Rhea Ripley’s star power questioned; WWE veteran raises concerns over fan reaction (Exclusive)

Former WWE head writer Vince Russo recently spoke about Rhea Ripley seemingly not getting reactions from fans. The star was in action on RAW this week.

Ripley faced off against Kairi Sane and Zoey Stark in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. Minutes into the match, Stark injured her knee and was forced out of the encounter, making it a one-on-one showdown between Rhea and Kairi. Mami finally hit the Riptide on her opponent to punch her ticket to Money in the Bank.

This week on Sportskeeda's Legion of RAW, Russo noted that Rhea and Kairi barely got any reaction during their match. The veteran writer said Mami was supposed to be one of the biggest female stars in the company, and yet, fans were not reacting to her presence in the ring. He felt this was unnatural because WWE boasted of a highly invested and vocal fan base.

"When it was just Ripley and Kairi Sane in that ring, there was zero reaction. Bro, I swear to God, it sounded like a tennis match. I'm like these people are supposed to be such rabid fans, we go to the show and sing along. And Rhea Ripley, definitely one of the top three female stars in the company. I'd say her, Charlotte, you could say Tiffy. I don't know if you want to put Becky in there. But Rhea Ripley is over zero. And I'm like what's going on here?" [From 12:24 onwards]

With this win, Ripley joins a star-studded lineup for this year's Women's Money in the Bank match. Other stars like Alexa Bliss and Roxanne Perez have also qualified for the high-stakes match.

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About the author

Prityush is a WWE news writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling who started watching wrestling in the later part of The Attitude Era. Although he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Prityush was a creative writer for his college, and his flair for creativity and love of pro wrestling eventually led him to the journalism field. After an initial stint in 2016-2017, he has been writing regularly for Sportskeeda since 2021.

As someone who loves and respects the business, he prides himself on factual, clean, and ethical reporting, free of plagiarism and AI usage. One of the ways he ensures this is by transcribing videos that he reports on.

Prityush had the privilege of interviewing superstar Matt Hardy in his career so far. Although, his favorite wrestler is CM Punk, as he relates to his Straight Edge philosophy.

When he is not reporting news, he loves reading and collecting WWE action figures. He currently owns over 500 wrestling figures and merchandise.

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Edited by Prityush Haldar