people. Do not swarm me or anyone like a pack of rabid zombies,’ she wrote.

It’s never okay to corner or overwhelm someone like I just experienced with an Uber driver. Please be respectful and understand that ‘no’ means ‘no’.

Ripley isn’t the first WWE star to speak out about the company’s out of control fandom.

Kevin Owens discussed the growing number of fans waiting at airports in an interview with Chris Van Vliet. He explained that while they used to see just a few fans – around five or six – now they often encounter crowds of 40 or 50 people.

He explained that it sometimes feels like there’s no space to breathe, and it’s incredibly overwhelming. He added that he’d witnessed this happening to other young women before.

Some fans have said it can get a little frightening when they meet me. I know no one intentionally tries to overwhelm me – they just want an autograph and might decide to sell it later. It’s not their intention to create a chaotic situation. But when you have a large group of around forty people, that’s exactly what happens.

Ripley is married to fellow wrestler Buddy Matthews, who is signed to WWE’s rival company AEW.

She signed with WWE in 2017 and was placed on NXT, the company’s developmental brand. 

Oh my gosh, I still remember when she made history! She was the very FIRST NXT UK Women’s Champion back in 2018, and then, just a year later, she climbed even higher and won the NXT Women’s Championship! It was incredible – I knew she was destined for greatness from the start!

Once she moved to the main WWE roster, she quickly became a successful champion, winning the women’s title three times and the women’s tag team title twice.

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2026-04-16 03:45