- 3 days ago
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00We good to go? Perfect. Alright. I thought before we get started with anything, I want
00:07to thank you for representing a really underrepresented group of people and that is people in this
00:14country who love to just slather Vegemite all over their toast. Have I done the research
00:21properly and learnt that you are a Vegemite girl? I love Vegemite. I absolutely love it
00:26and my fans know that I'm so defensive over Vegemite. If Dom didn't like Vegemite, we would
00:33have a problem. Well, he does love it. He does. We've tried it a couple of times and he's
00:39eaten it every time and I don't know if he's doing it to please me, but he seems like he
00:45enjoys it. He does the light spread though. Yeah. So I find the light spread works best
00:52for me, but I don't understand why they get the American guys. To just eat it off a spoon.
00:58Yeah. I'm like, you guys are setting it up to fail. I saw one this morning because I got
01:02tagged in it and it was Kathy Kelly and Kevin Owens trying it on a spoon and bless Kathy's
01:07heart. She's trying to like it for mommy. Yeah. She's trying so hard, but yeah, you can't
01:14need it like that. Kathy and Samantha are both in the game. Yeah. 2K24 this year. That's
01:21so exciting. I saw that Kathy can be a manager. Yes. You got the scoop. I didn't even know
01:27that. Really? I saw it on Twitter. On X. Sorry. Yeah. Formally known as. Yeah. We have
01:33the little love triangle. So like I get tagged in all of that stuff where it's like we can
01:37put Kathy with Ria. Now she can come out and represent maybe a new member of the judgment
01:42making. Possibly. Is there anything you look forward to when you come back? Is there anything
01:45you can't get in the States that you love to come home to? A lot of things. A lot of
01:52things.
01:52I love getting Hungry Jacks, KFC. When I'm in Adelaide, I go to Villy's. Villy's is my
02:00number one spot. I absolutely love it. What is it? Villy's. We're both Melbourne boys.
02:06Come on, guys. They're like a bakery that's sort of like expanded. Like they're the ones
02:12with all the pies and pasties, all the different flavors. They have all the bakery like delight
02:17sort of things. And it's just like everything they make is so top notch. They're like a little
02:23restaurant. It's like a diner at the moment now pretty much because they're open 24-7.
02:27So like the truck is going late. All the rest is going late because like this is the only
02:31time we get to eat after a show. That was the one place where we always went after
02:36Riot City Wrestling shows and like they're chips and gravy, man. Are you sure you don't
02:40have a steak in this place? I might have to. You have to declare your interest. Yeah, I might
02:45have to. Maybe one day Rhea Ripley will earn a bit of Villy's. One of the questions I had,
02:50congratulations, the banners behind you, by the way. First all-female WWE 2K cover. Incredible.
02:56There was an amazing clip of you when you got told you went in, you thought it was a Christmas
03:00shoot. It was all work and it turned out to be this amazing moment. One of the things that I
03:05thought immediately when I saw that clip other than like, yeah, Rhea, how good. Who did you
03:10tell first? Other than Dirty Dom, naturally. Who'd you get on the phone, call, text? Like
03:16who gets that first reach out? The first reach out was Buddy. Yeah? Yeah, Buddy Murphy.
03:23Yeah. So Matt for me. He was the first one that I messaged because I was just so excited. I
03:32wanted to
03:32share the news with him and I knew that he'd be really excited for me too. Yeah. So yeah, he
03:36was
03:36definitely the first one I messaged. That's amazing. Yeah. It makes sense. It makes sense, doesn't it?
