Rhea Ripley had an up and down 2020. She started out the year on a hot streak, coming off a massive NXT Championship victory that closed out 2019. She parlayed that momentum into a match with Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36, a bout that Flair inexplicably won, halting Ripley’s momentum. At the time, Triple H said it was part of a larger story and the decision would make sense at the end.
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It didn’t and still doesn’t.
Even so, Ripley has kept charging ahead and is starting to pick up some steam again as she heads into War Games this Sunday night at NXT TakeOver. Ripley spoke with Lillian Garcia on the Chasing Glory podcast this week, and one of the first topics she addressed was whether or not she’s ready to join the main roster.
“I would like to go to Raw or SmackDown, but at the same time, there are so many people in NXT I haven’t faced yet, and I feel like there is so much more that I can do,” Ripley said. “Like, I would love to wrestle Candice [LeRae], especially since her persona has changed. I’d also love to wrestle Indi Hartwell, I would love to wrestle Shotzi [Blackheart]. I haven’t had a match with Shotzi. I’ve tagged with her but haven’t wrestled her. I wanna wrestle Raquel [Gonzalez] again. Hell, I would love to have a stipulations match with her. I want to be in WarGames again.”
Even so, Ripley talked about potentially recapturing that 2019 and early 2020 momentum and having a big 2021.
“If I had full control in 2021, hopefully, I can get out of this little slump I have in my head and go back to being the confident Rhea Ripley that I know I am,” she stated. “Then, I can skyrocket and keep doing what I was doing at WarGames, and at Survivor Series, and WrestleMania. I hope I can accomplish all of these new things.”
ComicBook.com spoke to Ripley back in early August. You can read that interview at this link.
For more on WWE, NXT, and AEW, you can give me a follow on Twitter @ryandroste and check out my weekly wrestling podcast, Top Rope Nation.
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcript.
