The worlds of pro-wrestling and metal have long been entwined, and at WrestleMania 40 that bond tightened when Australia's own Rhea Ripley was played to the ring by one of her all-time favourite bands, Motionless In White.
South Australian champion Rhea Ripley and her challenger for the Women's World Championship, Ireland's 'The Man' Becky Lynch were given the honour of opening night one of the two-night 'showcase of the immortals', with audiences treated to epic entrances from each wrestler, setting the scene for what many fans have called an instant classic.
Ripley's entrance featured Motionless In White performing a crushing rendition of Ripley's theme song This Is My Brutality with vocalist Chris Motionless even engaging in a bit of a face-to-face scream-off with Ripley before the two paid tribute to late Suicide Silence frontman Mitch Lucker by performing his signature stomp before Motionless encouraged the crowd to show some respect for 'The Eradicator', 'Mami' Rhea Ripley.
You can watch the full performance below.
It was a special moment for Ripley, who has previously admitted to basing much of her character's physical appearance on Chris Motionless. The fandom it must be noted is mutual, with the band revealing they were 'thrilled' to perform the entrance for one of their most famous fans.
Ripley, who won the title at WrestleMania 39 in a match considered one of the best women's wrestling matches ever put on by WWE/WWF, went on to successfully defend her title in the match itself. Speaking after the event in a video shared by WWE on X, Ripley shared
"That was a dream come true. Like, I know we talk about WrestleMania and how everyone works so hard to, like, compete on this grand stage, and also it being WrestleMania XL, the biggest WrestleMania. I'm so glad and so happy and so privileged and so ecstatic that I got to share that with Motionless in White. The motions, they know how much I love Motionless in White, how much I love Chris Motionless and how we have been compared to each other for a very long time. We look like twins and I absolutely love it."
Women's World Champion @RheaRipley_WWE is still on top after an incredible night at #WrestleMania XL Saturday. pic.twitter.com/GjAJSApdif
— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) April 7, 2024
Ripley's entrance added to the event's long list of metal-assisted entrances which have included Limp Bizkit playing The Undertaker to the ring at WrestleMania 19, Triple H marching into WrestleMania 17 with Motorhead and P.O.D busting out a live version of fellow San Diego icon Rey Mysterio's theme at WrestleMania 22. With noted metal fan, Paul 'Triple H' Leveque now in charge of WWE, we suspect it will not be last time a band the calibre of Motionless In White will be involved in a WrestleMania moment.
As for the origins of the theme itself, Ripley revealed to Kerrang last year that
"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."
Shop for Motionless In White Merch and Vinyl
If the connection between metal and wrestling interests you, we have a series of features on the topic that you can find here. Motionless In White's sixth studio record Scoring The End Of The World was released in 2022. The record showcases the expanse of the band’s dynamic, deep, and dark vision. On the eve of the release of Scoring The End Of The World we caught up with the band's vocalist and primary creative force, Chris Motionless for a chat about all things Scoring The End Of The World.
Listen to Scoring The End Of The World.
