"I have so many emotions" - Rhea Ripley on finally facing Asuka at WrestleMania
On the most recent edition of Renee Paquette's Oral Sessions, Rhea Ripley was the special guest. On the show, Ripley opened up about her upcoming WrestleMania match against RAW Women's Champion Asuka.
Speaking to Renee Paquette, Rhea Ripley discussed the first time that she met Asuka in Japan, saying:
"I have so many emotions that I'm feeling about this match. Like I'm super excited, and nervous. Like, I'm super excited because I get to step into the ring with Asuka, and I remember watching her in Japan when I was on the same show as her, when I was seventeen years old. I thought that she was incredible. I was absolutely terrified of her at the time, she scared the absolute crap out of me."
Rhea Ripley continued, looking ahead to her RAW Women's Championship match:
"But I thought that she was incredible. And now we get to meet in WWE, and we get to have this, like, insane match. And I'm just, I'm super pumped, I'm nervous because I feel like I haven't wrestled in a long time. Like, it's been a few months, except for like, the tag match that we had Monday. "
Rhea Ripley also shared that she hasn't wrestled a singles match since NXT
Continuing by reflecting on her nerves in the build to WrestleMania 37, Rhea Ripley stated that her last singles match was the Last Woman Standing Match against Raquel Gonzalez, who has since become the NXT Women's Champion.
"But I haven't had a singles match since my Last Woman Standing Match with Raquel. So, it's been a while, so I'm nervous about that. Just in myself, in like, my gas tank, if I'm gonna make it or not! But I'm excited, nonetheless, you know."
The last woman standing match was Rhea Ripley's last in NXT. Since then, she has taken part in the Royal Rumble, where she finished as runner-up behind Bianca Belair. On the WrestleMania go-home edition of RAW, Rhea Ripley paired up with Asuka in a tag team match and attacked her part-way through.
Ahead of WrestleMania, Sportskeeda Wrestling spoke to Rhea Ripley about potentially facing Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch in WWE. Click the video above to check it out.