Rhea Ripley reflects on first ‘true’ WrestleMania moments
By Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
The saying "what a difference a year can make" without a doubt holds true for Rhea Ripley.
The 24-year-old Superstar went from performing at WrestleMania last year in front of zero fans to winning the Raw Women’s Championship at this year’s show in front of 25,000 rabid members of the WWE Universe.
Ripley joined "Out of Character with Ryan Satin" this week for a wide-ranging conversation that at one point covered the difference, from her perspective, between WrestleMania 36 at the Performance Center and WrestleMania 37 at Raymond James Stadium.
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"I think the thing that I learned most was to just still take it in," she said regarding last year’s show, "because it was still WrestleMania, and it was still my debut on the biggest show of the year. I got to step in the ring with someone like Charlotte Flair, someone that I had wanted to wrestle for such a long time and that I had watched for years.
"So I just had to remind myself every day that this was still a super important moment of my life and my career."
As you’ll recall, Ripley was defeated by Flair in 2020 in a 20-minute match for the NXT Women’s title after she tapped out to the Figure-Eight Leglock.
"I think that was the biggest lesson for me. Just staying true to myself and just pushing through," Rhea said in retrospect. "It took a different confidence in myself to go out there and treat it like a WrestleMania match when there was no crowd. That’s so difficult to do because you really do feed off the crowd."
Thankfully, fans were able to return on back-to-back nights at this year’s show – the first time that had happened in more than a year – and it allowed "The Nightmare" to finally get the dream moment she had been waiting for.
"I thought I was nervous last year at WrestleMania, but then it came to this year, and I was like, ‘Oh, my god. Holy crap. There’s a lot of people here!’
"It didn’t even look like 25,000. It looked like 90,000! It was insane."
According to WWE, a sell-out crowd of 25,675 fans attended each night of WrestleMania on April 10 and 11 (51,350 fans total).
This was done by maintaining local health guidelines and having socially distanced seating pods, health screenings, temperature checks prior to entry, mask requirements, mobile ticketing, cashless concessions and a lot of hand sanitizer.
"I’m so glad that we had it on two nights," Ripley said with relief, "because the first night I got to go out on-stage and get teary and take it all in and be the emotional wreck that I knew I was going to be. Then, the second night, I got to be all business. Just go in there and bring the brutality."
Before doing that, though, Rhea had to make her entrance. It turns out that was just as nerve-racking an experience because she was backed by a live band for the first time.
"I was so nervous because we didn’t get to rehearse with the band at all," she said. "Then it came to my actual entrance, and I just forgot how to do my entrance. I ran out there, and you can see it, the camera zooms out, but I go out there and do my stomp, and I’m like, ‘OK, that wasn’t the time to do my stomp. Uhhhhh … it’s the next one. It’s definitely the next one.’
"I’m like, the pyro didn’t go off, so it can’t be that one. Then I did it again, and the pyro went off. I was like, ‘Oh! Sweet!’ Did it.
"That’s a dream of mine to have an actual live performance. Especially at WrestleMania! That’s a dream for many people, I’d guess. It was just so surreal and so special. It definitely did feel more like my first true WrestleMania moment."
That wasn’t the only item she crossed off her bucket list that night, either. According to Rhea, wrestling Asuka had been a goal of hers since she was 17 years old after the two were on the same show together in Japan.
"Getting in the ring with her and finally getting that moment to face her, I was so excited and so pumped," the new Raw Women’s champ said. "It definitely did live up to my expectations. I wish that we did get to wrestle a little beforehand so we’d know each other that much more, but it was still amazing to me. I had so much fun."
Now, almost one month removed from the show, Ripley has the future to look toward as she, SmackDown Women’s champion Bianca Belair and NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez attempt to establish themselves on the forefront of a new era of women in WWE.
"It’s super cool to be on this journey with these females. To see all the struggles that we’ve all been through and been there for another and just travel and grow as humans together. And now, we’re finally taking over," Rhea said with newfound confidence. "It definitely is the new era of females that are knocking on the door, and we’re coming through, and we’re taking over.
"You’re gonna have to accept us because we’re not gonna go anywhere. We’re here to stay, and we’re here to win championships. And in my case, bring the brutality."
Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1's "WWE Backstage" and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief.
