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Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell recently spoke about Rhea Ripley's new challenger at Backlash.
In a backstage segment on SmackDown this week, Zelina approached WWE official Adam Pearce with a request to put her in a title match against Rhea Ripley at Backlash. Vega mentioned that the event was in Puerto Rico, and it made sense for her to challenge Mami in her home country.
Pearce mentioned that he would check with The Judgment Day member and get back to her. Later, WWE announced that the match was official for the upcoming premium live event.
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This week on Smack Talk, Mantell mentioned that it was uncanny how easily Zelina got a championship opportunity against Rhea. While the LWO and The Judgment Day have been at loggerheads over the last few weeks, the two women have also come in contact with each other and exchanged some blows.
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"Her asking for that title match, that was a little bit sketchy. Then, the guy told her, 'I'll talk to Rhea and I'll talk to the head guy,' whatever. And then all of a sudden, comes up later, pops up, and the fight is already made. That's easy as hell." [From 41:35 to 41:55]
You can watch the full video here:
You can catch the full results of SmackDown here.
Rhea Ripley shared an ominous message for her opponent
After WWE made the announcement for the title match, SmackDown Women's Champion Rhea Ripley took to Twitter to share a message for her opponent.
With just one line, The Eradicator managed to disrespect the new challenger and send out a threat as well. Here's what the tweet read:
"Mami vs. Little Pretzel,"
Several other matches were also announced for Backlash, including Austin Theory vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed in a United States Championship triple-threat match, Seth Rollins vs. Omos in a singles match, and The Bloodline vs. Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, & Riddle in a six-man tag team bout.
Are you excited for WWE Backlash? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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