Rhea Ripley is scheduled to face Charlotte Flair for the NXT Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36 this weekend. The match was supposed to take place inside Raymond James Stadium in front of a packed crowd. Instead, the match has already been filmed in front of no live crowd at the WWE Performance Center.
During an interview with Fox Sports Australia, Ripley admitted to being disappointed about the change.
“The main reason I was bummed was that I knew my family wasn’t going to be there. It made me really sad to think I wasn’t going to be able to share that special moment with them and not see them at all, because I haven’t seen them for a long time,” she said.
“So to not have them there with me on the day, it made me really sad, and I had to remind myself that they’d be watching from home and cheering me on.”
Ripley would continue to say, however, that she knows fans will be watching from home as well and that provides motivation for her to do well.
“Even with the zero people in attendance, there’s still a crowd that’ll be cheering us on, and even if we can put a smile on someone’s face in this critical time, that’s me doing my job.”
She also commented on how even though WrestleMania this year is taking place at the WWE Performance Center, it’s still WrestleMania.
“So I need to think of the bigger picture sometimes. It’s still WrestleMania, and it’s still an amazing accomplishment. Even if it is at the Performance Center, it doesn’t take away the fact that it’s WrestleMania.”
The full interview with Ripley from Fox Sports Australia can be found here.
