Ruby Riott

Dori Elizabeth Prange ( ; born January 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to orld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where she performs under the ring name Ruby Riot. Prange has also worked in World Wonder Ring Stardom (aka, "Stardom") as Heidi Lovelace, and extensively on the U.S. independent circuit for promotions such as Shimmer Women Athletes, Shine Wrestling, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and IWA Mid-South.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2010–2016)

In 2010, Prange began training with Billy Roc at his School of Roc. She would make her debut for Juggalo Championship Wrestling, at the ''Arena Chicks at the Gathering!'' event under the ring name Heidi Lovelace, where she defeated C.J. Lane. Lovelace made her debut for Shimmer Women Athletes competing in Volume 51, where she teamed up with December in a losing effort to Pink Flash Kira and Sweet Cherrie in a tag-team match.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2012–2013)

On May 16, 2012, Prange received a tryout in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) against Taeler Hendrix, which she failed to win. Prange made her debut for the promotion under the ring name Heidi Lovelace on the May 23 episode of ''OVW episode 666'', where she lost to C.J Lane. On September 1 at OVW's ''Saturday Night Special'', Lovelace defeated Taeler Hendrix in a no disqualifications match, earning a future championship match against her. Lovelace defeated Hendrix for OVW Women's Championship on September 15 during a live event in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. After winning the Women's Championship, Lovelace had victories over Jessie Belle Smoothers, Epiphany, Josette Bynum and Scarlett Bordeaux. On the November 14 episode of ''OVW episode 691'', Lovelace dropped the Women's Championship to Taryn Terrell after the special guest referee Taeler Hendrix cost her the match. Since January 2013, Hendrix received gifts from a secret admirer which she thought was either Dylan Bostic or Ryan Howe. The conclusion of that story ended on the April 27 episode of ''OVW'' when Heidi announced that it was her sending the gifts to Hendrix. On the May 4 episode of ''OVW'', Lovelace tried to express her feelings to Hendrix but ended up alone with Hendrix confused. On the May 31 episode of ''OVW'', Lovelace (after being told by Hendrix that Trina has something against the two of them) confronted Trina and challenged her to a match for the Women's Title on the ''Saturday Night Special'', which Trina accepted. The following day at OVW's ''Saturday Night Special'', Trina reversed Lovelace's attempt of a hurricanrana into a powerbomb to retain her title.

Shine Wrestling (2012–2014)

At Shine Wrestling's ''Shine 2'' event, Prange as Heidi Lovelace faced fellow OVW wrestlers Sojournor Bolt and Taeler Hendrix in a three–way match, which was won by Bolt. On November 16, at ''Shine 5'', Lovelace was defeated by Sassy Stephie in a singles match. On February 22, 2013, at ''Shine 7'', Lovelace was defeated by Brittney Savage. On May 24, Lovelace teamed with Luscious Latasha and Solo Darling to take on Sojournor Bolt, Sassy Stephie and Jessie Belle in a six–women tag team match, in which her team lost. Lovelace's losing streak continued at ''Shine 15'' when she was defeated by Mercedes Martinez in singles action. During ''Shine 16'' on January 24, 2014, her losing streak ended after being confirmed as the newest member of the "All Star Squad" (ASS) faction run by Daffney, after forming a tag team with fellow ASS member Solo Darling called "The Buddy System" and defeated S-N-S Express (Sassy Stephie and Jessie Belle Smothers).

Chikara (2013–2016)

On May 18, 2013, Lovelace made her debut for Chikara, when she and Saturyne entered the 2013 Tag World Grand Prix. They were, however, eliminated in their first round match by Arik Cannon and Darin Corbin. On December 6, 2014, in the pre-show of the Tomorrow Never Dies iPPV, Lovelace defeated Missile Assault Ant in the finals of a tournament to win the Chikara Young Lions Cup. She defended her Young Lions Cup multiple times in 2015, remaining undefeated in the year.

Also in 2015, Heidi took part in the "Challenge of the Immortals" tournament, which was a season-long double round-robin event. She was drafted to Dasher Hatfield's team, christened "Dasher's Dugout", which also included Dasher's fellow Throwbacks teammate "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti, and then Chikara Grand Championship holder, Icarus. Their team led in points for much of the tournament, before ultimately forfeiting their points due to it being revealed that "Mr. Touchdown" had been cheating late in the tournament, by giving Dasher a secretly "loaded" elbow pad. Even so, Dasher and Heidi took part in the season-closing "Tourneo Cibernetico" 16-man match together.

On Saturday, March 19, 2016, she received a title shot at the Chikara Grand Championship against fellow female wrestler Princess Kimber Lee in Gibsonville, North Carolina at the Mid-Atlantic Sportatorium. Kimber retained after escaping the Chikara Special submission and then locking on a bow and arrow style submission that contorted Heidi to the point she had to tap (she had suffered neck damage due to the double-digit German suplexes she sustained over the course of the match).

