The influx of Australian pro wrestlers on the world stage has continued, with another young star taking WWE by storm over the past year.

Zaria – real name Daria Hodder – only signed with the company after impressing officials at a tryout in Perth in February 2024 and has been on a rapid rise ever since.

It was part of a whirlwind weekend that saw Rhea Ripley compete in the main event of Elimination Chamber in front of more than 50,000 fans at Optus Stadium.

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But for Zaria, her own dreams of reaching the top of sports entertainment were about to be fulfilled and the way she learned of the news was a little unusual, with fellow Aussie wrestler Grayson Waller playing a surprise role in the life-changing moment.

“My tryout was on Elimination Chamber weekend when they went to Perth,” she told Wide World of Sports this week.

“Before I even had the tryout, I had so many people telling me ‘you’re gonna get in, stop stressing’ but I’m the type of person where I don’t wanna get my hopes up, just in case.

“I had my tryout and then it was a blur, but I think it was the next day or the day after, I was wrestling on a show and a few people from WWE went and watched and Grayson Waller was one of the people that was there.

“I had my match, came backstage and cooled down. Grayson Waller comes up to me and he goes ‘hey, come over here’ and was like ‘I wanna let you know you’re in, you’re gonna make it’ and I was like ‘get out of here’. He was like ‘no, seriously, they were talking about it and you’re in’ – so that was the moment.

“There was still a little bit of me that had to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

“It might have been two weeks later that I got the call and I had just finished my usual day job and I was sitting in my car. It was the call where they told me ‘hey, we’re gonna offer a contract to you’ and I couldn’t even process that thought.

“It all felt like a dream and it still feels like a dream.” 

After putting pen to paper on a contract with WWE, things started to sink in for Zaria.

Having only made her official in-ring wrestling debut less than five years ago on a local show in front of 30 people, Zaria had now turned her love of pro wrestling – which was formed largely by her older brother – into a genuine full-time career.

While competing inside the squared circle was nothing new to her after spending years working on the independent scene – most notably for Riot City Wrestling in Adelaide – having to leave behind an entire support system and move to Orlando was no small order.

“I’ve had a lot of chances to reflect,” she said.

“The obvious one is leaving family and friends, leaving my old life behind. I’m such a home body and I like to be in my comfort zone, so moving here was such a big jump.

“You never really think when you start wrestling that you’re gonna end up in WWE, because it’s such a once in a lifetime opportunity and there’s so many people trying to get into WWE … you never think it’s going to be you.

“When I started wrestling, I wasn’t wrestling to get to WWE. I was doing it because it was fun and it gave me purpose in life, it gave me something to work towards and achieve and create experiences that you can’t really get anywhere else.

“It wasn’t until three years in when it was people around me telling me that I could make it to WWE. The first few people who said it, I would go ‘yeah OK, sure’ but the more people would say I could make it and eventually, I started to believe it.

“I always sit back and think about all the ‘pinch me’ moments like my debut or even getting to wrestle at WrestleMania weekend. I remember going into the venue for the first time and seeing the WrestleMania sign with my own eyeballs.

“It’s amazing that I get to be here and my life has just changed so much.”

The path to WWE for those Down Under has never been more open than it is right now.

Two decades ago, there wasn’t a single Australian on the roster and even a decade ago, there were only a handful of wrestlers signed with WWE.

Now, it’s a completely different story with Ripley leading the charge, becoming one of the biggest mainstream stars in the entire wrestling business.

The aforementioned Waller, as well as Bronson Reed, have also found varying degrees of success, while the likes of Gold Coast’s Toni Storm and Sydney’s Kyle Fletcher have become two of the best wrestlers on the planet with rival promotion AEW.

But it was Ripley who has been the biggest “motivator” for Zaria to get to where she’s at now and there are undoubtedly a host of other Aussies who will want to follow suit.

“Rhea Ripley is obviously a big inspiration, now more than ever,” she said.

“I met her while I was still in Australia, she had come over a couple of times. She is the loveliest person you will meet and she will talk to you like you’ve been friends for years.

“She has kept in touch with me since I had met her and she’s so helpful, especially since I’ve come to Orlando and she had heard I got signed.

“She’s extended a helping hand on numerous occasions and so has Grayson Waller, Indi Hartwell, Bronson Reed – all the Australians, just because they know what it’s like to pack up your life and move to another country.

“I got to watch her wrestle live when WWE came to Perth last year. Seeing it with my own eyes, that was such a motivator to push to where I needed to go.”

Still in the infancy of her career with WWE and with so much ahead of her, Zaria has hit the ground running and given fans a glimpse into her undeniable potential.

Clearly, her early showings under the WWE umbrella have made an impact, with the Aussie getting a spot on the recent Evolution premium live event – an all-women’s show that featured the likes of Ripley, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.

“Everything that happened that day was the best-case scenario,” she said.

“It’s so surreal to be where I am, let alone be in the same ring as wrestlers like Charlotte Flair. I was given the best opportunity and the best match.

“Evolution was such a great showcase for women’s wrestling.”

Up next for Zaria could be a homecoming in October for the three-day event, which will be headlined by John Cena’s farewell on Australian soil at Crown Jewel in Perth.

“Every time WWE comes to Australia, it’s always exciting,” she said.

“We feel so far away from the world, so when something like this happens, everybody just drops their things and goes wherever we’re going.

“I’m itching to come back to Australia and wrestle. I don’t know if I’m going to be there or not, but I would obviously love to be.”

Individual tickets for Crown Jewel will be available in the coming weeks, with three-day combo tickets already available