Rhea Ripley Recalls Anxiety Attack After Pressure Of WWE's 2025 Australian Tour

This past October, Rhea Ripley was celebrating many victories on-screen, having defeated the Kabuki Warriors alongside IYO SKY at Crown Jewel and wrestling on multiple shows in front of her home country of Australia. However, behind-the-scenes, Ripley had reached one of the lowest points of her career and was struggling with her mental health. 

During a recent appearance on "What's Your Story" with Stephanie McMahon, Ripley explained that she was burnt out following WWE's tour to Australia while dealing with a toxic friendship that was draining her energy and negatively affecting her mental health outside of the ring. 

"I couldn't charge that battery because I was going home and that person was around. And it's like, I just couldn't, it was just a dark place," she said. "The toughest time for me hit when we were in Australia too. So I had that on my mind ... I had me trying to please everyone in Australia because I felt like the face of Australia in WWE.  So I was like, I take full responsibility for everything that's happening here ... I took responsibility for too much and I just wanted to make sure everyone was happy. And I was just at such a really low point."

Following Crown Jewel, Ripley fought Kairi Sane in singles action on "WWE Raw," but after the show concluded, "The Eradicator" shared that she endured a panic attack backstage and finally decided to pull the plug on her toxic friendship.

"We had 'SmackDown,' and then we had Crown, and then we had 'Raw.' By the time 'Raw' was done, I collapsed in catering ... I had a full panic attack and I hadn't eaten, I hadn't drunk water. My body was shutting down and it was probably the skinniest I'd ever been. And I was just dying. And then that person kept lingering around, just making it worse. And my panic attacks were just getting worse. And I was like, I just can't do this. So after that trip, I made sure to start putting myself first and kind of chopping people out completely. Like I sent them a long message ... like, get the f**k out of my life."

This is not the first time that Ripley has opened up about having anxiety attacks, as she's been vocal about panicking ahead of her WrestleMania 40 Women's World Championship match with Becky Lynch. Just three months after Crown Jewel, Ripley captured the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships alongside IYO SKY and would go on to WrestleMania 42 to defeat Jade Cargill for the WWE Women's Championship. 

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "What's Your Story? With Steph McMahon" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.