03:41It makes all the sense. Dom was second. Dom was second. Dom was second. So within the game,
03:47we have My Rise, which traditionally takes you from the indies and your journey all the way up to
03:53becoming a mega star. Kind of sounds pretty familiar. Was there ever a moment that you get
04:01to really relish in just how far you've come from Riot City, as you mentioned before, to 50,000 people
04:09in Perth? Yeah. I mean, I've definitely been thinking about it a lot recently because we have
04:15come back to Australia and we're doing Elimination Chamber here. It's the road to WrestleMania and I'm so
04:20glad that we get to stop in Australia first. But I always think about that journey. I always think
04:27about all the struggles that I had to overcome and getting doubted along the way and just like
04:34pretty much just being like, screw it. You guys can say what you want, but I'm going to continue to
04:39do
04:39what I love and I'm going to continue to try and learn as much as possible and make it as
04:43far as
04:44possible. So I 100% always think about my journey. And it's funny because all the interviews that I do,
04:50I always get asked about my journey and I always have to say like the same sort of thing. And
04:58it's just wild because it is a recap of my life and it makes me remember extra little bits and
05:02pieces that did happen along the way. But it was tough. It was a struggle, but it was so much
05:08fun
05:08and I can't believe how far I've gone. And it's really cool to have something like that in the game
05:12too. So like people can sort of go through the steps and somehow recreate our lives so they can
05:20see it in the game form as well. It's interesting that you say that there's been tough times because
05:25from the outside looking in, like we see the phenomenon that is Rhea Ripley. Were there times
05:31obviously along the way where you were like, this might not happen. Like you've come from Australia,
05:36it's a difficult path that largely wasn't forged for a lot of people. Were those times popped up
05:42where you're like, this is, it's not going to happen? Yeah, all the time. All the time. When I
05:48first started training, I got, well, my, my tryout for Rite City Wrestling, my coach flat out told
05:52everyone, if you want to make it at WWE, I'm just going to say now, like you probably won't because
05:58they don't really come to Australia. They don't really look at Australian talent too often.
06:02So the little gap was very, very, very small. But even like along the way, while I was wrestling
06:11in Australia, there was many times where I was like, I'm not going to make it, but I'm going to
06:14try and do whatever I can to make Australian wrestling great. Like I went to Japan for three
06:20months and I was 17 at the time. And even there being so far away from home, I was like,
06:27I don't
06:27know if this is for me. Like there was a few times that I wanted to quit while in Japan
06:32and I just wanted to go home and I didn't want to wrestle anymore. And then even when
06:36I got back, it was just like the same rollercoaster of emotions. It's like, it's something that
06:41you love so much, but you let it break you at times. And that's, that's really tough.
06:46But when you overcome that moment, that's when, you know, you really do love it and you have
06:51a passion for it and it's what you're meant to be doing. But even when I first got to America,
06:57um, there was quite a few times where I was like, I should just pack it all up and go
07:02home.
07:03And I'm glad I didn't. I'm so glad I didn't. I'm glad that I am so incredibly stubborn
07:11and I just didn't let myself pack it up and go home because, um, we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't
07:16be seeing the Rearably we see today. Even though the tough times were there, I'm glad they were there
07:20to teach me the lessons, but I'm glad I didn't give up. And if you quit in Japan,
07:23you certainly wouldn't be on the front cover of 2K24. Oh yeah. This is very cheap.
07:29Being on the cover, like it's got to be so cool because you grew up as a massive wrestling head.
07:34Mm-hmm. Just like I'm sure like a lot of people in this room. What were some of the,
07:38who were some of your favorite legends when you were growing up? And do you think
07:41them at their peak, their peak and you at your peak right now, which is scary because you're
07:46really just getting started. Yeah. Who, who would you like to face at their absolute peak?
07:52No wrong answers. No wrong answers. Yeah. Um, so my, my three favorites growing up were Triple H,
08:01which is wild because he's my boss. The other one was The Miz. I absolutely loved The Miz.
08:11And the third one was CM Punk. So I don't know. It's, it's hard because they've all had such amazing
08:19careers and they've had such amazing milestones. For me, I feel like I still have so much to go.
08:27Like I feel like right now I'm at a very good moment. I'm, my momentum's growing and, um,
08:34we're just getting bigger and bigger, but I feel like I still haven't reached what they were able to
08:39reach. Um, so it's, it's wild to think that I could possibly accomplish things that they
08:45accomplished. And if I were to step in the ring with them, you remember seeing Triple H back in
08:50the day? Prime Triple H was out of his mind. Seriously. Punk's still a possibility. Punk,
08:58I would, I would like to face Punk, especially with like the way that he, he did his promos and
09:02the way that he just did everything. Uh, it was always entertaining. And I feel like if I were to
09:08step into a storyline with any of the three, um, I would learn so much and it would definitely
09:14help skyrocket Rhea Ripley to the next level sort of thing. Which is even scarier. Yeah.
