At only 24, Rhea Ripley made a monumental main roster debut when she immediately challenged the RAW Women’s Champion, Asuka, for a match at WrestleMania. The former NXT UK and NXT Champion is a woman with no fear, and she showed it once again. Since her debut in 2017, the 2-time Mae Young Classic Tournament participant has established herself as a heel with an aggressive and disrespectful attitude. That would lead her to NXT UK, where she quickly became the inaugural NXT UK Women’s Champion.

The year after, she made a surprise return to NXT and dethroned Shayna Baszler to become the first person to have won both the NXT Women’s and NXT UK Women’s Championships. She would lose the NXT belt at WrestleMania 36 against Charlotte Flair. After many other attempts, at New Year’s Evil, Ripley competed against Raquel Gonzalez in a Last Woman Standing match in a losing effort. At the same time, at the Royal Rumble, Ripley competed in her second Women’s Royal Rumble match, where she ended up one of the final two in the match before she was eliminated by eventual winner Bianca Belair. A sign she would soon debut in the main roster.

SteelChair Wrestling Magazine had the chance to take part in an international media call with Rhea Ripley a few days ago about her upcoming WrestleMania match against Asuka, possibly making history and what the future may hold for her.

On this WrestleMania compared to last year’s

“I didn’t expect to be on WrestleMania this year. It’s just something that I didn’t really see happening. I was actually sitting and catering for like a good month to two months, just watching the shows, biding my time, and trying to pick the best opportunity. Then the day where Asuka wrestled Peyton, it was just the right day, and they were like, yep, this is your time. I’m up for anything, I can do it, this is my one shot. That’s how this business goes, you have to really take your shots, you have to really shoot for the stars with them and do your best because people see that, and then you end up with Wrestlemania matches, so that’s pretty much how this all came along.

“My career in WWE has definitely been a wild roller coaster of different emotions. Last year, I was upset because it got moved to the PC. I’m not going to say that I wasn’t upset. I was upset because I knew that my parents weren’t going to make it down to watch my match in person as well. Knowing that they weren’t going to be here was the most impactful on me. but apart from that, I had to just keep reminding myself that this is still WrestleMania, and it’s still like a huge deal. It’s my first-ever WrestleMania, and at the end of the day, I’m making history. It was the first WrestleMania in front of zero fans, it was the first time an NXT Championship was defended at WrestleMania. I made history in a couple of different ways, and I found that really special going into this year. It definitely does have that WrestleMania feel to it, even though last year was still amazing. This year definitely feels a little bit more special just because I know that there’s going to be a crowd, and I can actually connect with the people that are there and all around the world, so I’m very excited.

“There’s always pressure, with wrestling, everything is so stressful. For me, because I’m a perfectionist, going into WrestleMania as the NXT Women’s champion, there was that pressure of losing my title, and I think that really got to me where over the last year. I’ve definitely grown outside of wrestling and in wrestling, so going into this year, there’s less pressure because I have nothing to lose. Asuka has everything to lose. I just came out and I challenged her for the championship, she accepted, so she has everything to lose. This year there’s a little bit less pressure, but there’s still that pressure because it’s WrestleMania, and it’s a huge platform, it’s a huge deal, it’s the biggest show of the year, and it’s the first time that we’re having fans in attendance, which I’m really, really excited for, so there’s still pressure. I feel like there was a little bit more pressure going in as a Champion.”

On being a part of “The Grandest Stage of Them All”

“To be a part of WrestleMania, it’s really like a dream come true, it’s something that every single wrestling fan watches in awe. It’s like the biggest thing in the whole year for wrestling, so being a part of it is extremely special. Rarely, I’ve gone to the point where I just don’t care anymore. I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes over the last year. I’ve watched my WrestleMania match with Charlotte over and over again. I’ve seen the flaws in myself, and I’m trying to fix them. I’m really just trying to bring the brutality to this match because, at the end of the day, I want to beat Asuka, I want to be the RAW champion, so I’m definitely bringing more of myself into this match.

“It’s actually really cool that I could be the first person to hold the NXT UK, the NXT, and a main-roster women’s championship. I find that incredible, and I can’t wait to knock that off my bucket list because I am very confident in myself, but going into this match with Asuka, I know that it’s going to be very hard-hitting. Definitely, she’s one of the best at what she does, and this is going to be a very grungy, very brutal sort of match. You’re going to see us pretty much kick each other’s teeth out because we’ve already seen that with Asuka. I can’t wait, that’s how I love to wrestle, and it’s going to be fun.

