Rhea Ripley has had a meteoric rise in WWE, capturing gold and hearts alike with her talent and commitment. In a recent interview, she talked about her earliest victories, which apparently still hold a special place in her heart.
Before her impactful run on the main roster, Ripley made waves in NXT after confronting the Women's Champion at the time, Shayna Baszler. Despite Shayna being one of the toughest stars on the roster, the Eradicator was able to defeat her in a grueling singles match, kickstarting her dominant run as the NXT Women's Champion.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling, Ripley was asked about her reaction after the win. She stated:
"Man, just pure excitement. I was so pumped, it felt like all the struggles I had gone through in the past 2-3 years at the Performance Center, I felt like it finally accumulated to this succesful point in my career. Like I had won the NXT UK Women's Championship, I was the inaugural Women's Champion. But to actually make it onto NXT, the main developemental brand, and take out someone with such a historic run like Shayna Baszler, who was undefeated. She had like one of the longest streaks in NXT apart from Asuka. It felt incredible." [2:56 onwards]
Rhea Ripley talked about what she did after winning against WWE star Shayna Baszler
According to The Eradicator, her adrenaline and excitement after the WWE match led to her stealing a pair of sunglasses from a fan.
Adding to her previous comments in the exclusive interview, she explained how glad she was to see the response from the fans after her win. She added:
"I was so full of emotions and excitement after that match. That was a long match. That was one of my longest matches that I had at that point. So when the crowds started coming into the ring and I had my own little mosh pit, they picked me up, I was just so ecstatic. I think even before that, I went out and I started running laps. I started running in the crowds, I stole someone's sunglasses. And I just like, I did all this crazy stuff because I was so full of adrenaline and excitement." [3:34 onwards]
For now, fans will have to stay tuned to see how the rest of her WWE run pans out.
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