- 5 hours ago
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00This is trying to keep everything together.
00:02I think we're a little bit more cut and dry with the women's division on SmackDown.
00:07Yes.
00:08We have a challenger for Jade Cargill's title.
00:13Her name is Rhea Ripley, and she joins us on the WWE Now Elimination Chamber recap.
00:22Welcome to WWE Now, fresh off of the Elimination Chamber,
00:27the winner of the 2026 Women's Elimination Chamber match,
00:32the woman who is going to WrestleMania to compete for the WWE Women's Championship,
00:40Rhea, bloody Ripley.
00:42Rhea, how are you?
00:45I'm alive.
00:47I'm alive.
00:48So there's that.
00:49I'm feeling great.
00:50I really am.
00:51Like, as much as my body is not feeling the best right now, mentally, I am feeling awesome.
00:57Obviously, going into the match, I was a little bit everywhere because of what happened
01:02on SmackDown last night with me and Io losing our Tag Team Championships.
01:05But I feel on top of the world right now.
01:08I feel like I did her proud.
01:09I feel like I won that one for Io.
01:10And I just punched my golden ticket to WrestleMania against Jade Cargill,
01:15someone who I've never stepped in the ring with.
01:16So we'll see how that goes.
01:19Well, have you thought about that as well?
01:20Well, I mean, I think that a year ago, or maybe a little more than a year ago,
01:25the last time you held a singles women's championship,
01:30there was no question about who was on top of the division.
01:34You are all of a sudden, you've spent several months as part of a tag team,
01:41and that tag team division has been building and building and building.
01:44But literally, over the course of 24 hours, I think everybody just woke up
01:49and remembered, oh, yeah, Rhea Ripley is the singles wrestler
01:55that stood on top of this division.
01:57And a lot of people forgot.
02:01Is there a part of you that is ready to return to that type of business?
02:08I love when people forget, because then they're doubting me,
02:11and that's what I thrive on.
02:13That's what I've always thrived on.
02:15Obviously, I'm still so sad about Io and I losing.
02:20Like, I was really looking forward to defending our women's tag team
02:24championships at WrestleMania.
02:25But that doesn't mean that I'm not ready to go into the singles action either.
02:30Like, I've always been ready.
02:31I've always stayed ready.
02:32That's the whole point of being a champion.
02:34And just because I don't hold a belt now doesn't mean that I'm not going to
02:37hold a belt after WrestleMania.
02:39It's really interesting, your relationship with WrestleMania, I think.
02:43Because, I mean, last year, it was a matter of you trying to win your title back
02:48that you had just lost like a month or month and a half before WrestleMania.
02:53But in WrestleMania's prior, you can really kind of track your career by WrestleMania.
02:58I feel like at WrestleMania 40, it was like,
03:01is Rhea Ripley that big match wrestler that can win a match against Becky Lynch?
03:06Before that, it's, is she even ready for WrestleMania?
03:09Before that, it's like, it has always felt to me like a testing ground for you.
03:13And in the last several years, you keep passing those tests and passing those tests
03:17and passing those tests to the point that I think that you're beyond being tested.
03:23Have you thought about, I mean, I know it's only been minutes,
03:27but have you thought about what it's going to feel like going into WrestleMania,
03:31not as somebody who is being tested,
03:34but as somebody who has graduated to the point that maybe you are the test?
03:41Hmm.
03:42I like the way you put that.
03:44I do like the way you put that because Rhea bloody Ripley.
03:49Yes.
03:49I am the test.
03:52So I think that seeing the two names, Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill next to each other,
03:59that's a big match feel.
04:02That's something that people get excited for.
04:04But the thing that Jade doesn't realize,
04:08and she hasn't really been taking into consideration the last few weeks
04:13when she's been coming up and talking crap and just staring me down,
04:17is that I am who I am.
04:19And yeah, it's going to be a challenge for me because she's new.
04:23I've never stepped in the ring with her before.
04:25She's obviously strong.
04:26She's intimidating, but I don't get intimidated.
04:29I really don't.
04:30And I don't know if that's smart or stupidity by my part,
04:33but I don't really get intimidated by a lot.
04:36So I'm going into WrestleMania and she can think that she's,
04:40excuse my French, but the top bitch and all she wants,
04:43and she's that bitch and she's all that.
04:45But like, she's not.
04:47She's still new here.
04:48And just because she holds the title doesn't mean that she's walking in
04:50any better than I am because I'm Rhea bloody Ripley.
04:54And I'm going to remind her exactly who the hell I am over these past few weeks
04:57and over the next few weeks and over WrestleMania weekend
05:01when I put boots to asses and I kick her butt.
