Insane move that made risk-taking rookie a viral WWE sensation

Every great sporting star has their own signature move that fans know and love.

Think about Benji Marshall‘s goosestep, Shane Warne‘s flipper, Michael Jordan‘s fade away jump shot or Mike Tyson’s body shot-uppercut combination.

It’s no different in pro wrestling and that unique signature move is precisely what put Sol Ruca on the map early in her WWE career, speed-running her way towards championship gold just months after being called up to the main roster in April.

The 26-year-old former college gymnast barely even knew or understood what wrestling was five years ago when she received a surprising Instagram message from WWE’s recruitment team, asking her to come to Orlando for a tryout.

Ruca, real name Calyx Hampton, was creating social media content and working as an online personal trainer full-time when the message arrived.

WWE have long been searching for college athletes from different sporting backgrounds and pedigrees to join their NXT developmental system and, clearly, someone noticed Ruca’s athletic ability and saw something special.

“My social media was a lot of me doing flips and tricks on the beach and that’s how they found me,” Ruca told nine.com.au earlier this month to promote WWE SummerSlam on August 2 and 3 (AEST), streaming on Netflix.

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“They asked me to do a tryout and I was really confused at first, I didn’t really know what it was about. I did my research and was like ‘I can do this’ and if I make it, hell yeah and if I don’t, it’s a cool story to tell everyone.

“I went to the tryout, which was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, then a couple of days later I got the call and they offered me a contract.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t a wrestling fan before getting here. Looking back, I wish I was. If I had watched it back then, I would have known this is what I want to do.”

Ruca made the move from Hawaii to Florida and hasn’t looked back, making her official in-ring debut in June 2022 and immediately turning heads.

With unmatched athleticism and an eye-catching style, Ruca was always going to garner attention and be destined for the bright lights of WWE’s main roster.

But it was her signature move - dubbed the “Sol Snatcher” - that first started gaining Ruca viral attention online for all the right reasons and made people take notice of her as a future star, long before her main roster call-up this year.

It’s a manoeuvre that has to be seen to be believed and Ruca explained how she managed to figure out she could physically perform it on a consistent basis under the bright lights of WWE and in front of thousands of fans every week.

“When I was thinking of a finishing move, I wanted something that was unique to me and my background, but also something that I can do to anyone,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter if I’ve been in the match for five minutes or an hour, that doesn’t require me to lift someone up and it’s something I can hit out of nowhere.

“I used to do a gymnastics move called a straddle back on bars and it’s essentially the same sort of mechanics where instead of jumping forwards and flipping backwards, it’s jumping backwards and flipping forwards.

“I practiced it a few times at the PC [performance centre], we have squishy rings where the floor of the ring is kinda like a bed, so you can practice moves safely. I practiced it quite a few times there until I was feeling really confident.

“Once I hit it on TV, it started getting traction, so I’ve had to keep finding new ways to one-up myself and find new ways to do it.” 

Ruca’s high-risk in-ring style has earned her comparisons to legendary names such as Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam and Lita early in her wrestling journey, swiftly working her way towards the WWE Intercontinental Title earlier this year.

But with those high risks, Ruca puts herself in the firing line for both injuries and social media backlash when things go wrong.

Still a rookie at the time, Ruca suffered an ACL injury in early-2023 that sidelined her for nearly a year - something she believes was a blessing in disguise.

“That was rough - I never had any serious injuries in gymnastics or in college, so that was the first time I’d had to go through anything like that,” Ruca said.

“It was a crazy time, I’m happy I went through it and it definitely helped me to listen to my body a bit more. I think before the injury, I was just doing way too much and wrestling is so different to athletics … it’s not like any other sport.

“It was definitely a learning curve and that injury forced me into learning about how to do stuff while also protecting my body.”

Dealing with social media criticism is a different challenge entirely.

“It’s definitely tough and I’m still trying to learn how to navigate that,” Ruca said.

“Social media is such a new thing within wrestling and how much we’re put out there and how much people will clip things and spread it all over.

“At the end of the day, if the crowd is happy and the people backstage are happy, that’s all that really matters - people will put things on social media just for likes.

“I just have to take a step back and ask if I’m proud of what I’m doing? To me, that’s all that matters.” 

Ruca isn’t expected to be a prominent part of SummerSlam in a blockbuster two-night event, headlined by Cody Rhodes challenging CM Punk for the world title and Brock Lesnar’s likely retirement match against Oba Femi.

However, she does have her sights set on a clear “bucket list” moment with WWE.

“I wanna come out to Australia so badly,” she said.

“It’s definitely a bucket list place for me. I’m gonna do everything I can in my power to be on that card when we’re back out there.”