Rhea Ripley Opens Up About Move From NXT To WWE Raw
WWE star Rhea Ripley has recalled her transition from "WWE NXT" to the main roster, and why she took time to figure out her character on the main roster.
Ripley, ahead of the Royal Rumble, appeared on "Notsam Wrestling," where she discussed how she had to adapt and experiment after being moved to "WWE Raw," which happened during 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, 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. 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.'"
The "Raw" star said that she tried to do things that she was comfortable with and what came naturally to her, which turned out to work in her favor.
Ripley on the how Judgment Day helps her
While speaking about her move to the main roster, Rhea Ripley stated that being alongside her Judgment Day partners helps her confidence as she revealed that her faction members always have her back.
"Obviously joining the Judgment Day brings out a different sort of confidence within me as well because I do have the boys there to fall back on if I do lose a little bit of confidence or get a little nervous," stated the "WWE Raw" star. "They have my back and vice versa I have theirs so it's just like it's been a growing experience. I guess the Mami thing definitely helped because I have that to always fall back on now."
Ripley stated that the "Mami" character was created when she wore an "I'm Your Papi" Eddie Guerrero shirt on television but was told she couldn't be "Papi." Her fellow Judgment Day member Damian Priest suggested that she be "Mami" instead, which was the genesis of her now popular gimmick. She added that the "Mami" character makes her comfortable, stating that she's being a child version of herself in that gimmick.
Ripley joined Judgment Day a few months after it was founded by Edge and Priest, with the likes of Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh joining the group later.
"Mami" has been dominant over the last year or so, and has held her title for over 300 days, having won it from Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39.