Rhea Ripley is set to defend her NXT Women’s Championship at this weekend’s WrestleMania 36 event. Despite the surreal circumstances surrounding their clash, Ripley has stated she remains excited for the opportunity to wrestle Charlotte Flair.
“To be knowing that I’m going to WrestleMania 36 to face Charlotte Flair and put my NXT championship on the line is just absolutely insane, I’m so, so excited,” she explained to the New York Post. “Man, I’m going to be in tears afterward. I know it.”
Rhea Ripley Draws Strength From Scars
Giving the interview a poignant, introspective angle, Ripley opened up about how she draws strength from her personal scars. Looking at them helps to remind her of what she has previously overcome. This reminder subsequently helps to resolve her and keep her pushing forward.
“I still feel myself slipping there from time to time, but I find that if I do look at the scars that I have from that time it helps me to remind myself that I’ve been through all of this and I was able to overcome it.”
She continued, “[…] I think that that’s really special in the way that I know that I can keep going and keep doing what I love and I have people in my life that are going to help me overcome whatever I need to overcome at that point in time. … I have fans there for me and I’m legitimately working the job I dreamt about since being a child and I have to remember that sometimes.”
Ripley’s Unique Look
Rhea Ripley also spoke about her unique look. Ripley stressed how she loves her punk aesthetic and that if someone isn’t a fan, she “couldn’t care less.” For her, it’s about being able to be true to herself.
“I’m being me and that’s what I’m trying to put forward. I’m trying to put forward that everyone should be comfortable in their own skin and they should be happy being themselves.”
Rhea Ripley attempts to defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair this weekend at WrestleMania 36. The two-day event will air on the WWE Network on April 4 and April 5.
Rhea Ripley is a big metal fan and a fan of the band Motionless in White (MIW). The lead singer of the band is Chris “Motionless” Cerulli and some fans may have noticed similarities between the singer and the current NXT Women’s Champion. Ripley herself commented on how her look has “morphed” into his during a recent interview with Loudwire.
“It’s quite funny because I’ve realized over the last two years, I’ve been morphing myself into Chris Motionless and I never realized it. We’ve got the same haircut, we wear practically the same makeup. I’m like, ‘This is terrifying.’”
The singer noted on Twitter, however, that it is he who is morphing into Rhea Ripley:
Ripley also noted that she is a big fan of the band and listens to them while working out regularly. She also noted she is a fan of the band Falling in Reverse which features Paige’s current partner, Ronnie Radke.
“Guilty pleasure — I loveFalling in Reverse. Ronnie Radke is just amazing. They’re the two bands I keep going back and forth on.”
Ripley also mentioned during the interview that she is not overly fond of the music selection backstage in NXT. She also noted that if Ruby Riott was still on the brand then she’d at least have someone to talk music with.
“Not really, actually. I don’t think I talk to anyone about music,” Ripley said when asked if she has conversations with anyone backstage about music. “If Ruby Riott was still in NXT, I feel like I’d talk to her a lot about it. I’m stuck in the locker room listening to country music, normally. That’s what everyone else plays. [Laughs] Either that or R&B. I’m like, ugh, I’m just gonna sit in the corner and be quiet.”
The full interview from Loudwire can be found here.
NXT star Rhea Ripley is all set to make history at WrestleMania this year by becoming the first NXT Champion to defend their title at the Show Of Shows.
The 23-year-old Australian professional wrestler recently had an interview with Mirror.co.uk where she talked about things like the competitiveness at the WWE Performance Center and more.
Discussing her upcoming match against Charlotte Flair at the Grandest Stage Of Them All, Rhea Ripley said that the achievement is awesome and she loves making history:
“To be able to be the first person from NXT to defend their NXT Championship at WrestleMania is awesome and I love making history. Don’t get me wrong, like I love it.
And then to be able to challenge Charlotte, the winner of the women’s Royal Rumble,” said Ripley. “It’s just like it’s not really heard of, the champion challenging the challenger.”
The NXT star also discussed Mick Foley’s recent comments where Foley said that her upcoming match can steal the show at WrestleMania.
The NXT Champion said that it’s pretty cool to have someone like the Hardcore Legend take the time to tweet about their match.
Rhea Ripley challenged the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble winner, Charlotte Flair for a match at WrestleMania 36 and WWE has confirmed this bout for the event after Flair accepted the offer. You can check out the updated card for Mania here.
