Bertha Faye
| Rhonda Sing | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Rhonda Ann Sing |
| Born |
February 21, 1961 Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Died | July 27, 2001 (aged 40) Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Cause of death | Myocardial infarction |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Beef Bertha Faye Monster Ripper Rhonda Singh |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Billed weight | 260 lb (120 kg; 19 st) |
| Billed from | Walls, Mississippi (as Bertha Faye) |
| Trained by | Mildred Burke |
| Debut | 1979 |
| Retired | 2000 |
Rhonda Ann Sing (February 21, 1961 – July 27, 2001) was a Canadian professional wrestler. After training with Mildred Burke, she wrestled in Japan under the name Monster Ripper. In 1987, she returned to Canada and began working with Stampede Wrestling, where she was their first Stampede Women's Champion. In 1995, she worked in the World Wrestling Federation as the comedic character Bertha Faye, winning the WWF Women's Championship. She also wrestled in World Championship Wrestling to help generate interest in their women's division.
While growing up in Calgary, Sing attended numerous Stampede Wrestling events with her mother. She knew she wanted to be a wrestler from a young age and frequently beat up the neighborhood children. As a teenager, Sing approached members of the Hart wrestling family and asked to be trained, but she was rejected as they did not train women wrestlers at the time.Bret Hart, however, claims it had more to do with scheduling conflicts. During a trip to Hawaii in 1978, she saw Japanese women's wrestling on television and decided she wanted to pursue the sport. She later wrote to Mildred Burke, after a friend gave her a magazine with Burke's contact information, and sent her a biography and photo. Shortly thereafter, she joined Burke's training facility in Encino, California.
After a few weeks of training with Burke, Sing was scouted by All Japan Women (AJW), despite her inexperience. Sing's debut match in Japan was a tag team match with partner Mami Kumano, defeating the Beauty Pair (Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda) in January 1979. In Japan, she began wrestling under the name Monster Ripper. Although she found adjusting to the Japanese culture difficult, Sing held AJW's title on two occasions and was the first Calgary born wrestler to gain success in Japan. During her time in the company, the Japanese female wrestlers gave her a hard time because they did not like losing to foreigners. Sing also had difficulty because of her youth and inexperience in the ring. Sing, however, was comforted by New Japan Pro Wrestling's Dynamite Kid, who had also trained in Calgary. Sing won the WWWA World Heavyweight Championship from Jackie Sato on July 31, 1979. Despite losing the title to Sato six weeks later, she regained it on March 15, 1980. The title was vacated in August 1980.
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