05:05Rhea, I think we're all so excited to see you back in singles action.
05:10I mean, the reaction from the audience,
05:11just when you make your entrance is completely undeniable,
05:15but what you and Io Sky formed as Rhea was really special.
05:20So special.
05:20In fact,
05:21that you sit down with us just minutes after punching your ticket to
05:24WrestleMania and you say,
05:26I feel like I won that match for Io tonight.
05:29So what is the future for Rhea and what's your relationship with Io Sky moving
05:35forward?
05:36There's always been respect between Io and I,
05:39no matter what we're doing and moving forward,
05:41the respect will still be there.
05:44Obviously I want to be there for her through whatever she's going through and
05:48whatever comes.
05:50And I know that she's got my back with everything that's going to be coming in
05:53my direction as well with SmackDown and Jade.
05:58But I also,
05:59I can't,
06:00I can't read the future.
06:02Obviously the tag team stuff might have to be put on hold for a little bit,
06:07but whatever she's doing,
06:08I'm still going to be there for her and vice versa.
06:13I don't know.
06:15It's,
06:15it's kind of sad to think about because I feel like Io has kind of been in my
06:21life here in the WWE over the past,
06:24like what year and a half,
06:27like we've been pretty much inseparable,
06:29whether we've been facing each other or we've been tagging together,
06:33just like growing that bond.
06:34I've,
06:34I've seen her family betray her.
06:37She's seen my family betray me.
06:38And we've been there and we've helped.
06:41We've helped each other through everything.
06:43And she's kind of been the one to pull me out of that dark place where I
06:49don't,
06:49I didn't trust anyone.
06:50Like I didn't think that friends were real.
06:52I didn't think that I could form a bond with anyone and trust anyone.
06:57And then there's Io being a little ray of sunshine that you just can't help
07:01but to love.
07:02And yeah,
07:04it's going to be weird.
07:04It's going to be very,
07:05very weird.
07:06I can't tell exactly what's going to happen,
07:08but if she ever needs me,
07:10I'm going to be there and vice versa.
07:12I know she's got my back through thick and thin.
07:15When you look at,
07:16at who was in that chamber match tonight and you look at,
07:20at what the women's division looks like right now and how strong and how
07:24deep this division is.
07:25I think one of the reasons is that you have people in that chamber match that
07:30were on the main roster before you,
07:32like Alexa bliss.
07:33You have people that were came up around the same time as you,
07:36and you have people that have come up since you've kind of established
07:40yourself on the main roster as the top person,
07:43like a Keanu James.
07:44You were in the ring with lash legend last night and she got,
07:48she got a pin over you.
07:50What is it like for you right now?
07:53Who I feel like within the last year and a half,
07:56like you were just saying is when I think that you fully established that
08:01you're the top superstar in the division.
08:04And then an entirely new generation came right under you and said,
08:09Nope,
08:09it's our time now.
08:10Just as you kind of sink your teeth into it and go,
08:13I did it.
08:14You have no time on top before this next division,
08:18this next generation comes in and goes,
08:21we're here for the top spot for you to now already be in that position where
08:27you're an established superstar.
08:29And you could say Jade Cargill too,
08:31that is defending that spot that you had to work to get.
08:35How does it feel?
08:40Honestly,
08:42it might be weird,
08:44but it feels good.
08:45It feels really good.
08:47Um,
08:48I always love a challenge as why I'm here in the WWE.
08:53I challenged myself every step of the way and I made it here.
08:56So why not invite some more challenges?
08:59I'm always here for a battle.
09:01I'm always here for the brutality.
09:02I'm here for a fair fight,
09:04but a real fight,
09:05you know,
09:05and Bianca and I used to say it when we were coming up,
09:08I might've stolen it from her,
09:10but you know,
09:10I'm going to claim it as well.
09:12You don't have to leave,
09:14but you're going to have to move over.
09:16And I remember us saying that to the four horse women,
09:19and now we're in that spot because we did take over.
09:24They might've moved over a little bit,
09:25but we've kind of taken over.
09:26And now the new generation's here and they're knocking at the door and
09:31they're scratching it and pushing it and punching it open.
09:34And I invite it.
09:36I invite it.
09:37Cause it means that the women's division is thriving.
09:40It means that we get bigger matches,
09:42more intense matches.
09:43And I get to pull out a little bit different moveset here and there,
09:49especially with someone like Lash Legend.
09:52Normally I'm the bigger person in the ring and it's very,
09:56very rare for me to be the small person,
09:59but with her,
10:00she's so incredibly strong.