WWE has taken an interesting direction with the Women’s Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair this year and she has chosen to face NXT Champion Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania, instead of choosing a champion from Raw or SmackDown.
Though it appears that Ripley’s appearance will be the only major involvement of NXT at Mania as there are no other NXT title matches planned for the show.
Dave Meltzer talked about the upcoming event on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio and revealed that there are currently 14 matches planned for WrestleMania.
However, the Ripley vs. Flair bout is the only NXT Championship match scheduled for Mania and as of this writing, no other NXT titles are expected to be defended on the event.
While the NXT stars can still be used in the male or female battle royals at the PPV, the current plans are for Rhea Ripley to be the main representative of the Black And Yellow brand on WrestleMania.
On a related note, Meltzer revealed that the NXT Champion is being paid under her standard NXT contract but she is receiving bonus pay for any Raw appearances she makes to build her feud with Charlotte.
There is no word yet on what she will be paid for her actual match at the Grandest Stage Of Them All but it’s not hard to imagine that WrestleMania will be a big payday for her and any other involved NXT stars.
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley recently spoke to Metro in the UK about her friendship with Simone Johnson. The 18-year-old daughter of the Rock was recently announced as a new signee at the WWE Performance Center.
”I’m very, very excited for Simone. She’s one of my close friends, and I’m so happy that she’s here at the Performance Centre with us,” Ripley said of Johnson.
Ripley would continue to talk about advice she has already given Johnson.
“The main thing I always tell her whenever I do see her is to just ignore the drama, stay in your own lane, work the hardest and try your best. Just succeed and excel within your own brackets of talent.”
Ripley continued to talk about advice she’s given to Johnson. She says she is helping her stay away from the drama that comes with the business.
“Just try and not let everything get to you, because that’s the hardest bit in any sporting background. It’s just the drama that comes with sport unfortunately, and the one thing I’m trying to get her to stay away from.”
The full interview with Rhea Ripley from Metro in the UK can be found here.
While WWE has announced the NXT Championship match between Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair for WrestleMania, there are chances of this match being altered into a triple threat bout, with Bianca Belair being added to the mix.
Ripley successfully defended her title against Belair at Sunday’s NXT Takeover: Portland but in the post show interview, Triple H had indicated that the EST of NXT might not be done with the NXT Champion.
The former NXT UK star was asked about Bianca possibly being added to her WrestleMania match during a recent interview with Sportskeeda and replying to it, the current champion said that she won’t mind it:
“If they add Bianca Belair to it, I honestly don’t
mind,” Ripley said. “I love fighting Bianca, and if she got put into
the match, I’d be all for it.
I’m not going to argue about it and say that she doesn’t
deserve it, because she does deserve it. She deserves her WrestleMania moment
and, if she gets added to it, I’m not going to complain.”
Triple H had also indicated that the idea for Flair to challenge for the NXT title may have come from Vince McMahon himself and commenting on this, Rhea Ripley said that it’s insane to think that the higher-ups think so highly of her.
She explained that The Game was one of the people who inspired her to get into wrestling and to have people like him and Vince McMahon believe in her is a wonderful feeling.
Charlotte Flair and NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley are set to compete for the gold at WrestleMania 36. Following Flair’s recent promo on Monday Night RAW, Ripley responded to “The Queen” via Twitter, with their feud spilling over onto social media. During their exchange, Ripley revealed how she had considered quitting pro wrestling several times before finally finding success.
“I didn’t scratch, claw, and fall down as many times as you did to gain respect?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Ripley wrote on her account. “I’ve made my name from absolutely nothing. I didn’t get my WWE contract handed to me on a golden platter because of my last name!”
Flair responded, dismissing her argument and calling her delusional: “Sweetie, that’s your problem. You’re delusional enough to believe that you’ve ‘made your name’.”
“So… What you’re saying is that a no named so and so went toe to toe with yourself and Sasha Banks, pinned the self proclaimed “Queen” of WWE for a victory, and then went on to win the women’s Survivor Series match,” Ripley wrote, before adding, “Says a lot about you then…”
Her WrestleMania challenger replied, saying how her attempts stand toe-to-toe with her “looks an awful lot like rolling up a crucifix from behind while the grownups were wrestling. But yeah, sure. Congrats on that…”
“Stood toe to toe” looks an awful lot like rolling up a crucifix from behind while the grownups were wrestling.
