Magazine Archives: Viper, Piper Niven. Doudrop. What’s in the Name? (Patreon)

By Mimi Jean-Louis, Fightful Magazine Issue 6

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How does a fiercely woman, devoted to her craft, end up with a ring name like Doudrop? In professional wrestling, ring names often become the fabric of your gimmick, your legacy. Kimberly Benson’sability to pivot from the Indy circuit to NXT UK, to quickly becoming one of the top WWE Superstars on the women’s roster, has been nothing short of impressive to say the least. Her main roster debut was the topic of discussion for days on social media and still strikes a nerve when mentioned.

The wrestling connoisseur would argue that not all wrestlers can deal with multiple character and name changes successfully. WWE legends Mick Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Rock, are the very few to garner success in this area. The wrestling community fanbase consists of three types: the legacy fan though sometimes perceived as the die-hard fan, the lapsed returned fan and the casual fan. Changing notable and established characters and names can create confusion for that legacy and lapsed audience. These fans come with inceptual investment when it comes to characters and brands. They’ve been there from the beginning thereby having a nostalgic bond. Change is inevitable and, in some cases, necessary.

Change for this fanbase can also be exceptionally difficult if the transition of a concept is not properly executed. Choppy storylines or switching gears with no context leaves internal cliffhangers. Promotional changes that lead to the rebranding of characters, may leave room for scrutiny from the legacy fan depending on how well the performer adapts and translates to the new environment. Fans can be critical and at times be blind-sided, creating a blurred understanding of skillset and talent towards the beloved wrestler. The lapsed and casual fan typically can go along for the ride and be okay; current context and performance is the focus, rather than the character’s previous journey. They don’t know what they don’t know. Sometimes, promotion changes might work out to one’s advantage, and this opens the lapsed and casual fan’s knowledge base to delve into the past of newly created characters. “Blame it on creative” is no longer an excuse for poor character execution. The current wrestling fan demands Excellence in Executionin-ring and on the mic.

The pandemic created the Thunderdome, presenting an opportunity for WWE Superstars to showcase their talents without in-person fandom distractions. It was a period the world watched WWE Superstars showcase and/or master their craft and creativity. Some visibly progressed more than others. It begged the question; can he/she reallyhold their own sans the audience reaction? BayleyandSeth Rollinsare perfect examples of visible progression as singles competitors during this time.

As a little girl, Kimberly Benson’s love for professional wrestling was real, but a secret. She kept her guilty pleasure under wraps until she was presented with the possibility of becoming part of the business she fangirled over. Training as we all know wasn’t easy, but through bumps, bruises and her impeccable brawn, Viper: The Vixen of Violencewas introduced to the world. As Viper, Kimberly made a name for herself as a powerful, badass, up and coming female grappler ready to rock and refusing to back down from any competition. She not only competed in the ring with women, but also brought the pain to male competitors all over the world.

Benson moved through promotions such as ITV’s World of Sports Wrestling, Shine, SHIMMER and in 2015, she became Insane Championship Wrestling’s first-ever Women’s Champion. In 2017, the biggest opportunity of her career came in the form of an invitation to compete in the 2017 Mae Young Classic tournament. With her ability to play bagpipes, combined with her father’s first name, the Vixentransformed to Piper Niven under the WWE umbrella. Make no mistake —though Viper was unavailable for her use in WWE, Viper and Piper Niven are one in the same: taking down the competition at all costs. In the tournament, she went up against incredible talent, to includeSerena Deeb, with drive empowering her own success story, truly setting her apart from the tournament’s competition. Though eliminated in the quarterfinals by Toni Storm, Niven’s determination and grit stayed true, as she made her way back touring all over the world, and always keeping her eye on the prize. The goal was to tussle with the best of the best, and eventually be back in the most dominant wrestling promotion in the world, WWE. Reverting into her Vixen of Violence moniker, she continued to push through, gained opportunities to wrestling the likes of Io Shirai, Hiroyo Matsumotoand Utami Hayashishita, until Piper Nevin revived in 2019 with an official NXT UK contract. Benson had no problems switching gears to forge her life dream of becoming a WWE Superstar.

As an ambitious competitor, Benson understood her assignment and seized opportunities when presented. Following her debut on NXT UK, Piper Niven’s ruling and power was undeniable in the ring. Society projects what the perfect female should look like, but in today’s temperature, the petite, slim, toned, “sex vixen” is no longer the standard blueprint for female athletes let alone a women’s wrestling locker room. Curvy beauties with solid wrestling talents have presented themselves to be the new wave in professional wrestling. Piper Niven came in hot and showed the world she had quick agile moves, while her performance demanded that it would behoove her competitors to keep up. Her control and determination to rule the in-ring was blatant during her feud with Kaylee Ray. Her quest for the NXT UK Women’s Championship may not have been successful, but rest assured, she proved she belonged at the top and had no plans of standing down.