10:02Like she's,
10:03I don't think people give her enough credit because she is an insanely
10:08strong woman.
10:09Like last night she put my leg over her head,
10:12pick me up to the point that I couldn't even touch the floor with my
10:15hands.
10:15And I felt like a defenseless little animal.
10:19So there's that.
10:21But at the same time,
10:22I invite that challenge.
10:24I thrive in the chaos of people doubting me.
10:28And I just,
10:28I love it.
10:29Like I really do love it.
10:31So what do I do?
10:32I sit up,
10:33I start punching her in the head and I go for a sunset flip,
10:35you know,
10:35like it's just what we do.
10:37So I'm,
10:38I'm glad that the newbies are knocking because I'm here to defend my spot at
10:43the top and remind everyone exactly who Rhea Ripley is.
10:47I mean,
10:48speaking of new move sets tonight,
10:50you standing on top of that chamber.
10:52I mean,
10:52that was like a game changing moment for sure.
10:55And like just kind of swan taunting into Raquel that's on the top turnbuckle.
11:00It's one thing to,
11:01to envision that before you're going out there and to think like,
11:04okay,
11:04yeah,
11:04that may be something that I do tonight when you're standing on top of that chamber,
11:08which is,
11:09I think higher above the top rope than,
11:12than people realize.
11:13And I'm sure from your perspective,
11:14it was,
11:16and you go,
11:16you have that here goes nothing moment.
11:20What was that like?
11:23Coming from someone who doesn't really like heights and is scared of that falling feeling.
11:28I don't know what was going through my mind at that time,
11:31but I just know that I wanted to win.
11:35So who better but Raquel to flip on to?
11:38Cause I know that she's not going to want to budge.
11:41So it might help me a little bit with the falling situation,
11:44but at the end of the day,
11:45I'm also going to land on her.
11:46So I get a bit of a cushion.
11:48So I don't know.
11:50It's,
11:50it's really scary standing on top of the pods.
11:52Like it's,
11:53it's literally so much higher than people would think,
11:55especially when you're standing.
11:56Cause then you're even higher.
11:58Cause you're,
11:58you're high as well on top of that.
12:00So to do something like a cannonball,
12:03man.
12:04I wasn't really thinking,
12:05I was just thinking about winning and that's what's so dangerous about me.
12:07Sometimes that is,
12:10it's a little psychotic.
12:11Speaking of psychotic,
12:12actually that's good.
12:14That's a great transition.
12:15Oh,
12:15I know where you're going with that.
12:16Is there,
12:17you know,
12:17WrestleMania is now where we're going and,
12:20and,
12:20and there is something about you.
12:22You've become one of those superstars that the minute,
12:26the first note of the music hits,
12:28the minute your presence is felt,
12:31there's just an instant change in the room.
12:33And it's clear that this is,
12:35this is what we've paid a ticket to see.
12:37And part of that is the,
12:39is the aesthetic is the,
12:40is the visual that you provide.
12:42And I'm thinking about war games.
12:43I'm thinking about the,
12:44about all the amazing looks.
12:48Is there any thought of,
12:49of reaching out to Damien Leone and,
12:51and bringing art,
12:52the clown in for a WrestleMania cameo?
12:55I mean,
12:55it would make my,
12:56it would make my life.
12:57It would make my life too.
12:59I would absolutely love that.
13:03Oh man.
13:04Now you got me thinking.
13:05Yeah.
13:06It's hard.
13:06It's like,
13:07I was so prepared to communicate with EO and plan a together outfit for us.
13:14Now I have free range for myself.
13:16And it's like,
13:17now I get to be creative on my own and,
13:21and make it something for me.
13:22So maybe having Arthur clown,
13:25that would be really cool.
13:26Like I would love that.
13:27Don't tempt me with a good time.
13:29Like I would like my little serial killer clown to get me revved up,
13:32to go out there and be the little serial killer that I want to be.
13:37That's awesome.
13:38That's awesome.
13:39Well,
13:40Ria,
13:42congratulations.
13:42I'm,
13:43I'm so excited to see you go back into WrestleMania,
13:47go back into a championship match,
13:50get one of those Ria bloody Ripley moments.
13:53And I mean,
13:54you're a hundred percent right.
13:55And it's something Megan and I have been talking about as we were speculating
13:58as to who could win elimination chamber,
14:01Ria Ripley and Jade Cargill on a poster together.
14:07I mean,
14:07that is what a giant wrestling match looks like it is.
14:12It's a spectacle.
14:13That is what a spectacle is.
14:16And I'm,
14:16I can't wait to see it.
14:17So congrats.
14:19I appreciate it.
Comments