Being humble isn’t the problem, I am humble, but I also know how dam good I am and what respect I and @WWENXT deserve! Come #WrestleMania36 I have no problem reminding you of where you came from. ?
Rhea Ripley then opened up about how she nearly quit multiple times over the years. She stressed how she’s not a quitter before highlighting it’s taken her seven and a half years to earn her opportunity. Now that she has, she refuses to “stand down to anyone.”
With the NXT Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania 36 now official, both women have reacted to their impending bout. The match was confirmed following Charlotte Flair’s blindsided attack on Rhea Ripley following Ripley’s successful championship defense during last night’s NXT TakeOver: Portland event. After beating her down, Flair finally accepted Ripley’s challenge.
Charlotte Flair & Rhea Ripley
Taking to Twitter, Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley addressed each other in the wake of TakeOver: Portland. Ripley was responding to a message from Triple H, where he refers to Ripley as a “star.” He also refers to Flair, writing how she is “returning to the place that made her one.”
In her response, Ripley thanked her opponent, Bianca Belair, noting how ‘Going to war with you is always brutal!” She then turned her attention to her WrestleMania opponent, writing: “@MsCharlotteWWE you just gave me exactly what I wanted. See you at #WrestleMania36”.
Charlotte Flair, meanwhile, uploaded a picture of her from TakeOver: Portland. She holds the NXT Women’s Championship up, smiling at the crowd following her attack on Ripley. Flair accompanied the image with the following caption: “Everything I do is history. The NXT title will be defended at #WrestleMania #WEMadeNXT @WWENXT”.
Triple H has addressed Charlotte Flair accepting Rhea Ripley’s NXT Championship challenge at WrestleMania 36. He spoke about their impending matchup during a post-TakeOver media call, crediting Vince McMahon with the idea. The match was confirmed during last night’s NXT TakeOver: Portland event following Flair’s ambush of Ripley.
Charlotte Flair Versus Rhea Ripley
According to Triple H, USA Network had no involvement in the decision to have Flair face off against the NXT Women’s Champion. “I believe that this was, to be honest, it was shocking to me when it was first mentioned to me. I believe that this was really just a decision from Vince [McMahon]’s part on understanding where the other stories are going for the women.”
Looking to build new opportunities and stories fans haven’t seen before, Triple H noted how WWE was looking to deliver more original narratives with new pairings. “[…] I think you see that with Shayna Baszler going after Becky Lynch, and you see that in different ways on SmackDown with where they’re going so this was a way of Charlotte Flair needing to be in that big epic role. I think it really had nothing more to do with that.”
He continued, “I think people put too much stock into building up other things. It’s easy to put your tinfoil hat on and start to talk about stuff, and I’m sure just even saying that, everybody will be like, ‘Oh my God, there’s no way they didn’t…’ Whatever, you believe what you want. It really comes down to that, this is good storytelling and that’s what the goal is here, it’s just really good storytelling across the board.”
Charlotte Flair will challenge Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36. The event takes place on April 5th from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Rhea Ripley will remain as the WWE NXT Women’s Champion.
She retained the title in her latest title defense over Bianca Belair at the WWE NXT TakeOver: Portland event from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
Post-match, Charlotte Flair made her way through the crowd and attacked Belair. She cut a promo about how she’ll see Ripley at Mania.
Before this feud really got started, WWE started a second program for Ripley. WWE had sent Ripley to RAW to confront Flair and vise versa. The belief was that Ripley will defend the title against Flair at WrestleMania 36 and now it’s official.
During the January 15th episode of NXT on the USA Network, WWE held a match that would determine who is next line for a title shot.
Shayana Baszler, Kacy Catanzaro, Mercedes Martinez, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Vanessa Borne, Kayden Carter, Mia Yim, Santana Garrett, Io Shirai, Shotzi Blackheart and Xia Li competed in a battle royal with the winner becoming the next challenger to the title.
As seen on the show, Belair was victorious, earning the right to challenge Ripley for the NXT Women’s Title.
What are your thoughts on Rhea Ripley retaining the NXT UK Women’s Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Former WWE Superstar Tommy Dreamer has shared which match he feels will steal the show at NXT TakeOver: Portland. Speaking with Bully Ray on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio, Dreamer highlighted the in-ring talent of Bianca Belair and the current NXT Women’s Champion, Rhea Ripley. Describing the women as true stars, he is confident the two will deliver something memorable this Sunday.
