"Fire me, get rid of me. I don't care." -Rhea Ripley opens up about her character in WWE
WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley recently opened up about her current on-screen persona in the Stamford-based promotion.
Ripley has become one of the biggest superstars in WWE. She has made a huge name in the company by defeating top names and winning several titles. Mami is once again set to defend her Women's World Championship at WWE WrestleMania 40 against the winner of the women's Elimination Chamber Match.
During a recent interview with Notsam Wrestling, Rhea Ripley talked about transitioning from NXT to the main roster on RAW. The Nightmare said that she couldn't figure out at first if people were liking her new fearsome character because of the pandemic:
"When I was in NXT, I had obviously found my way, my groove, what I was comfortable doing," recalled Ripley. "Then I got moved to RAW while in the pandemic. I didn't know what people thought about me, I didn't know their opinion of Rhea Ripley, [and] I couldn't get that feeling from the crowd because it wasn't there. So it took a lot of trial and error for me to try and figure out what the hell was going on and I just felt like I started to try and please people again and I didn't like that."
The Eradicator further mentioned that she completely adopted her current character after the second Mae Young Classic and did not care about what everyone else thought:
"That's the whole reason Rhea Ripley became the Rhea Ripley that you see today — like going into the second Mae Young Classic, that was when I pretty much had enough of everyone's crap and I was like, 'I'm going to do things my way. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, fire me, get rid of me. I don't care. It's my bad, I'll die on that sword.'" [H/T WrestlingINC]
Check out the whole interview below:
WWE legend praised Rhea Ripley for her character adaptation
During a recent interview with Fox Sports Australia, WWE legend Bret Hart said that he likes Rhea Ripley a lot and also her ability to stay in character on television:
"I really like her a lot. I really like her poise, her staying in character and sort of living her – she seems like she’s adapted a character that’s fun to play, and she’s playing into that, full tilt."
Many fans want to see a match between Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley at WWE WrestleMania 40. It remains to be seen what the company has planned for Mami's future.
Who do you think can dethrone The Eradicator? Let us know in the comments section below.