09:20One of the people I thought you might say, despite the fact that it's, it's a little bit of a
09:25stereotypical answer. I have heard you mention it before is China. Yeah. And the reason that I
09:30thought you might say that is because in the deluxe edition of WWE 2K24 this year, one of the Rhea
09:36Ripley alt outfits is, it was the payback 2023 outfit. Was that a direct kind of like nod to
09:45China? It's very similar. It was. Yeah, it was. I, uh, Dom and I got together and we looked at
09:51gear
09:51and I was like, I really want to do this China gear. So I don't know what Eddie gear you
09:58want
09:58to try and make, but we should do China and Eddie gear. Yeah. So, um, we got together and we
10:04just
10:04found like ones that would suit our style a little bit more. And that was one that I really
10:08wanted to try and recreate. Um, it was a little bit different because I didn't want to straight
10:12up copy it. No.
10:14Um, but, um, yeah, that's, that's where I got the inspo from. Yeah. It's crazy how you,
10:19because also in the game this year as a part of, that's why you're on the cover of the deluxe
10:23edition. We've got like the OG Rhea blonde hair. I saw that. As well. Is it kind of, it's kind
10:30of crazy to see how hard 180 your gear has gone. Yeah. Is that just you coming, like your personality
10:38coming out more in your aesthetic? Yeah, definitely that, I mean, the Rhea Ripley that we all saw
10:43in the first Mae Young Classic, I was 20. Yeah. I was so young and I just wanted to please
10:48everyone. I was so scared of doing anything different or anything that I thought was
10:53different. But the Rhea Ripley you see today is what I was on the inside. I just, I didn't
10:58let it out because I felt like I had to fit a specific mold to be in the WWE. Um,
11:05it was
11:06a time where females weren't big and bulky. They didn't have tattoos. They all had the
11:12long hair and I'm glad for someone like, uh, I don't actually give her enough credit, but
11:17Ruby Riott, um, she was the first one that I really looked at and was like, wow, she's
11:23covered in tattoos. She's got short hair. She looks super cool. And, um, I remember tagging
11:29with her quite a few times on, um, the coconut shows, which were like the non-televised events.
11:35And, um, she helped me just bring out that side of me that was me. And like a lot of
11:41other
11:41people did it too, but I also had to sit down with myself at a specific time and just be
11:46like, yo, wake up, like, stop being fake. I hate fake people. And I was one. And, um,
11:53um, I was like, just don't care what anyone thinks about you. If they don't like you, like
11:58they don't deserve to be in your life. So, um, I just kind of decided to be myself. I cut
12:05my hair short. Um, at the time we had to get tattoos approved. I mean, we still sort of
12:12do. I just get away with it. But, um, so I wore pants as a way to get leg sleeves.
12:18Um,
12:18that was my little loophole. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But, um, yeah, that's, so it's wild
12:31to see like the first version of me in the game with the, the very generic gear, generic
12:40hair, generic makeup. Um, it's wild to see. And it actually does look like me at the time
12:47too. It was quite scary. I saw it on X this morning as well. Um, I was doing a little
12:52bit
12:52of research around the only time I got to check my phone this whole week, but, um, yeah, it
12:58looks wild. And it's sort of cool that that version of me gets to live on forever in 2k
13:03as well. Cause it's a nice reminder of where I started and how far I've come and people get
13:10to play as that mode as well. And, um, I'm just going to say, I'm like, I'm sorry, but
13:15you're probably going to lose every single match. Yeah. Well, actually one thing that
13:20does make sense that I need to ask you about while we have the time, one of my favorite
13:23modes in 2k24 is my GM mode. Um, so you book the shows and all that kind of stuff. You
13:30are
13:30always my first draft pick. That's legit. I said to Murphs yesterday, I'm going to, I'm
13:35going to tell Rhea that it's legit. It's not a line. It's not a line first, not only just
13:40cause you're an Aussie girl and your rating is so high in the game. I don't know if you
13:45know, but you've also got like a really great promo rating. So you're easy to chuck into
13:49promos as well. You mentioned the Miz earlier and I know that you grew up watching Miz.