“For me, it’s been since Survivor Series, this woman continues to step up,” Dreamer said of Belair. “I’m enjoying them. They have been the MVPs of NXT each and every week, and I want to say that they are the top guys in NXT, and that is nothing but a compliment. She has the ‘it’ factor. She can work, she can talk, she’s officially my favorite bumper […] she just has this crispness, this ‘it’ factor about her.”
He continued, “She has a presence. I want to to be her manager so I can get a braid to cover my bald spot. I think she’s amazing, and Ripley is off the charts, putting the rocket on her for any brand, she’s a star. They’re both stars. And when you have that star power, it does nothing but help you, and at TakeOver: Portland they’re going to steal the show.”
Rhea Ripley defends her NXT Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair this Sunday at NXT TakeOver: Portland. The show takes place at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
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A new match has been teased for the upcoming WWE WrestleMania 36 PPV.
During Monday’s episode of RAW, Charlotte Flair came out for the second straight week to reveal who she would be challenging at WrestleMania 36.
Before Flair could make her announcement, NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley interrupted by walking out to the ring. Ripley cut a promo about how Flair has beaten many top stars but never defeated her. In fact, Ripley brought up how she holds a win over Flair.
Instead of Flair accepting the challenge, she walked out of the ring. Thus, WWE is stretching out this match announcement for at least another week. It’s been reported that this is a match that is planned to take place at the biggest event of the year for the company.
Flair won the 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in Houston, Texas at the Minute Maid Park.
As a result, she can challenge for any title in WWE such as the RAW, SmackDown, and NXT Women’s Championship.
WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 5, 2020 in Tampa, Florida at the Raymond James Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
So far the only match that has been announced for this show is WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre.
Rhea Ripley shared the touching moment that she had with WWE COO Triple H after her match at NXT TakeOver: War Games on November 23, 2019.
The WarGames match at the event involved Team Ripley (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, and Dakota Kai) and Team Baszler (Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Kay Lee Ray). Ripley was the one who won the match by performing the Riptide on the Baszler through two chairs.
Ripley was interviewed by talkSport recently and was asked about Triple H’s reaction on her performance. Ripley recounted the moment after the WarGames match when she went backstage and saw Triple H in tears of happiness.
“Yeah, they were. And it was really, really cool. I remember coming back from War Games – because that was all the same weekend – coming back from the War Games match and having Triple H there almost in tears of happiness. He hugged Candice [LeRae] and I and I was just like ‘this is a dream to me!’ [laughs]. I’m like, you’re the reason I started wrestling, started watching wrestling, it’s so, so cool. And he was just so proud of all of us because he knows we were all stressed with the mad weekend, so to make him proud is just so awesome.”
She also talked about the Survivor Series match where she won the triple threat match with Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks. Ripley cradled Charlotte when she was using the Figure Eight move on Banks.
Rhea Ripley was asked whose idea the finish was, and she revealed that it was Charlotte’s. “It was Charlotte! She’s so smart, she was coming up with the coolest things. I felt so stupid [by comparison]. I took so much credit for it and I was like ‘yes, give me the credit’ [laughs].”
The NXT Women’s Champion most recently beat NXT UK star Toni Storm at the Worlds Collide event from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Saturday, January 25, 2020. Ripley will be defending the title next against Bianca Belair at NXT TakeOver: Portland on Sunday, February 16 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
Rhea Ripley will remain as the WWE NXT Women’s Champion.
As seen at Saturday’s (January 26, 2020) WWE Worlds Collide event from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on the WWE Network, Ripley beat NXT UK star Toni Storm in her latest title defense.
WWE set up this contest during an episode of NXT earlier this month in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University when Ripley was cutting a promo before being interrupted by Storm.
This led to Storm challenging Ripley to a title match at the Worlds Collide, which Ripley accepted. This was an NXT star vs. NXT UK star match. It also came a few weeks after Storm’s first title match as she challenged NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray
Ray retained the title over Storm and Piper Niven in a Triple Threat Match at the NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II event this Sunday in Blackpool, Lancashire, England at the Empress Ballroom.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: Portland event on Sunday, February 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center. At this show, Ripley makes her next title defense against Bianca Belair.
