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WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Rhea Ripley recently disclosed that she struggled during her early days on the main roster.
Ripley signed with the Stamford-based company in 2017. She competed for about four years on NXT UK and NXT before officially joining the main roster in 2021. Nearly a year earlier, The Eradicator had a brief run on the main roster when she feuded with Charlotte Flair over the NXT Women's Championship heading into WrestleMania 36, where she lost her title to The Queen.
During a recent interview with Wrestling with Rosenberg, Ripley revealed that she struggled on the main roster before finding herself in The Judgment Day storyline.
"There definitely was a time where I wasn't really sure what was going on or how to do my job in a way. I did get to go to the main [roster] while having the NXT Championship and then obviously I had the title match at WrestleMania in the Covid era. But yeah, I don't know. There was like this weird period where I didn't really know how the crowd was reacting to me because there was no crowd in attendance. So, that sort of started the downhill spiral for me in a way," she said.
The SmackDown Women's Champion added:
"I didn't know how they were reacting and then I had that whole championship match with Asuka once I finally debuted as a RAW superstar. And I wasn't sure how they were going to react to me and I sort of just kept plotting along. And I got told like a million different things on how to be and how to act and what they want from me and I sort of got lost in that again. Like, I did when I first came over here to America for the first Mae Young Classic. I sort of got lost in just trying to do everything right and what people were telling me to do. But it wasn't really what was best for me because it wasn't me being me." [4:20 - 5:53]
WWE was planning to fire Rhea Ripely before a current RAW star saved her career. Check out the story here.
Rhea Ripley believes she got lost in the WWE women's tag team division
Before joining The Judgment Day, Rhea Ripley joined forces with Nikki Cross (fka Nikki A.S.H) to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. After their team split, The Eradicator was paired with Liv Morgan for a while.
In the same interview with Wrestling with Rosenberg, Ripley stated that she got lost in the WWE women's tag team division, insisting that her character is a singles competitor.
"Yeah, there was a specific time where I just I got lost in like the tag team division stuff as well. I know I tagged with Nikki A.S.H and then I came out after we broke up and was like, 'I'm gonna be a singles competitor.' And then I was right back in the tag team division with Liv. And I had a great time with both of them girls. I really did. But it wasn't what Rhea Ripley is all about. I'm not really a tag team sort of person. I'm definitely more of a solo, even though yes, it is fun. It is very very fun," she explained. [6:17 - 6:50]
Rhea Ripley revealed how her relationship with Dominik Mysterio started in WWE. Check out her comments here.
Please credit Wrestling with Rosenberg and give a H/T to Sportskeeda if you use the above transcription.