World Wonder Ring Stardom (2015)

On January 11, 2015, Lovelace made her Japanese debut for the World Wonder Ring Stardom promotion, teaming with Act Yasukawa in a tag team match, where they defeated Hudson Envy and Kris Wolf. On January 18, Lovelace, Yasukawa and Dragonita were forced to join the villainous Monster-gun stable, after being defeated by Envy, Wolf and the stable's leader Kyoko Kimura in a six-woman tag team match. Following the addition of the new members, Monster-gun was renamed Oedo Tai. On February 8, Lovelace, Dragonita and Envy unsuccessfully challenged Heisei-gun (Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani and Takumi Iroha) for the Artist of Stardom Championship.

WWE

NXT (2016–2017)

On December 15, 2016, it was reported that Prange had signed with WWE and reported to the WWE Performance Center. She made her in-ring debut on January 13 at an NXT live event, losing to Daria Berenato. Going by the ring name Ruby Riot, she made her television debut on the March 22 episode of ''NXT'', attacking Nikki Cross and the rest of Sanity, alongside Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose and Roderick Strong, establishing herself as a face. This led to a match between the two teams at NXT TakeOver: Orlando, on April 1, where Riot's team lost.

In her first singles match, which aired on the April 12 episode of ''NXT'', Riot defeated Kimberly Frankele with Nikki Cross attempting to distract her. The following week, Cross called out Riot and a brawl ensued. William Regal booked the two in a match, which again led to a brawl that had to be split up. On the May 3 episode of ''NXT'', Riot participated in a #1 contender's battle royal for Asuka's NXT Women's Championship and made it to the final three before Asuka attacked her, Cross, and Ember Moon, resulting in a no contest. A fatal four-way match between all four women for the championship was later scheduled at NXT TakeOver: Chicago, but Moon was later taken out of the match due to a legitimate injury. Riot lost the match at the event after Asuka pinned both her and Cross simultaneously. On the October 18 episode of ''NXT'', Riot competed against Ember Moon and Sonya Deville in a triple threat qualifying match for a title opportunity at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Moon. She later competed twice against Sonya Deville, with Riot winning the first match on the November 22 episode of ''NXT'', but losing the second one on December 7 in a No Holds Barred match, which turned out to be her last match on NXT after already being on the main roster.

The Riott Squad (2017–2019)

On the November 21, 2017, episode of ''SmackDown Live'', Riot, now known as Ruby Riott, made her main roster debut, alongside Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan, by attacking both Becky Lynch and Naomi, turning heel. Later that night, they interrupted a match between SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair and Natalya and attacked both. The following week, the trio, now dubbed The Riott Squad, made their in ring-debuts, defeating Flair, Natalya and Naomi in a six-woman tag team match. On January 28, 2018, at the Royal Rumble event, Riott competed in the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match where she lasted 11:00 and eliminated Becky Lynch and Vickie Guerrero before she was eliminated by Nia Jax. Riott challenged Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship at Fastlane, but was unsuccessful. In April, Riott also competed in the first ever WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal on the WrestleMania 34 kickoff show, but she was unsuccessful in winning the match.

On April 16, The Riott Squad were drafted to Raw as part of the 2018 Superstar Shake-Up. Later that night, the group attacked both Bayley and Sasha Banks during their match. Two weeks later, Riott defeated Banks in her first match for on ''Raw''. Six days later during the Backlash ''Kickoff'', Riott defeated Bayley. The following night, Riott competed in a Money in the Bank qualifying match against Banks and Ember Moon; Moon pinned Riott for the victory. She competed in a Gauntlet Match on the May 28 episode of ''Raw'', but was unsuccessful. On the August 6 episode of ''Raw'', Riott (who had been sidelined with a knee injury) returned and assisted Morgan and Logan in defeating Bayley and Banks in a tag team match.

In September, The Riott Squad began a feud with The Bella Twins, who aligned themselves with Ronda Rousey. This prompted a six–woman tag team match to take place at Super Show-Down, where The Riott Squad were defeated. The Riott Squad took part of the first-ever all women's pay–per–view, Evolution, where they were defeated by Bayley, Banks and Natalya. On the November 12 episode of ''Raw'', Riott was named as the final member for Team Raw in the five–on–five elimination match at Survivor Series. During the event's ''Kickoff'', Riott and Natalya fought in the locker room. This led to team captain Alexa Bliss removing them from the team and replacing them with Banks and Bayley. On January 27, 2019, at the Royal Rumble, Riott competed in the second women's Royal Rumble match, entering at number 21, lasting 13:08 and eliminating four competitors before she was eliminated by Bayley. The following month, on February 17, Riott challenged Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, but was destroyed in under two minutes. The following night on ''Raw'', Riott faced Rousey again in a rematch for the title, however, she was once again defeated by submission. On April 7, during the WrestleMania 35 kick–off show, Riott again competed in the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal but the match was won by Carmella. During the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Morgan was moved to ''SmackDown Live'', effectively ending the group. Following the disbandment, Riott underwent shoulder surgery to repair a bilateral injury in May. She underwent the same procedure on her other shoulder in August.