What are your thoughts on Rhea Ripley retaining the NXT UK Women’s Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
NXT UK Superstar Toni Storm is confident that the NXT Championship is in her future. Speaking with WWE.com following her matchup against Io Shirai, Storm addressed the woman who interfered in her bout, Bianca Belair, before turning her attention to the champion, Rhea Ripley.
“Bianca Belair can go and get in line with the rest of them. Because I picked up the NXT Women’s Championship, and I held it up, and it looked good,” Storm said. “And all that is is just a little preview to what’s going to happen at Worlds Collide. And I can’t wait to step in the ring with Rhea Ripley and make some magic.”
Storm’s match this week ended in disqualification thanks to Belair. Ripley would quickly insert herself into the fray before Shirai took both her and Belair out. The skirmish ended with Storm holding the NXT Championship. Toni Storm faces Rhea Ripley for the championship this Saturday at Worlds Collide.
Worlds Collide Card
Mia Yim vs. Kay Lee Ray
#DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) vs Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate)
Fatal 4-Way Match for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship Angel Garza (c) vs Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs Jordan Devlin vs Travis Banks
Finn Balor vs Ilja Dragunov
NXT Championship Match Rhea Ripley (c) vs Toni Storm
Imperium (WALTER, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel and Alexander Wolfe) vs The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong)
WWE is making an interesting change to the way that the NXT Women’s Title will be referred to and described as going forward.
Pwinsider.com reports that WWE has issued an internal decree that going forward the title will now be called simply the NXT Championship.
It was noted that this decision was a way to the gender-specific designation of the championship.
It turns out that this idea was brought up by RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch on Tuesday’s episode of WWE Backstage. She believes WWE should stop referring to the women’s division as such. Her belief is that it was time to present things in a more progressive fashion.
With such a change, it’s the first step in the direction. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if WWE plans to follow in this direction with the women’s titles on RAW and SmackDown.
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley has her next two title defenses booked.
First up is this Saturday at the Worlds Collide event in Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center as part of Royal Rumble weekend where she will defend against Toni Storm.
At the NXT TakeOver: Portland show that goes down on Sunday, February 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center, Storm will defend against Bianca Belair.
Rhea Ripley has received her opponent at the next normal special for the WWE NXT brand.
During Wednesday’s episode of NXT on the USA Network, WWE held a match that would determine who is next line for a title shot.
Shayana Baszler, Kacy Catanzaro, Mercedes Martinez, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Vanessa Borne, Kayden Carter, Mia Yim, Santana Garrett, Io Shirai, Shotzi Blackheart and Xia Li competed in a battle royal with the winner becoming the next challenger to the title.
Rhea Ripley Receives Opponent
As seen on the show, Bianca Belair was victorious, earning the right to challenge Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Title.
WWE has announced exactly when this contest will take place as it will go down, which is the NXT TakeOver: Portland show.
The company has also confirmed that Ripley will also make a title defense before this show as she steps into the ring with NXT UK star Toni Storm.
That match will take place at the Worlds Collide event on Saturday, January 25, 2020 in Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center that will air on the WWE Network. WWE set up this contest on last week’s show.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: Portland event on Sunday, February 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center and will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE NXT TakeOver: Portland Card
Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano
NXT Women’s Title Match: Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley (c)
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE Worlds Collide event, which is Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm.
During Wednesday’s episode of NXT in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University, NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley was cutting a promo before being interrupted by Toni Storm.
Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley
This led to Storm challenging Ripley to a title match at the Worlds Collide, which Ripley accepted. This also set up a six-woman tag team match with Ripley, Candice LeRae, and Toni Storm battling Bianca Belair, Io Shiri, and NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray. The babyfaces went over.
This will be an NXT star vs. NXT UK star match. It will also come a few weeks after Storm’s first title match as she will challenge NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray.
This championship bout will take place at the NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II event this Sunday in Blackpool, Lancashire, England at the Empress Ballroom that will be broadcasted on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network.
WWE presents the Worlds Collide event on Saturday, January 25, 2020 in Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE Worlds Collide Card
The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Imperium (WALTER, Alexander Wolfe, Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) – Eight-Man Tag Team Match
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
Shayna Baszler, who is known for having a very dominant persona as a heel on the NXT women’s roster, often receives fan criticism, with many citing that her gimmick has gotten boring and repetitive.
Baszler doesn’t just have a fierce persona, she is also a brute in the ring. She is a two-time in NXT Women’s Champion and has held the title for 416 days, second only to Asuka’s as the longest-reigning champion. Last week on WWE NXT, Rhea Ripley was able to defeat Baszler and win the title for herself.