13:54Yeah. Did you learn a lot from watching him and kind of incorporate his essence into your
14:00promos? Because I know originally you weren't super confident with them. Was he like a source
14:05of, I can do that? Yeah. I mean, watching him growing up, I obviously wanted to be able
14:11to talk like he can. Same with Punk. He's such a smooth talker. Um, and the way that
14:17they both spoke, they articulated everything so perfectly, but they were so egotistic while
14:22doing it. And like, I'm a massive like Dragon Ball Z girl. So they were a lot like Vegeta and
14:29I love that about them. So, um, I really gravitated towards them and their characters. I, uh, I've
14:36been able to do a couple of things with the Miz at work. I've been on Miz TV a couple
14:39of
14:39times and, um, I feel like just sitting there and listening to him talk in front of the crowd
14:44and seeing his passion, you do slowly just like feed off of it and pick up things. Um,
14:50but for me, the biggest learning curve with promos was joining the judgment day. Um, when
14:55I first started, I did, uh, promos with obviously edge and Damien priest. And it was at a time
15:02where the judgment day was spookier and, um, yeah, it was spookier and, um, just being able
15:13to sit down with edge and sort of just go over what I wanted to say and him help me
15:20and listen
15:21to me say it backstage before going out there. That's what really started this like upwards,
15:27um, climb for me with promos and even just going out there with them. I knew that I had
15:32people to fall back on if I were to stuff up by accident. And I mean, edge is going to
15:38save anyone from anything. He's also a very good talker. So I felt very safe in the ring
15:42with him. Um, and then once we kicked him out, I had Damien and I know he's not going to
15:49let me fail. He's, he's one of my best friends here and I love him. He's my terror twin, but
15:54he's
15:54also fairly good at talking, you know, and he's grown so much since NXT with promos too, but going
16:01out there and just feeling safe in my environment because I have my friends around me that I can
16:06fall back on or I can help if they need help. Um, it was really like that group mentality. And
16:12even
16:13when Finn joined and, and Dom joined, everyone was sort of learning on the go and just feeding
16:19off of each other sort of thing. Dom can't cut promos now because he's not allowed to from the
16:24crowd, but, but even he he's grown too. He could cut a promo if given the opportunity, but no one
16:33will let him speak. So I have to speak for him, which is also where I got more comfortable talking
16:39because, uh, I've been having to do two promos instead of one most of the time. I think personally
16:44your rating is a little bit under. Yeah. We need to talk about that. And there's some 2k people
16:49in the room. Don't want to throw them under the bus, but you're currently a 96. Yeah. That's
16:53blasphemy. You haven't, you haven't lost. At all. You're a world champion. You're in the most
16:58dominant faction. What is that all about? Literally what else do you have to do? I only have two words
17:06for that. Acknowledge me. That's it. And you should be up there. 99. Put it next to
17:12mummy's name. Mummy is always on top. That's the thing. Well, not at the moment because you're
17:16at a 96. I know. I think they're trying to, I think they're trying to like pull a comical
17:21thing here because 96 is the year that I was born. So like, let's just stick her there.
17:25No, no. You know what I reckon might get a 99 next to mummy's name? Maybe just a bit of
17:31an avalanche riptide or two to some of the 2k people. They won't survive. That is in the game
17:38this year. Super finishers. Is it actually? Yeah. That's really cool. Yeah. You charge up
17:42three finishes and then you can bust out an avalanche riptide. It's unbelievable. That's
17:47cool. We've seen the one that you did on Charlotte recreated in the game. Yeah. Curious as to where
17:53the riptide, like everyone's got their own personal story where their finisher came from.
17:56What's the origin of the riptide? It was just really hard to find a move that I could have
18:02as a finish because I feel like all the moves were taken that were cool. It was so hard because
18:08I obviously had a different finish in the first Mae Young Classic and it just wasn't good.
18:15It really wasn't good. I didn't like it at all. So going into the second Mae Young, I was like,
18:21I need to find something that I could hit on everyone is powerful and isn't too hard to set
18:31up. So like I tried watching a whole bunch of tape and, and looking for moves that I could do.
