Last year, a video went viral from a non-televised WWE Live event, which saw Rhea Ripley hitt Nia Jax with a Stinkface. WWE eventually shared some official footage of the spot, and it immediately divided opinions.
Becky Lynch, for example, was hugely critical and argued that it sent a bad message to young girls watching at home or in the crowd. Others were also critical of Ripley, though just as many people were supportive of what they considered a fun in-ring moment.
Talking to Chris Van Vliet, The Eradicator opened up on the spot and subsequent reaction. "I knew it was gonna be big, but that sh*t exploded. It wasn’t even my idea. It was Nia’s idea," Ripley started. "She's like, 'Yeah. And then you stink face me.' I'm like, ok, if you want. But then, before all of that, I was like, I think I should do like the Rikishi pull them up, just do the little dance beforehand."
"I was like, I'm not gonna get it spot on, so I'm just gonna do my own thing. But I'll do the whole gimmick and yeah, it still pops up on my Twitter, it's wild," she continued. "I got so much publicity off that, but I also got so much like, negativity. I was like guys, you need to calm down."
Asked to elaborate on that point, Ripley said, "Just people were saying that I'm taking the women's division back 20 years. And I'm like, That's not what's happening. It's a fun moment, and it's a house show. Am I not allowed to have fun? If it was anyone else, you'd be supporting it. I feel like people love to hate Rhea Ripley."
"And you know, the more you talk about me, the more you act like a fan, so continue talking," she added, presumably addressing Lynch and others. "It wasn't even my idea, Nia wanted to take my ass to her face, just trying to make the wishes come true."
Ripley also commented on her unique pin and the fact that the way she's held the likes of Liv Morgan and Bianca Belair down on the mat often goes viral.
"I've been doing it for a long time. I pinned Zack Sabbath that way, which was an intergender match that I had. But I've been doing it for a long time," she explained. "And I think the reason that it's really stuck with me is because Matt and Chris Basso, my trainers, they used to call it the sexy pin, and we used to laugh about it every time we'd do it, we’d be like, ha sexy pin."
"So it's just like, I think that's just stuck in my head. I don't know why. It's just my automatic movements now. It works. Very Rhea."
Finally, Ripley confirmed that she pushed to be called "Papi" rather than "Mami" during her partnership with Dominik Mysterio. "I was trying to push the Papi agenda. And they were like yeah, we can't do that. And then Priest was like, 'What about Mami?' I was like, Okay, guess I'll be Mami. I was really set on the Papi thing."
"I was like, I can be a little sh*t stirrer, just be Papi this, Papi that. But they're like, we just can't go there. And I was like, Okay, I respect that. Mami’s gonna grow on me, though," she concluded.
Ripley remains one of WWE's top female stars, and it's currently unclear what the plan is for her heading into Evolution 2 and SummerSlam. However, with Liv Morgan sidelined with an injury, it likely won't be too long before she's back in the Women's World title picture.
You can watch the full interview with Ripley in the player below.