Kimberly Benson (born 6 May 1991) is a Scottish

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. She is currently signed to

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

, where she performs on the Raw

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projectin ...

Doudrop. Benson began her career on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

under the name Viper; after joining WWE, she originally performed on its

NXT UK ''NXT UK'' is a professional wrestling television programme that was produced exclusively in the United Kingdom by the American promotion WWE. It aired on BT Sport and 5Action (previously known as Paramount Network). In the United States, the s ...

brand as Piper Niven. She is a former two-time ICW Women's Champion, one-time Artist of Stardom Champion, one-time SWA World Champion, and two-time WWE 24/7 Champion.

Early life

Kimberly Benson was born on 6 May 1991, in Kilbirnie, Scotland.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2007–2019)

Before turning into a wrestler, she kept her love for

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

as a secret due to being worried that her female friends thought she was "weird" as they believed that was only a sport for men. It wasn't until she was 15, and when her oldest nephew began to watch wrestling, that Benson's passion was rekindled and she was open about enjoying wrestling. She was introduced to this sport at a training school near her Ayrshire home and, according to her, she debuted at age 16 one year after beginning her training; making accounts with her age, this was in 2007. About her training, she said: "I got beat up, totally beat up. I remember lying in bed the next day, being so sore and in absolute agony, but I just loved it, I had to go back." She was part of the special program of ITV

World of Sport Wrestling ''World of Sport Wrestling'' (frequently shortened to ''WOS Wrestling'') was a British professional wrestling television series and occasional promotion. It was promoted as a re-launch of the popular wrestling segment of the '' World of Sport'' ...

celebrated on New Year's Eve 2016, and until April of that year, she was programmed to appear on a revival of the series. However, a month later before filming was set to begin, the project was postponed indefinitely. Although not long after, she received a phone call from WWE, one of the largest wrestling companies in the world, asking her to be part of the women's tournament, Mae Young Classic 2017. The event took place in 2017 and was an all-women tournament. Benson asked World of Sport Wrestling to release her from her contract to participate in the competition. She competed as Piper Niven since the name she was using was Viper and that was already the name of a WWE star inside the company, deciding to choose that name because she played bagpipes as a child, and Niven is her dad's first name. She defeated

Santana Garrett Santana Garrett (born May 22, 1988) is an American professional wrestler, valet and model. She is currently signed to WWE, where she works as a coach at the Performance Center. During her career, Garrett has wrestled in many independent promo ...

in the first round and

Serena Deeb Serena Deeb (born June 29, 1986) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is well known for her first stint with WWE, appearing on the SmackDown brand and also known for her time with the develo ...

in the round two, before being defeated by

Toni Storm Toni Rossall (born 19 October 1995), better known by the ring name Toni Storm, is a New Zealand-Australian professional wrestler. She is currently signed to AEW, where she is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She previously worked for WWE, ...

in the quarterfinals.

World Wonder Ring Stardom (2016–2019)

Also in 2017, she worked in Japan as Viper for the company

World Wonder Ring Stardom World Wonder Ring Stardom (スターダム女子プロレス), often referred to simply as Stardom (stylized as ST★RDOM), is a Japanese '' joshi puroresu'' or women's professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan. Stardom was founded in ...

. On 7 January of that year, at the event Stardom New Years Stars 2017 – Tag 2, she was part of the team "Oedo Tai" with Kagetsu and Kyoko Kimura as a replacement for

Hana Kimura was a Japanese joshi puroresu professional wrestler. She worked for native companies in her country such as World Wonder Ring Stardom from 2016 to 2020, and Wrestle-1, in addition to having made appearances for foreign companies such as Ring o ...

who was injured, where she tried to help the team to retain the Artist of Stardom Championship against "Queen's Quest" a team integrated by HZK,

Io Shirai is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Iyo Sky (stylized in all caps). She is a member of Damage CTRL and one-half of the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions w ...

and Momo Watanabe, in which they were defeated and they lost the title. On 13 August, she joined Queen's Quest along with Shirai and HZK to face the team "Team Jungle" integrated by

Hiroyo Matsumoto (born November 6, 1985) is Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer. Emi Sakura gave her the nickname of because Matsumoto broke a wall in the Ichigaya arena during her Ice Ribbon debut. She is best known with other w ...

, Jungle Kyona and

Kaori Yoneyama is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working as a freelancer on the Japanese independent circuit. Yoneyama started her career in 1999, working with the JWP Joshi Puroresu promotion. During the following years, she became a one-tim ...

in a match for the Artist of Stardom Championship at the event Midsummer Champions 2017, in which they achieved to win the title and Viper crown herself champion. On 16 September, Viper participated at the event 5★Star Grand Prix 2017 of Stardom, where she draw with Mayu Iwatani both with 10 points. Along with Queen's Quest, managed to defend and retain the Artistic Championship three times before they left it vacant on 15 April 2018 after a draft executed by Stardom, ending their reign with 245. One month before that same year, on 28 March, she faced

at the Stardom Dream Slam in Tokyo event in a match for her

SWA World Championship The is a women's professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), championship promoted by the Japanese World Wonder Ring Stardom Professional wrestling promotion, promotion. Though the Japanese name of the title translates to "SWA ...

