5-time NCAA All-America observe and subject athlete, Anna Keefer, is now identified globally by WWE followers as “Adriana Rizzo,” however swapping the observe for the turnbuckle has required greater than only a title change. On this unique chat with M&F, Keefer reveals how each success and setbacks have knowledgeable her difficult journey in professional wrestling to date, and why she’s lastly able to breakout as the subsequent star of the squared circle.
Who Is Adriana Rizzo?
Making her means from Albertville, MN, Anna Keefer was a titan of observe and subject, excelling at lengthy bounce, the place she set a Minnesota state document of 20 toes and 1.25 inches (6.13 meters), In 2022, whereas representing the North Carolina Tar Heels, Keefer received the 2022 ACC Indoor Lengthy Leap occasion with 21 toes and 6 inches (6.55 meters), setting a UNC document within the course of. As well as, Keefer was additionally a record-breaking sprinter, incomes private bests of 11.29 seconds for 100 meters, and 22.83 seconds for the 200-meter occasion, however when World Wrestling Leisure reached out and provided her a tryout, the Division I athlete’s life would change course drastically.
Observe and Subject’s Anna Keefer Turns into WWE’s Adriana Rizzo
When Keefer entered her 2022 tryout on the WWE Efficiency Heart in Orlando, her data of professional wrestling just about prolonged to having heard of The Rock and John Cena, however a fellow athlete and buddy, Jonah Niesenbaum, now referred to as “Cutler James,” was already on the WWE recruitment journey. He inspired Keefer to take a brand new leap and go between the ropes for herself. “I didn’t know, bodily, how a lot contact there actually was,” she defined of her introduction to the mat. “The primary two days of hitting the ropes, I had an enormous welt. The stiffness of the ropes was stunning to me.”
Nonetheless, Keefer sucked it up and wowed officers a lot that she not solely signed a contract but in addition made her debut with WWE’s NXT model that very same yr. However whereas wrestling on the promotion’s Efficiency Heart, damage occurred when the rookie went to clothesline her opponent. To regular herself, the athlete had planted her foot on the bottom, however the canvas bounced again in an ungainly course. “That’s when my Achilles tendon went,” she explains. Keefer can be pressured to sit down it out with an Achilles tendon rupture for round six months, coaching after which lastly returning virtually a yr later in October 2023. That return quickly offered a possibility for Keefer to affix the D’Angelo household steady, and she or he additionally picked up her official WWE title, “Adrianna Rizzo.”
]Along with her confidence now constructing, and followers getting on board together with her charisma, Rizzo was starting to make nice strides, till the testing instances returned.
The ACL Harm That Almost Derailed Her WWE Profession
Again on the WWE Efficiency Heart, Rizzo picked her opponent up for a bodyslam, however her rival pushed down on her knee, bending the joint within the fallacious course. “I partially tore my ACL in that match,” she explains. Extremely, the gutsy grappler would proceed to wrestle, even flying by means of the air on the NXT Vengeance Day 2024 occasion, however after months of carrying a knee brace and specializing in rehab, the knee would lastly give out throughout one other coaching session, including a torn meniscus and sprained MCL to her already injured ACL. “And this was all on the left aspect,” she tells M&F.
What Adriana Rizzo Discovered Throughout Her Time Away From the Ring
Somewhat than fade away from relevancy, nevertheless, Rizzo used her time on the bench to hone her craft in entrance of the digicam, engaged on her promos and turning into an entertaining presenter. “It’s humorous, at my tryout, I feel someone advised me that they wrote down, ‘No Character, No Character,’” shares the star. “However as quickly as I had that Achilles damage, all I targeted on was character.” Having studied media manufacturing at school, the Adriana Rizzo Instagram account quickly turned an awesome place to maintain up with this athlete’s story. Creatively, the athlete additionally turned her hand to vogue, growing the Salt & Daughters label for classic impressed swimwear that she fashions together with her personal mother and sister.
For Anna Keefer, the change of course required to change into Adriana Rizzo had confirmed to be a very new street to navigate. “The medical workers, and all our speculation are that these accidents may very well be attributed to an absence of multidirectional work,” reveals the WWE Famous person. “I used to be very linear: run straight, bounce straight, and that was for 12 years, principally.”
Protecting her ardour for WWE alive on the Efficiency Heart, Rizzo now makes use of the health club house to ace her angles. “We do lateral actions,” she says. “Reactive stuff like crossover runs.” Different drills on the WWE PC embody coaches throwing balls at her whereas she is on the run. “Now, I’m reacting to those unorthodox issues,” she explains of making ready her physique for the rigours of the ring.
Can Adriana Rizzo Develop into WWE NXT’s Subsequent Breakout Star?
The emphasis on multidirectional coaching has additionally served to enhance Rizzo’s talents within the ring. “After I began these lateral runs or adjustments of course, I wasn’t as crisp,” displays the tenacious athlete. “Now, I really feel like I’m form of good at this now!”
The progress continues for Adriana Rizzo, who made a triumphant return to the ring on July 24, 2026, throughout a dwell occasion with NXT. “I used to be simply form of impartial, after which slightly nervous proper earlier than I went out,” shares Rizzo, who says that the belief she had in her opponent, Myka Lockwood, helped her to seek out her toes as soon as the motion obtained going.
Now, Rizzo is hoping to get extra matches underneath her belt to sharpen her abilities, prepared for taking up the perfect WWE Superstars like Chelsea Inexperienced or Rhea Ripley.“Chelsea Inexperienced, I feel she’s a number of enjoyable each together with her character and her persona,” says Rizzo. “Rhea Rupley has additionally been considered one of my favorites. She can be a very cool match to have.”
The street to championships isn’t a straight line but when anybody can break information on the end line, it’s “Adriana Rizzo.”
WWE NXT airs on The CW in the USA, and by way of Netflix internationally.
To comply with Adriana Rizzo on Instagram, click on right here.
