Rhea Ripley Says She Trusts Dominik Mysterio Ahead Of WWE SummerSlam, Liv Morgan Match

Despite months of precarious situations at best, and indiscretions at worst involving Dominik Mysterio and WWE Women's Champion Liv Morgan, former champ Rhea Ripley claims she still trusts "Dirty Dom" ahead of her opportunity to reclaim the title at SummerSlam. Appearing on "Busted Open Radio," Ripley was very forgiving toward Mysterio, adding fuel to the fire between herself and Morgan by placing essentially all of the blame for the Mysterio-Morgan relationship kindled in her absence on the champion.

"Look, I know that Dom was being put in a predicament," Ripley said. "I trust Dom. I do. He's someone that, once you get to know him, he's so lovely and he doesn't know how to stand up for himself completely, especially when it comes to new people. Liv was 'love-bombing' him to the point where he didn't know what to do and he was trying his best to pull away and avoid her but at the end of the day, he couldn't do it in such a brutal way [until] he did a couple of weeks ago on 'Raw.'"

Seemingly breaking things off on "WWE Raw" when Morgan was searching for "those three little words," Mysterio screamed, "I hate you," bringing the champion to tears while making "Mami" happy enough to lick and kiss him on the cheek before they exited the ring together. While things haven't been completely rosy for The Judgment Day of late, Ripley has nothing but love for her comrades. "We're family. We really are. I love them boys."

Outside of the on-screen relationship, Ripley explained that the group has formed a very strong bond from traveling together for such a long time now, particularly the trio of her, Mysterio, and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest. "When it comes to us three," she explained, "[we've] managed to make such a strong bond together. I love these boys. I really do love them and I don't know what I would do without them. I don't know where my career would be without them either, because I feel like I started blossoming when they came into my life."

Priest, especially, holds a special place in Ripley's heart, as the two bonded in NXT together and have much in common. "Priest and I, we've been real good friends since NXT," noted Ripley, who is married to AEW's Buddy Matthews. "As soon as he came in, we pretty much connected straight away 'cause we have the same loves, like, we love the same music. We try to better each other. We were riding together in the pandemic era, that's how long we've been friends. We've done a lot of things together. We both came up to 'Raw' at the same time. We did our initiation together, all of that sort of stuff. I do have a special connection with Priest, more than anyone, but the connection I have with Dom is also genuine. It just hasn't been going on as long." Both Priest and Ripley will be in action at SummerSlam, with the former defending his title against GUNTHER in addition to the latter's attempt at regaining her championship.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.