"Rhonda needs no help" The woman behind Monster Ripper & Bertha Faye
By STEPHEN LAROCHE-- SLAM! Wrestling - Tuesday, January 9, 2001
One of the most fearsome women to ever enter a wrestling
ring, Rhonda Sing has lead a long and fascinating career
few North American wrestling fans are aware of.
While growing up in Calgary, Sing knew she wanted to
be a wrestler from an early age and attended numerous
Stampede Wrestling cards as a child.
"Stampede Wrestling was a big influence because you
had it on TV Saturday mornings," she told SLAM! Wrestling.
"My mom used to go and took us if we had been good through
the week. She always had four ringside tickets for about
20 years. When I was five, I wanted to be a wrestler.
I was in kindergarten beating up the other kids. Everyone
who knows me in my neighbourhood remember me telling
them I was going to be a wrestler. It's like a lot of
the wrestlers in the business now -- they knew it when
they were kids."
As a teenager, Sing approached members of the Hart family
asking to be trained. Despite being rejected, she still
dreamed of becoming a professional wrestler. A trip
to Hawaii in 1978 changed her life forever as she saw
Japanese women's wrestling on television.
"I was actually in Hawaii on vacation and zapping through
the channels, I stumbled on Japanese women's wrestling.
They were hitting each other with chairs and everything!
It was an all-girl company, and I thought it was the
coolest thing. It sparked my interest. This was definitely
what I wanted to do," said Sing.
A friend gave 17-year-old Sing a wrestling magazine
which contained contact information for Mildred Burke's
training facility in Encino, California. She wrote the
women's wrestling legend and sent along a biography
and photo. After recieving a reply from Burke, she made
a decision which changed her life.
"I cleaned out my bank account and told my parents this
is what I wanted to do," she recalled. "I said to my
parents, 'give me three months, let me see if I can
do this.'"
After a few weeks of training with Burke, Sing was scouted
by All-Japan who wanted to bring her in despite her
inexperience.
"Some of the Japanese girls came to L.A. to train and
scout some talent. Burke was the only U.S. trainer having
women go over to Japan at the time. They were saying
'Hey! A fat girl! We like her,'" she laughed. "That
was in November, and by January I was main eventing
in Japan. I could tie my boots and do a backdrop. I
was pretty limited."
Her first match in Japan was with partner Mami Komeni
against Beauty Pair (Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda) on January
4, 1979. She recalled it fondly, but knew how significant
the win was.
"It was my first match, and I won. The Japanese girls
resented it because they never had to lose. If they
lost, they lost to each other. They never lost to a
foreigner."
A combination of youth and inexperience made life in
Japan somewhat difficult for Sing during her first few
months there.
"They literally kicked the s**t out of me," she said.
"I was the first foreigner they had to lose to, and
they didn't take it kindly. You were working seven,
eight times a week. You had to roll out of bed and bit-by-bit
get up because you were just dead."
Many of the established Japanese wrestlers were unwilling
to share their experience with the young Canadian wrestler.
It was not until she ran into a touring Dynamite Kid
that she was able to gain a greater grasp of how to
deal with her fellow wrestlers.
"It was just a matter of defending yourself and saying
'I'm not going to take this anymore!' Once you got respect,
it became very easy. They always respected you and feared
you."
Sing's first run in All-Japan peaked when she won their
Women's World Title from Jackie Sato on July 31, 1979
-- a little over six months after her professional debut.
Despite losing the title to Sato six weeks later, she
regained it on March 15, 1980 via countout after outside
interference from the Black Pair (Mami Kumao and Yumi
Ikeshita). The title was vacated in August 1980 after
another epic battle with Sato.
A brief return to Calgary in the early '80s allowed
Sing the chance to finally perform in front of her hometown
crowd.
"I didn't want to wrestle there until I knew I was going
to be good enough," she said. "This is your hometown
crowd and people you grew up with. The first time I
came through, I was with a Mexican girl (Rita Moreno)
that was in Japan as well. We were only going to do
two weeks. Stu (Hart) liked us so much, he kept us for
four. He wanted us longer, but we had to go back to
Mexico."
After another stint in Japan, Sing returned to Stampede
on a regular basis in late 1987 and was named their
Women's Champion as she had defeated Wendi Richter before
coming back to the territory. She held the title until
September 22, 1988, losing to Chigusa Nagayo.
The camaraderie of Stampede appealed to Sing at the
time, and she does not see the same level of it in today's
locker rooms.
"This was one of the best territories anyone could work
in," she said. "The people you met there are still your
friends. Everyone had a good time. You didn't have the
problems you have in the dressing room now. There was
never anything that ever escalated into a major problem."
Over the next few years, Sing would once again travel
throughout the world and wrestle for a number of promotions,
holding several titles. She feels lucky to have been
able to see many parts of the world.
"In this business you're really fortunate because it
allows you to see a lot of the world you would never
see," she said.
In 1995, Sing was contacted by the WWF to add depth
to their fledgling women's division. However, she was
repackaged as Harvey Whippleman's trailer park-dwelling
girlfriend Bertha Faye. Sadly, this is how many North
American fans remember her.
"It was the best and worst of times. Because I started
in Japan, I had a reverse philosophy than those who
start in the States, and their dream is to wrestle in
Japan. Mine was to wrestle in Madison Square Garden,"
said Sing.
