A former WWE Superstar has pointed out a mistake during Rhea Ripley's match against Raquel Rodriguez at Night of Champions. Ripley defeated Rodriguez in a Street Fight on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The history between Ripley and Rodriguez made things very tense ahead of their match. Roxanne Perez tried her best to interfere on behalf of Big Mami Cool, but The Eradicator found a way to win by executing an Avalanche Riptide off a table atop the turnbuckle.
However, one wrestling veteran wasn't a fan of the spot because the table wasn't used correctly. Shelly Martinez, more famously known as Ariel in WWE's version of ECW, discussed the match during an appearance on the Ring The Belle podcast in Los Angeles.
"I wasn't the biggest fan of it. When the table was there, I was expecting some kind of the finisher to incorporate that table 'cause they set it up. To just use it as if it was just the corner rope anyways, the wrestler in me is like, 'Why even put it up there then?' Because if you didn't use it, the whole thing about using something like a table is you eventually have to get to why it's planted there. Whether it backfires on you or you actually execute it the way you want to. It looked cool and it gave you that, ‘Oh my gosh, what's going to happen when you're up there?’ Why put it up there? Why even do that?" Martinez said. [8:06 - 8:51]
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Despite the criticism of the spot, Shelly Martinez praised the story behind the rivalry between Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez. For someone who hasn't been following WWE, she was hooked by the backstory of friends-turned-foes.
Rhea Ripley opens up about nearly missing WrestleMania 41
At WrestleMania 41, Rhea Ripley failed to recapture the Women's World Championship after IYO SKY defeated her and Bianca Belair in a Triple Threat match. Ripley revealed on Insight with Chris Van Vliet that she almost missed the biggest wrestling event of the year due to a back injury.
"WrestleMania 41, I didn't think I was going to be able to compete because my back was so bad leading up to it," Ripley said. [H/T chrisvanvliet.com]
Ripley explained that her masseuse had to loosen her back muscles for two days so that she could perform in Las Vegas. She added that it was because of her not stretching enough, and it comes and goes from time to time.
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