, in which the ICW Women's Championship of Viper was also in the line, where she defeated Storm to capture the title, emerging victorious with both championships. Defended and retained the championship twice before losing it in a match against

Utami Hayashishita (born September 14, 1998) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion, Since making her debut on August 12, 2018, she became a one-time World of Stardom Champion, two-time Goddesses of Stardom Ch ...

at the Stardom 8th Anniversary event held on 14 January 2019, in which she also put her EVE International Championship at stake, where she was defeated and lost both titles, ending her reign with the SWA Championship in 292 days and with the EVE Championship in 92 days.

WWE

NXT UK (2019–2021)

In early 2019, a rumour started spreading in which it was said and expected that Niven signed with WWE, which came out to be true when she appeared and debuted on 27 March episode of ''

'' that year, where she confronted Rhea Ripley. Niven had her first televised match with WWE after being signed on a special program entitled WWE Worlds Collide on 24 April, which consisted on various matches that involved wrestlers from all the brands; Raw, SmackDown, NXT, 205 Live and NXT UK, this last one was the brand that she belonged to and represented, defeating

Zelina Vega Thea Megan Trinidad Büdgen (born December 27, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and actress. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Zelina Vega, and is a member of Legado Del Fan ...

of SmackDown. On 19 June episode of ''NXT UK'', Niven competed in a

battle royal Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...

to determine who would have a future opportunity to face the NXT UK Women's Champion

. In the match, Niven was eliminated by

Xia Brookside Xia-Louise Brooks (born 16 October 1998) is an English professional wrestler and valet. She is best known for her time in WWE, where she performed on the NXT UK brand under the ring name Xia Brookside. She has also worked for World Wonder Ri ...

. On 12 January 2020 at the NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II event, Niven competed in a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

against

and Kay Lee Ray for the NXT UK Women's Championship, where Niven was defeated and pinned by Kay Lee. Niven returned to ''NXT UK'' television on 24 September of that year, where she challenged Kay Lee Ray in a match for the NXT UK Women's Championship, where she was defeated. On 19 November, Niven challenged Ray in a

Falls Count Anywhere match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

for the NXT UK Women's Championship. Niven was again defeated by Kay Lee due to an interference made by Jinny. Niven lost to Jinny in a No. 1 contenders match for the NXT UK Women's Championship on episode 7 January 2021 of ''NXT UK''. On 11 March, Niven and Jack Starz defeated Jinny and

Joseph Conners Joseph Conners (born 28 May 1987) is an English professional wrestler. Conners competed in many British wrestling promotions, most notably New Generation Wrestling (NGW) and What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW), where he was a one-time WCPW Cham ...

in the NXT UK's first-ever mixed tag team match.

Eva Marie's protégé and championship pursuits (2021–2022)

On 14 June 2021 episode of '' Raw'', Niven was traded to the brand as

Eva Marie Natalie Eva Marie Nelson (born September 19, 1984) is an American actress, fashion designer, model, and professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in WWE, from 2013–2017 and 2020–2021, where she performed under the ring name ...

's unnamed

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

, defeating Naomi in her debut match. The following week on ''Raw'', Marie introduced her as "Doudrop". Later that night, she and Marie were defeated in a tag team match by Asuka and Naomi. At

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's se ...

, Doudrop turned against Marie, and on the following episode of ''Raw'', Marie attacked Doudrop during an interview; starting a feud between them. After defeating Marie twice on 13 and 20 September episodes of ''Raw'', on the next episode, Doudrop challenged

Charlotte Flair Ashley Elizabeth Fliehr (born April 5, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Charlotte Flair. She is currently inactive. She is a second-genera ...

for the Raw Women's Championship in a losing effort due to a distraction by Marie. In October, Doudrop entered the

Queen's Crown tournament The Queen's Crown tournament is a women's professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. Established in 2021, the prize for winning the tournament is earning the moniker of ...

, where she defeated Natalya in the first round and Shayna Baszler in the semi-finals, but lost to

in the finals at Crown Jewel. In 2022, after winning a triple threat No. 1 contendership match against

Bianca Belair Bianca Blair Crawford (born Bianca Nicole Blair; April 9, 1989) is an American professional wrestler and a fitness and figure competitor. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Bianca Belair, an ...

and

Liv Morgan Gionna Jene Daddio (born June 8, 1994) is an American professional wrestler and actress. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Liv Morgan. She is a former SmackDown Women's Champion. In ...

on an episode of ''Raw'', Doudrop challenged Raw Women's Champion

Becky Lynch Rebecca Quin (born 30 January 1987) is an Irish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE under the ring name Becky Lynch where she performs on the Raw brand. Lynch is one of WWE's most recognizable and highest-paid wrestlers. Twitter na ...

for the title at

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle r ...

in a losing effort. At

Elimination Chamber The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was founded by Chris Jericho , created and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular steel ...

, she entered the

Elimination Chamber match The Elimination Chamber is a professional wrestling elimination-based match held in the WWE. The match was founded by Chris Jericho , created and introduced by Eric Bischoff in November 2002. It features a large chain-linked circular stee ...

for a Raw Women's Championship match at

WrestleMania 38 WrestleMania 38 was the 38th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was held as a two-night e ...

