Rhonda Singh

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(Redirected from Bertha Faye)

Rhonda Singh


Statistics
Ring name(s)	Monster Ripper Bertha Faye
Billed height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Billed weight	260 lb (118 kg)
Born	February 21, 1961(1961-02-21) Calgary, Alberta
Died	July 27, 2001 (aged 40) Calgary, Alberta
Trained by	Mildred Burke
Debut	January 4, 1979
Retired	2001

Rhonda Singh (February 21, 1961 – July 27, 2001) was born Peggy Simpson, and was a professional wrestler. Though she was a Canadian, and wrestled briefly in the United States in the late 1990s, she spent most of her career, and achieved the most fame, in Japan, where she wrestled under the name Monster Ripper.

1 Career
2 In wrestling
3 Championships and Accomplishments
4 External links

While growing up in Calgary, Singh knew she wanted to be a wrestler from an early age and attended numerous Stampede Wrestling cards as a child. As a teenager, Singh 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. A friend gave 17-year-old Singh 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 receiving a reply from Burke, she made a decision which changed her life.

After a few weeks of training with Burke, Singh was scouted by All Japan Women (AJW) who wanted to bring her in despite her inexperience. Burke was the only U.S. trainer having women go over to Japan at the time. Singh's first match in Japan was with partner Mami Komeni against the Beauty Pair (Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda) on January 4, 1979.

A combination of youth and inexperience made life in Japan somewhat difficult for Singh during her first few months there. 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.

Singh'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 Singh the chance to finally perform in front of her hometown crowd. After another stint in Japan, Singh returned to Stampede on a regular basis in late 1987 and was named their Women's Champion, it being said that she had defeated Wendi Richter before coming back to the territory. She held the title until September 22, 1988, losing to Chigusa Nagayo. Over the next few years, Singh would once again travel throughout the world and wrestle for a number of promotions, holding several titles.

In 1995, Singh was contacted by the World Wrestling Federation to add depth to their fledgling women's division. However, she was repackaged as Harvey Wippleman's trailer park-dwelling girlfriend Bertha Faye.

Singh made her WWF debut on the April 3, 1995 episode of Monday Night Raw participating in a sneak attack on Alundra Blayze, making it appear as if they had broken Blayze's nose. Singh was not pleased with the development. Singh also found it incredibly difficult to adopt a new persona after spending almost all of her career as Monster Ripper. With her character creatively restricted, Singh was also limited as to what moves she could perform in the ring. She was not allowed to use an overhead press or a powerbomb as other WWF stars were utilizing them at the time.

Fan interest in women's wrestling sunk once again as the year closed, even with the addition of Japanese star Aja Kong. After a year as Bertha Faye, Singh 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.

Singh retired in 2001. She died later that year on July 27, 2001 due to a drug overdose which caused a heart attack. Rhonda was never married or had any children.