Ayrshire wrestler Piper Niven becomes latest Scots star to join WWE's Monday Night Raw

Scots wrestler Piper Niven

A Scots wrestling star has made her debut on WWE’s Monday Night Raw.

Ayrshire-born Piper Niven appeared as a “mystery friend” of returning superstar Eva Marie, winning a match against former women’s champion Naomi.

Niven, real name Kimberly Benson, has previously wrestled across Scotland, the UK and Japan as Viper, and was signed to WWE in 2017, competing in the Mae Young Classic tournament and then developmental brand NXT UK.

She has regularly competed in the ring for Glasgow-based Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) and was the subject of BBC documentary Fight Like A Girl.

HERE IS YOUR WINNER…#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/Rbv4vaMpcX

— WWE (@WWE) June 15, 2021

Nicknamed the Megaton Barbie, she has been part of the evolution of women’s wrestling in recent years.

In a previous interview with The Sunday Post, she said: “People wrote me off because of my size and what I look like and thought I was some stupid, blonde girl who was never going to amount to anything.

“I have helped break a mould in women’s wrestling. I was tired of being told, ‘This is what you have to look like and what you have to be’. I came in and said, ‘That’s a load of nonsense’.”

Too many emotions seeing this 🦁🤍

If there was ever a way to turn a national frown upside down, then of course @viperpiperniven would do it! 🤍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🤍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🤍 https://t.co/gD2XYdqwys

— Jennifer Louise (@_JenLouise_) June 15, 2021

On her training, she said: “When I started wrestling in Scotland, it never even occurred to me that you could be a women’s wrestler.

“It took going to a school and asking if I could come to realise that this was something you could do here.

“And to see what it’s like now… we’re not just part of the show, a feature or novelty, we are one of the main attractions.

“I’m really proud of all the girls for all the hard work they’ve put in and we’re slowly taking up more space – you can see the boys are starting to sweat a wee bit!”