Feud and reunion with Liv Morgan (2020–2021)

Riott returned from injury on the February 3, 2020 episode of ''Raw'', attacking her former Riott Squad teammate, Liv Morgan which would result in a match between the two with Sarah Logan as the special guest referee where Liv was victorious after a fast count by Logan. At Elimination Chamber on March 8, Riott competed in the Elimination Chamber match, during which she was eliminated by eventual winner Shayna Baszler. After WrestleMania 36, Riott continued her feud with Morgan where she lost to her twice on the April 20 and 27 episodes of ''Raw'', respectively. On the June 22 episode of ''Raw'', Riott attempted to console Morgan after her loss but Morgan immediately rejected her. Over the next couple of weeks, Riott started defending Morgan from bullying from The IIconics, initiating a feud with them in the process. On the July 13 episode of ''Raw'', Riott formed an alliance with Bianca Belair. The two defeated The IIconics in a tag match the same night.

On the August 3 episode of ''Raw'', Ruby appeared on the Kevin Owens Show and apologized to the returning Liv Morgan, only to be interrupted by The IIconics. Later the same night, Liv decided to team up with Riott to take on The IIconics in a winning effort. This would mark the beginning of reformation of Morgan and Riott as The Riott Squad. They would face The IIconics two more times at Payback and on the August 31 episode of ''Raw'' for the #1 contendership for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, also forcing The IIconics to break up per stipulation. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Riott and Morgan were drafted to the SmackDown brand. On April 10, 2021, on Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, Riott & Morgan competed in a tag team turmoil match for the #1 contendership for the Women's Tag Team Championships, with the winners going on to compete the following night, the duo would go on to eliminate the teams of Billie Kay & Carmella, and Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke, before being defeated by the victorious Natalya & Tamina. On June 2, 2021, Riott was released by WWE, effectively disbanding The Riott Squad for the second time.

All Elite Wrestling (2021–present)

On June 18, 2021, during an interview on ''Wrestling Perspective Podcast'', Prange discussed how she would like to keep the Ruby name for her character and would not be returning to her Heidi Lovelace ring name as she disliked that name and it was never her idea to begin with. She said she originally took the Ruby name from the Rancid song " Ruby Soho", however, WWE owns the rights to the Ruby Riott ring name so she could no longer use it. It was then suggested by Rancid's Lars Fredriksen, who is one of the hosts of the podcast, that she should use the ring name Ruby Soho and assured her that he could also have the song cleared legally for her to use as her entrance theme. The name change was confirmed via a post on Prange's Instagram account.

On September 5, Prange, now going by Ruby Soho, made her All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut as the surprise Joker entrant in the women's Casino Battle Royale match at the promotion's All Out pay-per-view in Chicago, and won her debut match after eliminating Thunder Rosa, thus earning herself a future match for the AEW Women's World Championship which was currently being held by Britt Baker On September 22, at Grand Slam, Soho lost to Baker in a title match at the main event, after interference by Baker's allies Jamie Hayter and Rebel. Then, she participated in two tournaments: first the AEW TBS championship tournament where was defeated in the finals by Jade Cargill and second, the AEW Owen Hart Cup, where she was also defeated in the finals by Baker. At All Out Zero Hour, Soho and Ortiz challenged Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo for the AAA World Mixed Tag Team Championships in a losing effort, and Soho sustained a legit broken nose after being dropped on the top of her head mid-match, which could've caused a worse injury.

Other media

Riott made her video game debut in ''WWE 2K18'' as a downloadable character, and appeared in the succeeding titles ''WWE 2K19'' and ''WWE 2K20''. She appears as a downloadable character in the title ''WWE 2K Battlegrounds.''

Championships and accomplishments

*Absolute Intense Wrestling
**AIW Women's Championship (1 time)
*All American Wrestling
**AAW Heritage Championship ( 1 time)
*All Elite Wrestling
** Women's Casino Battle Royale (2021)
* Alpha-1 Wrestling
** A1 Alpha Male Championship (1 time)
*Channel Islands World Wrestling
**World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* Chikara
** Young Lions Cup XI ( 1 time)
*Ohio Valley Wrestling
** OVW Women's Championship ( 1 time)
*''Pro Wrestling Illustrated''
**Ranked No. 20 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the ''PWI Female 50'' in 2016
** Ranked No. 48 of the top 50 Tag Teams in the '' PWI Tag Team 50'' in 2021 - with Liv Morgan
* Sports Illustrated
** Ranked No. 12 in the top 30 female wrestlers in 2018
*Revolution Championship Wrestling
**RCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Shimmer Women Athletes
**Shimmer Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Evie

References

External links

*
*
*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soho, Ruby
1991 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American female professional wrestlers
Living people
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Sportspeople from Lafayette, Indiana
People from Edwardsburg, Michigan
Sportspeople from South Bend, Indiana
21st-century American women
Professional wrestlers from Michigan
Professional wrestlers from Indiana
21st-century professional wrestlers
Shimmer Tag Team Champions
OVW Women's Champions
AAW Heritage Champions