Rhea Ripley has defended her involvement in a major match at WrestleMania despite what some fans may think.
Ripley has the opportunity to become the Women’s World Champion for a third time at WrestleMania 41 as she and Bianca Belair will challenge IYO SKY for the title in Las Vegas. Although Mami is thrilled to be in a major Mania match for the third year in a row, not everyone feels the same way.
Belair rightfully earned her opportunity to challenge the champion by emerging victorious in the Elimination Chamber match. While at first it appeared to be Belair vs. Ripley at Mania, plans suddenly changed on March 3rd when SKY defeated Ripley to win the championship.
Irate at the loss and blaming Belair, Ripley repeatedly confronted the champion and challenger over the next few weeks. Eventually, General Manager Adam Pearce made the decision to make the Mania match a triple threat, much to the annoyance of Belair. Additionally, both Ripley and Belair have been at odds on Raw with champion SKY being ignored by both challengers.
Rhea Ripley Speaks Out On Overlooking IYO SKY And Fan Backlash
Speaking with Zack Heydorn of The Takedown on SI, Rhea Ripley stated that she was not overlooking the champion but there is history between herself and The EST:
“I don’t want to say we’re overlooking IYO, because we’re not. We know that she’s a threat. We know what she’s capable of. Hell, I’ve never beat her in a one-on-one competition. I know exactly what IYO brings to the table. I feel like when it comes to me and Bianca, what we’ve been saying over the last two, three, four years is we’ve wanted to face each other at WrestleMania… We’ve wanted it to be a one-on-one thing.”
Aware that there has been some backlash to making the match a triple threat, Ripley responded that she wasn’t going to argue with fans but feels like her place in the match is justified:
“The story is getting spicy. I know a lot of people online don’t want to realize what’s going on, because they hate me or whatever it is. People are going to feel whatever they want to feel. I’m not going to argue with 16 year-olds on the internet, but that’s the story. And I mean, going into WrestleMania 41, I feel like, yes, I’m going to be focusing on Bianca, because she screwed me out of my opportunity twice now by being there and wanting to be a part of the spotlight and taking that away from me when she knows how much this opportunity meant to me.”
“Literally, three of the biggest female stars here in WWE are going to go to war. And it’s just going to mesh really, really well.”
In a previous interview, Rhea Ripley explained why her first WWE try-out was scrapped.