Fast forward to June 15, 2021’s airing of Monday Night Raw’s advertisement of the returning Eva Marie. The announcement came on the heels of several shocking female superstar releases, and coupled with Naomibeing booked to go against the newly returned Superstar, the news was met with a mixed bag of online fan reaction. While Eva Marie fans were excited for the anticipated return, the optics of bringing her back felt tone-deaf and offbeat. Much to our surprise, Eva Marie’s debut/performance, or lack thereof, wasn’t what the fans were talking about throughout the show. After a double debut, one being Eva’s mystery partner run in, we’ll never forget the catastrophic but impressive handling of the veteran and former two-time Smackdown Women’s Champion GLOW Queen Naomi. That mystery partner’s brazen debut performance of sheer dominance shocked the casual wrestling community and left the die-hards speechless. Interestingly, the unwelcomed reception was more so directed towards her debut win at Naomi’s expense, an undeniable fan favorite, rather than her new name, as her legacy fans favored the step up to the company’s flagship show, a testament to her wrestling skillset. After Eva Marie’s claimed victory revealed her new apprentice’s name to be Doudrop, it was clear her teaming with Eva Marie could be leaning towards a “strong-arm, co-star” status. But wait, Doudrop? To those familiar, this was Piper Niven from NXT UK… what’s Doudrop?“My belief was that it was a temporary thing, and I was like 'okay, right okay, cool. I can get behind this’,” she told GiveMeSports in an October 2021 interview, a statement fans were hopeful stood true and her name would eventually revert back to Piper Niven. Not the case.

As time progressed, both Eva Marie and Doudrop made the best of their new opportunity. From the casual’s perspective, the purview of the Vixen of Violence and Piper Niven isn’t common knowledge. That select fan’s point of view would have no clue of her character if they were not avid NXT UK viewers. Running in on a previously advertised match, decimating Naomi, a fan favorite would and did leave that audience confused. What the casual fan would undoubtedly take away from that situation, was that Doudrop was a force to be reckoned with. Her performance didn’t come as a surprise to the fans that knew her and have followed her career. To them, the new name was more of a head tilt than anything. Doudrop. How do you give a rising female powerhouse who encompasses agility, athleticism, and strength a name like Doudrop? Answer: The new name is nothing compared to the impactful presence she brings and has no bearing on her ability to entertain the wrestling community’s diversified fanbase. This new character run has been consistent to her previous characters, while adding more complexity in finding her space as a singles competitor on the main roster. Doudrop maintains the presence felt since the debut, by remaining self-assured and high-handed, whilst providing organic in-ring chemistry with the heart of the women’s locker room. She danced with fierce competitors like “The Queen of Spades” Shayna Bazler, the former “Irresistible Force” Nia Jax(nee Lina Fanene) and one of the greatest of our time in women’s wrestling “The Empress of Tomorrow” Asuka, all former champions in their own right. Not bad for a come up.

The flow of storylines that Doudrop has been in have paced evenly allowing the audience that may not be familiar with her previous work, the opportunity to digest a balanced showcase. With the steady blend of bookings of singles, tag matches, Queen of the Ring tournament matches and even a five-way match, she’s delivered humorous but no-nonsense backstage segments that have proven to be helpful in her transition onto the main stage. Doudrop’s confidence on the mic also proved her spot is well deserved, earned, and not given. As the Fiendish Alexa Blissset her sights on Doudrop’s self-proclaimed mentor, Doudrop remained unphased by the demoness and her swinging pal Lilly. Tagging the two into this story opened more opportunities for Doudrop to integrate additional elements and shades of her skillset of how comfortable she can be in a role. She demonstrated her ability to engage complex characters while staying true to the one she’s building to get over with the fans. As we watched her work the new character through this quirky partnership, we all knew that all pairings eventually come to an end. Faces of distain, irritation, and her readiness to break away from the clutches of Eva Marie made its way to ending her side-kick persona. Her Summerslam betrayal sealed her new path toward becoming a singles competitor. Looking back on the character’s phase, we could argue Doudrop was less of a sidekick and more of the navigator in their partnership. An ability most current and veterans of the business possess.

The development pace allowed for focus on her character and not the new name. Doudrop’s August 9, 2021 match against Bliss on Monday Night RAW was a reminder to her legacy fans and a statement to her new audience of how good she is holistically as a performer. It’s not easy for some wrestlers to transition from the independent scene to global production and fanfare, even if it’s a lifelong dream. The learning curve can be a tough road; some make it, some don’t, and some roads lead to different but successful paths in and outside of WWE.

While all things may come to an end, Doudrop’s not done yet. As of this writing she’s a newly minted heel feuding with former SmackDown Women’s Champion “The EST of WWE” Bianca Belairand Doudrop’s prepared to bring the former champion to her knees, at the back of the line. Her resume and ability to hold her own with WWE’s top Superstars proves that her rebrand to Doudrop is just that, a name. Actions speak louder than words, her potential though irrefutable remains to be seen. Still fresh in her young career, this determined WWE Superstar hasn’t even scratched the surface and the name Doudrop will nothold her back.

Her talent commands attention, not her name. It’s an early career win and a testament for what lies ahead. The WWE women’s roster has officially been put on notice —don’t sleep ladies.

Mimi Jean-Louis isa cheeky writer, brand lover and devote sneaker-head. When she’s not slinging copy in various forms of online wrestling outlets or chatting up wrestling, culture and kicks on Twitter Spaces, she’s likely taking L’s on the SNKR App or you’ll find her at a high school varsity football game, cheering on the sidelines for her beloved 17-year-old Wide Receiver.

Twitter: @iamMimiChelles