Rhea Ripley is one of the athletes from the Monday Night Raw roster who always likes to be colorful in the ring. Her dynamic persona and incredible in-ring agility are the reasons that she became one of the most popular superstars of the modern generation. In one particular instance, she received publicity for doing something unprecedented.
Last March, Rhea Ripley and Nia Jax broke the internet in a match from an untelevised WWE house show during the Road to WrestleMania XL tour. Footage from that match went viral thanks to Jax receiving a Stinkface in the corner by then-challenger for the WWE Women’s World Championship.
The clip gained immense popularity all over social media, getting millions of views from fans all over the world. Some of the fans even commented on how they wanted to be in Jax’s position. Rhea Ripley was asked about that viral spot during a recent appearance on Chris Van Vliet’s Insight podcast, where she also revealed that the spot came due to Nia’s idea.
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Rhea Ripley wanted to have fun by Stink-Facing Nia Jax
In the conversation, Rhea Ripley also noted that she wanted to mimic the originator of this Stinkface move, Rikishi, in some way by pulling her gear up higher, just like the latter used to do during the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras. While she did receive love for doing the spot, a lot of fans also spread hate about this move, spreading a bad reputation among the women’s wrestlers.
“It still pops up on my Twitter. It’s wild, I got so much publicity off that, but I also got so much negativity, and I was like ‘guys you need to calm down.’ People just like saying that I’m taking the women’s division back 20 years, and I’m like ‘that’s not what’s happening.’ It’s a fun moment, and it’s a house show, am I not allowed to have fun?” questioned Rhea Ripley. (quotes courtesy Wrestling INC)
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The love-cum-hatred went so far that a fan kept coming to Rhea Ripley’s house while she and her husband, Buddy Matthews, were in Australia as Matthews was wrestling at the AEW Grand Slam Australia event. The couple were also celebrating their honeymoon afterward, that event. The former women’s world champion revealed that the invasion by the fan was even scarier since she caught him on her doorbell camera.