Rhea Ripley on Getting Cheered: ‘It’s Even Louder Than I Thought It Would Be’

Ripley is becoming one of WWE’s most popular babyfaces

The reaction from this past Monday night on Raw was clear: people want to cheer Rhea Ripley.

Powerful in the ring and passionate on the microphone, Ripley has developed into of WWE’s most important pieces. As a heel, she became so popular that it necessitated a change to babyface. Remarkably, at only 27, she has yet to even scratch the surface of her stardom.

“I never thought that I could do this,” said Ripley. “Isn’t that wild? I’ve been able to accomplish so much here, but I never thought I was good enough.

“Early on in my career, I always heard I wasn’t good enough–or that I was distracting the people who had potential. I didn’t think I could be a big name here, but I was determined to become one.”

Last week at SummerSlam, Ripley lost to Liv Morgan. Dominik Mysterio cost her the match, effectively ending the core Judgement Day faction of Finn Balor, Damian Priest, herself, and Mysterio. Later that night, Balor turned on Priest–putting Ripley and Priest in a new position as top-of-the-card babyfaces.

It has been a tumultuous year for Ripley, even though she has not wrestled much. After defeating Becky Lynch at WrestleMania, there were no plans for her to drop the women’s world championship. Yet that all changed when an arm injury put Ripley on the disabled list for three months.

As difficult as it was to digest that injury, there was a positive effect: Ripley’s time away allowed people to miss her.

“Hearing people cheer for me, it’s even louder than I thought it would be,” said Ripley. “So I’m grateful for my stubbornness. That’s what got me to America so far away from my family. It gets me to the gym in the morning. It gets me titles in WWE. I’m thankful to be so stubborn.”