18:38But,
18:38but, um, Shane Haste actually helped me with this one. Another, another Aussie boy, but, um, yeah,
18:46I remember he, um, I think he was the one that actually found it and he showed me and he's
18:51like,
18:51we should try this. And I remember going in, um, we had this squishy ring at the performance center.
18:56It was like legit, like a pillow. It was fantastic. Exactly. I would much rather learn on that than,
19:04um, the black little mats on the floor that I used to learn on. Um, but I remember going there
19:10with
19:10Shane and, uh, Tegan Nox and just trying it over and over and over again. And I'm just trying to
19:17perfect it. And it's come a long way. Cause even in a NXT UK, I used to do it and
19:21sit down with it.
19:23And, uh, that hurts. I don't, I don't like the feeling of that on my butt to be completely honest.
19:29And then I started doing it and going down to my knees and like, I mean, my knees aren't great
19:34anyway,
19:34but it's so much better than falling on your ass over and over again.
19:38I'm so glad you brought up Dragon Ball Z because another mode of mine that's amazing in 2k24 is
19:44called My Faction. And it's all about like card collecting essentially. Um, when you get the
19:51deluxe edition, there's a gold Rhea Ripley card. So apart from having chatted with you,
19:55I'm getting that edition because I need that shiny digital cardboard. That's so cool.
19:59You're a Dragon Ball Z girl. Is there anything else? Do you collect Dragon Ball Z stuff? Is there
20:06something weird that Rhea Ripley collects or? Yeah. I mean, I, I mean, other than wins, titles,
20:13glory, everything else there is. Taking over the WWE, you know?
20:18Um, I mean, I used to try and get like all different Dragon Ball Z sculptures. I sort of have
20:26calmed down a little bit now, but I have a lot at my mom and dad's house in Adelaide. I
20:31sort of kept
20:31them there. I have a couple that I brought over to America when I first moved there, but um,
20:36yeah, I don't know. I don't really collect anything anymore. That was like my massive Dragon Ball Z era
20:42where I loved having them all in my bedroom, but I also really don't like dusting.
20:47In the 40 years of WrestleMania edition that you can get of 2k this year, you've actually got that,
20:52is it Vegeta? Oh, the Vegeta game from WrestleMania 36? Yeah, that's actually in there as well.
20:5736, yeah. So like this is a real heavy title this year, which we're wrapped about. That's cool.
21:02So it obviously shows that was inspired by the Dragon Ball Z love as well. Yeah, that was my
21:06Vegeta outfit. And just like Vegeta, sadly, I lost. I didn't want to bring it up. I wasn't going to
21:13bring it up. So yeah, I mean, I probably should have, I should have wore Goku colors, man.
21:18That would have made all the difference. I suppose the best thing we can say is you're on the cover.
21:24A, thank you for being here, making time. No worries. Your entire career is a whirlwind.
21:29It's been nuts. You're the Women's World Champion. You're on the cover. You sell out merch
21:34faster than they can make the stuff. What's next for Rhea Ripley?
21:40I have no idea. I'm trying to take over the WWE. I don't like setting goals. Everyone always asks me,
21:48what's, what's your goals? I hate setting goals because I feel like when you set a goal,
21:54you work so extremely hard to accomplish that one goal. And once you get there, you're like,
22:00cool, I did it. And then you don't know what to do. You don't know where to go. You're lost.
22:03And
22:04you're like, I just worked so hard at this and now it's sort of over. So for me, I keep
22:09it open. I just
22:10want to see how far I can get in this business, how much history I can make and what kind
22:16of legacy
22:16I can leave behind while doing all of this. So, um, obviously there's like the typical answers
22:23where like you want to main event WrestleMania. Well, Elimination Chamber is going to be my WrestleMania.
22:30And, um, I'm so excited for the show today. I really am. But yeah, I don't, I just don't like,
22:38I don't like setting goals. That's fair. I don't want to have an end game. It seems to be working.
22:42Exactly. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Exactly. And like, I think the judgment day is the same
22:47as well. We don't have a set goal. We just want to take over everything and see how far we
22:53can,
22:54we can go with all of this. Well, you're clearly on the way. Rhea Ripley, thank you for making time
22:58today. It's been a pleasure. No worries. We appreciate you. Thank you. And acknowledge you.
23:02There we go. I appreciate it guys.
Comments