Ripley talked about her huge win against Baszler in a recent interview with Newsweek and touched on the criticism that the Queen of Spades receives from fans. “I read a lot of things on Twitter, and I see a lot of things about Shayna and about me. I absolutely hate it when they rag on her and say she’s boring.”
Rhea defended Baszler, saying that her character is not supposed to be exciting and that her job is to make the fans hate her, not like her.
“She’s a heel, she’s not supposed to be exciting. She’s not supposed to make you like her. She’s not supposed to do any of that stuff. She’s doing her job right. And I hate when people disrespect that fact. So to go out there and put on a match like that with Shayna and prove to everyone how wrong [they are about] not only me but her as well, it’s a feeling that can’t be matched. I just love proving people wrong.”
Rhea must know how hard it must be playing a heel character as she herself was one when she performed in NXT UK. She was also the first women’s champion of the brand. Hopefully, critical fans see this and understand that Baszler has a role to play and a job to do.
WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry recently made some interesting comments on the Busted Open Radio show. The part time co-host of the Sirius XM broadcast was discussing NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley with permanent host Dave LaGreca.
Henry started by describing how impressive it was that Ripley has achieved this much at her age, with the Superstar being only 23 years old. “At twenty three years old I was I was still [power] lifting. I hadn’t even got into wrestling yet. Yet she’s [Rhea] already been in it, been there, done that…at twenty three years old. What will she do in the next fifteen twenty years? I’m gonna tell you, she’s going to transcend wrestling.”
Henry then elaborated on the “transcend” comment, saying “she’ll be the next Rock. She will be the next John Cena, she will be able to be the next Batista. She should be able to go outside of wrestling and make a living because she’ll be a big mainstream star.”
Rhea Ripley defeated Shayna Baszler this past Wednesday to become the new NXT Women’s Champion. This ended Baszler’s long and dominating reign on top of the NXT Women’s division. Head of NXT Triple H took to Twitter following Wednesday’s broadcast and had huge praise for the new champion. “An incredible main event and a new champion. One of the most dominant reigns over the @WWENXT Women’s division comes to end and another begins. @RheaRipley_WWE will be the one to lead #WWENXT into the new year… Congratulations. #AndNew.”
Rhea Ripley became the 9th wrestler to win the NXT Women’s Championship when she did so this week from Full Sail University. Ripley ended the 2nd reign of Shayna Baszler in the main event of Wednesday’s show. She spoke to SI.com about the experience.
“It’s slowly sinking in,” said Ripley. “I’m feeling all sorts of feelings right now. I’m happy, I’m sore, I’m excited. I’m everything, plus a bit of tiredness.”
Ripley admitted she had some nerves about the big match.
“It was live TV and all eyes were on me, so I just needed wrap all my nerves up and turn them into confidence. It was an amazing night. It felt like forever leading up to it, and then it was like, snapping my fingers and it was done.”
She also took the time to speak about her opponent.
“Shayna is definitely a badass, she’s credible, and she deserved to hold the title for so long,” said Ripley. “It’s hard to describe, it’s more of a natural feeling, but stepping into the ring with her taught me a lot about myself and what we do in the ring.”
Rhea Ripley On Triple H
Ripley has frequently mentioned that Triple H was a favorite of hers when she was first getting into wrestling. She also talked about her relationship with him during the interview with SI.com.
“Triple H is someone I’ve looked up to since I was a little girl” said Ripley. “He was the reason I started watching wrestling, and I loved our photo together this time.”
“I got one when I won the NXT U.K. Women’s Championship, and I was legit so excited. I had this massive cheesy grin and I hated myself for it. I was like, ‘I can’t believe you made yourself like a goober in your one chance with the Triple H photo.’ So I’m glad that I got a second chance.”
The full interview with Rhea Ripley can be read here.
Shayna Baszler has been dethroned by Rhea Ripley as the WWE NXT Women’s Champion.
The contest served as the main event of the show with the title being on the line on Wednesday night on the USA Network in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
Ripley beat Baszler to win the NXT Women’s Title, which marks the first time that she has held the gold. Prior to this, Ripley had been competing under the NXT UK banner where she held the NXT UK Women’s Championship.
