Rhea Ripley has admitted that she was suffering from a panic attack shortly before her match at WrestleMania 40.
Competing in the opening match of the entire weekend, Ripley defended the Women’s World Championship against Becky Lynch in front of more than 70,000 people inside a packed Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Despite having competed on The Grandest Stage before and recently competing in front of a packed stadium in Perth, The Eradicator admitted that nerves had set in.
Speaking at WWE World, Ripley stated that she was violently shaking before stepping out in front of the fans, but the liver performance from Motionless In White played a massive factor in calming the nerves:
“It’s quite funny how this whole thing works in this crazy world. I legit was having a straight-up panic attack two hours before I walked through the curtain, and I was violently shaking, just nervous. If you don’t get nervous before you go out, especially at WrestleMania, you obviously don’t love it enough. That’s the way I think about it. So I’m glad the nerves were there. But at the same time, that was sort of taking over my body.
So when I got to step through into the stage with the band Motionless in White, all those nerves that I had just sort of flew away. I was in the zone, I was moshing out like it was a little mosh pit. I was living in the moment, and that’s what I love about this business. We get to live in the moment a lot of the time. I just snap into Rhea Ripley, and I’m instantly comfortable, instantly ready to go and ready to fight,”
Rhea Ripley Looks Back On “Dream Come True” Mania Moment
For the second time in her career, the Women’s World Champion was lucky enough to receive a live rendition of her theme as Motionless In White played Ripley to the ring. Looking back on the moment, Rhea Ripley explained why it was a dream come true.
H/t to Fightful.