“I’m not gonna give away my strategy, but the way that I prove that I’m ready for Asuka is by beating Asuka on the Grandest Stage of Them All at WrestleMania, becoming the new RAW women’s champion and taking over the division. I’m not going to say too much in-depth about my arsenal, but I’m gonna bring the brutality. I know that Asuka is an amazing athlete, and I’ve watched her for years now, so I know how she works. I don’t know if she really knows how I work yet. I don’t know if she knows all my moves so, hopefully, I can surprise her with something.”

On her future opponents and dream matches

“There’s a lot of people that I want to wrestle at WrestleMania. I want to wrestle Sasha, I want to wrestle Bayley, I want to wrestle Becky, I want to wrestle Alexa, I want to wrestle everyone. I would love, if she came back, to have a WrestleMania match against Beth Phoenix. I  just want to step in the ring with her because she’s such a badass, and I really want to see exactly how tough she is. I want to see if I can stand in the ring with her, I think that be a really epic match.

“I actually also wrestled Meiko Satomura in Japan when I was 17 in a tag match. At that time, I didn’t really realize how big of a deal she was. I knew that she was something special because of the way she looked, the way she acted, the way everyone treated her, but I didn’t actually like realize. Looking back on it now, I got to step in the ring with wrestling royalty, she’s absolutely amazing. If I could have another match with her, like a one-on-one proper match with how I am today, I would love it, and I’d say yes in a heartbeat. One day I really do hope to step in the ring with Meiko again.”

On the next generation of wrestlers Bianca and Rhea are

“We’ve talked a couple of times about it, and we both still can’t believe that it’s happening. It’s super cool to be able to go through this journey with someone like Bianca. When I first started in NXT, she was already there, and I’ve seen her go through so much and vice versa, she’s seen me go through a lot as well. To know that we both could be in the Royal Rumble together was absolutely insane. I really wanted to stay in, I wanted her to stay long enough for me to come in, and I really wanted to wrestle her again because I do miss being in the ring with Bianca. To be the last two competitors in the Royal Rumble match was really magical, it was a real special moment for both of us. Going into WrestleMania and both having similar matches, I think this is the beginning of the future. I’m very excited for the future, and I know that she’s absolutely going to kill it. I believe 110% in her, I think she’s gonna walk out with the gold, and hopefully, I could do the same, and we could really take over the division.

“Bianca and I are the stars of the future, and we’re showing everyone exactly what to expect in the next few years because everyone in NXT, the whole women’s division, they’re all working so hard and they’re growing as performers and people and athletes. Once they come up to RAW and SmackDown, we’re going to take over, as simple as that, and I’m so excited for that time.”

On heel Rhea

“I feel more comfortable going out and kicking butt, so pretty much being the nasty version of myself. I feel a lot more comfortable doing that, whether people like me or hate me. I mean, for some reason, when I was doing this same thing in NXT UK, people loved me, so I was trying to be the bad guy as much as possible, but people still love me for some reason. That’s why I ended up turning face, but over that time in NXT, I grew very soft and I just didn’t like it. I started helping people, but then people weren’t helping me. So it’s time to go back to the old Rhea Ripley and just take everyone out and get what I want.”

On the differences between NXT and main roster

“To be honest, it’s not really too much of a different dynamic, it’s sort of just like a couple of different little bits and pieces that you have to learn along the way. It’s very strange for me because it’s sort of like going to a new school and being the new kid all over again. You have to work your way back up the rankings, which is something that I always struggled to do, that’s why I sort of just jumped straight to the top. The dynamic in NXT was definitely a lot more laid back, which I really did love like it was all about wrestling. Now it’s still about wrestling, but it’s also about a TV show and just making it perfect for the viewers. That’s the one thing that I really have to like get used to and just remember it’s a little bit more stressful because there are a lot more eyes on this product, but I think I’m doing okay.”

Follow Rhea Ripley on @RheaRipley_WWE.

WrestleMania arrives, on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 April 2021, starting at 8 pm ET (midnight BST), broadcast live from the Raymond James Stadium, Florida, on the WWE Network, with a pre-show at 7 PM each night.

Special thanks to Alex Sutton and WWE UK – All pics and videos courtesy of WWE

By Steph Franchomme

News, Reviews, Social Media Editor, Impact Wrestling Reviewer, Interviewer Well, call me The Boss... And French...

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