Rhea Ripley Wins After Journey
This contest has been in the works for the past month. WWE set up this contest when Ripley was attacked by Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir on the December 4th episode of NXT.
Ripley passed out in the Kirifuda Clutch. After the segment, Baszler granted Ripley her request for a title shot and was booked for the episode.
This was a key match in the women’s division as Baszler has been a top champion since winning the title back at the Evolution pay-per-view event in Long Island, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in October.
What are your thoughts on Rhea Ripley beating Shayna Baszler to win the NXT Women’s Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Back when she first made her WWE debut during the first Mae Young Classic, NXT Superstar Rhea Ripley sported a very different look compared to her current aesthetic.
Speaking with Yahoo!, Ripley explained how she wasn’t confident during her time competing in the Mae Young Classic Tournament, noting that she “wasn’t being myself.”
“I went out there and was trying to please everyone, be what they thought I should be,” she explained. “I was trying to make everyone happy, but it wasn’t making me happy at all. At the second Mae Young Classic, I changed everything, I was completely different. I was myself, the person that I know I am and brought the house down.”
Looking to her recent success in WWE’s black-and-gold brand, Ripley reflected on her successful victory at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. Her team would defeat Team Baszler, despite the odds being heavily against them.
“WarGames was a match that I’ve dreamt of my entire life,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to have a match where I get to use weapons and I never got that back home. That was my first time being able to use all of that stuff in a match — legally. We put on a match that no one expected from us and helped prove why NXT is the main roster.”
Ripley is currently scheduled to face off against the current NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler on the December 18th episode of NXT on USA Network.
Rhea Ripley has received a push in recent times and just in the past month she had led her teams at both Survivor Series and NXT Takeover: WarGames to victory.
The former NXT UK Women’s Champion recently had an interview with Newsweek to promote her match against Dakota Kai on the latest episode of NXT.
During the interview, the 23-year-old was asked how she feels about receiving the significant push in the Black and Yellow brand and she said that she can’t put it in words:
“It’s incredible to be honest, I can’t put it into
words how happy I am about everything, and to even get my name out there, let
alone be one of the top stars at the moment. It’s absolutely insane, and I
can’t wait to keep going out on Wednesday night to show them what I can
do.”
Ripley continued by saying that it’s insane how far she has come from the first Mae Young Classic tournament in 2017 where she lost in the second round. She claimed that it’s insane to see herself become who she knows she truly is.
Apart from this, Rhea Ripley also talked about her
transition from being a top heel in NXT UK to becoming one of the top babyfaces
the main NXT brand saying that it’s been weird.
She recalled how she would go out there and try to be the biggest prick she can be. Then people started getting behind her and now it feels weird to have people like her.
Rhea Ripley’s War Games team overcame a 4-on-2 disadvantage to come out victorious. She’ll face the woman who turned her back on the team, Dakota Kai, tonight in single’s action. The 23-year-old Australian recently took part in an interview with the Sporting News and spoke about a variety of topics including what it’s like to have Triple H as a mentor.
“He’s the guy that got me into wrestling. Watching him was the reason why I wanted to start wrestling let alone watch it. So, to hear him, even my name come out of his mouth is pretty cool,” Ripley said of Triple H during the interview.
Ripley was then asked what it is like to have Triple H around her consistently and being her mentor.
“It’s super, super cool and he’s so smart,” Ripley replied. “He knows so much about the business. I do try to soak up as much as I can and listen to as much as I can, even when he’s not talking to me. It’s such an amazing feeling knowing that he’s there and he has all of our backs. He’s there to help all of us succeed in what we want to do and what we’re doing at the moment. He’s one of our biggest cheerleaders and it’s amazing.”
Ripley was also asked about all the positive feedback she has been receiving as of late.
“It makes me feel really special,” Ripley said of the positive feedback. “It’s really, really cool. It’s lovely to see people getting behind me and supporting me in what I love to do. I’m just glad that I can make people proud and make people want to watch this product because wrestling is such a big part of my life and a lot of people’s lives and it gets a lot of crap from people.”
She continued, “I’m out here to prove to people that wrestling is great. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. That’s fair, but you don’t have to talk crap about it because wrestling legit saves so many people’s lives and I’m out here to prove to everyone why it’s amazing again. And I’m glad that people are getting behind it.”
Rhea Ripley goes into detail on a diverse range of topics during the interview. Her full discussion with the Sporting News can be found here.