Strangely enough, Sing did have an opportunity several
years before to fulfill her dream, but chose to wait.
"I had that opportunity years ago when they had Wendi
Richter," she said. "Moolah called me up and said she
wanted me to do a couple of pay-per-views with Wendi.
The thing was, Moolah wanted half my money. Why would
you take my money when you're doing nothing? I didn't
even know her! You wanted to go, but you knew it was
going to be a guaranteed loss."
The original plan was to be part of an angle with Bull
Nakano, who she had many epic battles with in Japan,
which was meant to develop fan interest in the women's
division.
"We had big heat in Japan, so this is what they wanted
to do," she recalled. "Madusa was going away, and she
was getting new boobs and a new nose. For three months,
it was going to be Nakano and I. She was going to drop
the belt to me, Madusa was going to come back after
a while, we'd add a few more girls and make it a legitimate
women's division. Eventually, Madusa and I would battle
for the belt and it was undecided from there. I had
a two-year contract, so we were going to space it out
over that time"
But that isn't how it happened. Nakano was found in
possession of cocaine which prompted a change of plans.
She made her WWF debut on an episode of Monday Night
Raw participating in a sneak attack Madusa making it
appear as if they had broken her nose. Sing was not
pleased with the development.
"The whole storyline went down the toilet," she said.
"The only way we could save it was if we were to hurt
Madusa because she was still scheduled for surgery.
We had to get rid of Nakano and get me in at the same
time."
Sing was also hesitant to work with Madusa after hearing
numerous rumours about how she behaved behind-the-scenes
and focused on Madison Square Garden.
"I sort of saw through her before I even worked with
her," she said. "I hit Madison Square Garden in September
1995 and I didn't care after that. I went in a champion
and left as champion. It was one of my better matches
with her. None of the others were anything you'd write
home about compared to what you could do."
During her stint with the WWF, she also developed a
great friendship with the late Owen Hart.
"I was working in Calgary when he and (Chris) Benoit
started," she recalled. "Owen really saved me when I
was with the WWF. I rode with the Canadian guys, so
I travelled with him a lot when I was on the shows.
There's no one you'll ever be able to replace Owen with."
Despite the ridiculous antics of Whippleman and Faye,
which included wearing garish outfits and hideous makeup,
she did notice how his character was essentially an
extension of his own personality.
"He actually did live in a trailer park. He was that
guy, that's who he is. He's never bought a roll of toilet
paper in his life. He'd always take it from a hotel
or a truck stop."
Sing also found it incredibly difficult to adopt a new
persona after spending almost all of her career as Monster
Ripper.
"They put me in that character, you're not doing something
you want to do. I was Monster Ripper for 15 years. It
was hard to walk away from that personality."
With her character creatively restricted, Sing was also
limited to what moves she could perform in the ring.
She was not allowed to used an overhead press or a powerbomb
as other WWF stars were utilizing them at the time.
"I couldn't do these moves because certain guys were
doing it," she said. "You went in every night with one
arm tied behind your back because someone else laid
claim to it. I was doing these moves on a daily basis
for 15 years, and now I couldn't do it. No one wanted
you to look better than they did. I did power moves,
that's who I was. It sort of stripped my identity. You're
going to the ring skipping and blowing kisses, looking
goofy. You just went to the bank and cashed your cheque.
You felt like you were pimping yourself out. You were
like a prostitute for Vince. The guys were doing it
too, so you know what people will do for money."
Fan interest in women's wrestling sunk once again as
the year closed, even with the addition of Japanese
star Aja Kong. Sing believes there are several reasons
why the women's division ultimately failed.
"There was no real storyline," she said. "There was
nothing really going on. We were just there. In the
background, you'd have Madusa calling Vince all the
time asking why we weren't on TV. When you only have
two girls, you can only do so much. She had very limited
skills, she did basically the same thing all the time.
I think she sort of sabotaged everything."
After a year as Bertha Faye, she had the WWF release
her from her contract. She briefly returned to Japan,
but found it difficult to adjust to a new system without
guaranteed payouts.
In late 1999, she made a brief return with World Championship
Wrestling and appeared on several telecasts to generate
some interest in a women's division. While her stay
was brief, Sing appeared to enjoy her time with the
promotion.
"I like them," she said. "They're an upfront organization.
When I called them, they knew what they wanted me to
do. There's no secret agenda."
Women's wrestling had changed greatly in the time since
Sing was last with a major North American promotion,
and she was well aware of the limitations her opponents
had.
"It's a different era. None of them can last as long.
You used to be able to wrestle 55 minutes. These girls
can't wrestle more than 10. Now the they only know five
holds, and that's all they have," she remarked.
However, Sing does believe it is possible for a woman
to become an elite competitor if they train with organizations
which allow them to develop properly. "They all have
the potential to do more. If you send any of the girls
working now to Japan, they'll come back the best wrestler
ever turned out. They have basic body skills, they just
need the ring sense."
Despite the fact she has not wrestled in several months,
Sing would not hesitate to return to another major promotion
as long as she was treated properly.
"Oh yeah, you'd work for anybody," she said. "I've got
no loyalty. It's whoever is going to pay me. It's always
been my philosophy. As long as you pay me and treat
me fairly, I'll work for you."
