Sol Ruca opens up about having ADHD: ‘It sucks, but it’s also pretty cool’
For Sol Ruca, having ADHD comes with both its struggles and benefits.
Ruca, appearing on a new episode of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast, opened up about being diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) as an adult. It was initially suspected that she had the disorder when she was younger, but her mother brushed off the concerns due to the stigma that was associated with it. Ruca was not diagnosed until she started attending college.
“I had a bit of a tricky diagnosis process because I was taken to get evaluated for dyslexia because my mom’s dyslexic, and the guy was like, ‘She does show signs of ADHD.’ And my mom was like, ‘She doesn’t have ADHD,’ just because the stigma was like people are bouncing off the walls and they’re super loud and interrupt people and stuff,” Ruca said. “But I had, you know, being in gymnastics and being in sports and just being a woman, you’re just told that you can’t do that, so you mask it.
“So I went up like pretty much my whole life until I think I was in college about, where when I started studying psychology, I was like, ‘Actually, I think I have this.’ Even my roommate was like, ‘Yeah, you definitely do.’ I was like, ‘Okay, well, maybe I’ll go get checked out then.’ And so then I got checked out and got put on the non-stimulants and stuff, which ended up not really doing anything. But, yeah, it definitely was like later in life, I guess.”
Ruca said one of the biggest struggles she faces with ADHD is how much rejection affects her. When she perceives any kind of rejection, she feels physical pain and starts to feel really hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable. ADHD also plays a big role in her always wanting to be a people pleaser.
After competing in acrobatics and tumbling at the University of Oregon, Ruca (real name Calyx Hampton) joined the WWE Performance Center in 2022 and has become one of the promotion’s top young stars, currently competing in NXT before an eventual main roster call-up.
Ruca believes ADHD helped her succeed in athletics and get her to WWE. Her brain is constantly craving dopamine, and she’s used sports as an outlet for that.
“That’s where I got my dopamine from, was from sports and from competing and from doing well and from improving and learning new skills,” she said. “And I definitely think that’s kind of what helped me push me to where I am today.”
ADHD has also caused Ruca to fixate on things and bounce from hobby to hobby. Because of that, she felt a bit of “imposter syndrome” when she first arrived in WWE since pro wrestling hasn’t always been her dream job. She now wishes she found out about wrestling earlier in life.
“I think when I first got here, I felt somewhat of like imposter syndrome because a lot of people in this business, this is what they wanted to do their entire lives. Like, grew up watching it and all that stuff,” Ruca said.
“And for me, I had like a million different things that I wanted to do. And I never had like, ‘This is my dream job.’ Like, I did for little bursts of time. But I also think it’s kind of cool that I’ve been able to pick up things and kind of like excel at stuff and then move on and excel at this and then try this thing.
“So, yeah, I think ADHD, it sucks, but it’s also pretty cool.”
Next week on NXT, Ruca and her former friend Zaria will challenge Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship in a triple threat match.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.