, but was eliminated by Liv Morgan. Since June, she would chase the

WWE 24/7 Championship The WWE 24/7 Championship was a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was a tertiary championship open to anyone—regardless of gender or WWE employment status—and carried the special rule ...

, winning the title twice.

Teaming with Nikki A. S. H. (2022–present)

On 2 May episode of ''Raw'', Doudrop approached

Nikki A. S. H. Nicola Glencross (born 21 April 1989) is a Scottish professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Nikki Cross. She is a one-time WWE Raw Women's Champion, three-time WWE Women's Tag ...

backstage, suggesting to align together, which A. S. H. accepted. The following week on ''Raw'', Doudrop alongside A. S. H. challenged the

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling women's tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is the only women's tag team championship for WWE's main roster, thus is defended across ...

Naomi and

Sasha Banks Mercedes Justine Kaestner-Varnado (born January 26, 1992) is an American professional wrestler and actress. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sasha Banks. Banks previously wrestled ...

in a non-title match, but they were unsuccessful. After the Women's Tag Team Championship was vacated on May, A. S. H. and Doudrop entered a tournament to crown a new champions which beguned at August. They lost in the first round to

Alexa Bliss Alexis Cabrera (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. In 2013, Bliss ...

and Asuka. On 26 August episode of ''

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes si ...

'', A. S. H. and Doudrop entered a second chance four-way match to return to the tournament among other thee teams, which was won by Natalya and

Sonya Deville Daria Rae Berenato (born September 24, 1993) is an American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. She is currently signed to WWE where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sonya Deville. She is also a former on-scr ...

. On 30 August episode of ''

NXT 2.0 ''WWE NXT'', also known as ''NXT'', is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring performers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show currentl ...

'', A. S. H. and Doudrop made a surprise appearance as they challenged the NXT Women's Tag Team Champions Katana Chance and

Kayden Carter Allyssa Lyn "Lacey" Lane (born May 20, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under the ring name Kayden Carter, performing on the NXT brand. She is a one-time NXT Women's Tag Team Champion with Katana Chance. Ear ...

for their titles at Worlds Collide. At the event, they failed to win the titles following interference from Toxic Attraction.

Other media

Benson is the subject of the episode ''Fight Like a Girl'' of the documentary series ''Our Lives'' by BBC. The episode is about her life as a professional wrestler. Benson made her

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

debut in the ''Clowning Around Pack'' DLC for '' WWE 2K22''.

Personal life

Celebrate Bisexuality Day Celebrate Bisexuality Day (also called Bisexual Pride Day, Bi Visibility Day, CBD, Bisexual Pride and Bi Visibility Day, and Bisexuality+ Day) is observed annually on September 23 to recognize and celebrate bisexual people, the bisexual communi ...

2019, Benson

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...

. Benson shared that she has

Bell's palsy Bell's palsy is a type of facial paralysis that results in a temporary inability to control the facial muscles on the affected side of the face. In most cases, the weakness is temporary and significantly improves over weeks. Symptoms can vary f ...

. Benson got married in September 2021.

Championships and accomplishments

* Alpha Omega Wrestling ** AOW Women's Championship (1 time) * Association Biterroise de Catch ** ABC Women's Championship (1 time) * Fierce Females ** Fierce Females Championship (1 time) * Insane Championship Wrestling ** ICW Women's Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outsid ...

) ** ICW Women's Championship Tournament (2015) *

Preston City Wrestling Pro Championship Wrestling (PCW UK) is a British owned independent professional wrestling promotion established as Preston City Wrestling in 2011. It was re-branded as Pro Championship Wrestling in 2020, and is still stylised as PCW. PCW runs ...

** PCW Women's Championship (1 time) * Pro-Wrestling: EVE ** Pro-Wrestling: EVE Championship ( 1 time) ** Pro-Wrestling: EVE International Championship ( 1 time) ** Pro Wrestling: EVE International Championship Tournament (2018) * ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' ** Ranked No. 37 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the '' PWI Female 50'' in 2017 * Scottish Wrestling Entertainment ** SWE Future Division Championship (1 time) * Showcase Pro Wrestling ** Caledonian Cup (2014) *

** WOS Women's Championship (2 times) * World Wide Wrestling League ** W3L Women's Championship (1 time) *

** Artist of Stardom Championship ( 1 time) – with HZK and

( 1 time) ** Trios Tag Team Tournament (2019) – with

and Bea Priestley *

(

) * Wrestlers Reunion Scotland ** The George Kidd Scottish Wrestling Hall of Fame (2018)https://ecstasyofgoldwrestling.wordpress.com/2022/11/01/new-phenom-the-icw-world-heavyweight-championship-reign-of-drew-galloway/

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doudrop 1991 births Living people Bisexual sportspeople Bisexual women LGBT professional wrestlers LGBT sportspeople from Scotland People from Ayrshire Scottish female professional wrestlers Scottish expatriates in Japan Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan 21st-century LGBT people WWE 24/7 Champions 21st-century professional wrestlers SWA World Champions