Rhea Ripley on WrestleMania 41 three way: ‘It’s going to mesh really well’

  • Ian Carey
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Rhea Ripley says her angle heading into WWE WrestleMania 41 is “getting spicy.”

Speaking to Sports Illustrated in an interview set to release Monday, Ripley addressed negative feedback to her storyline with IYO SKY and Bianca Belair, and the many twists and turns that led to a three-way match for SKY’s title.

“The story is getting spicy,” Ripley said. “I know a lot of people online don’t want to realize what’s going on, because they hate me or whatever it is. People are going to feel whatever they want to feel. I’m not going to argue with 16 year-olds on the internet, but that’s the story. And I mean, going into WrestleMania 41, I feel like, yes, I’m going to be focusing on Bianca, because she screwed me out of my opportunity twice now by being there and wanting to be a part of the spotlight and taking that away from me when she knows how much this opportunity meant to me.”

Ripley continued:

“Literally, three of the biggest female stars here in WWE are going to go to war. And it’s just going to mesh really, really well.”

Ripley also addressed not facing Belair in a one-on-one match at WrestleMania, something she says both of them have wanted.

“I feel like when it comes to me and Bianca, what we’ve been saying over the last two, three, four years is we’ve wanted to face each other at WrestleMania… We’ve wanted it to be a one-on-one thing.”

Ripley continued:

“We’ve accomplished so much. We’ve been on opposite brands, but still kind of in line with each other and taking over and being the faces of those brands and the women’s divisions.”

This will be Ripley’s seventh WrestleMania match, having performed on the card each year since WrestleMania 36 in 2020. She currently has a 4-2 record, with her losses coming to Charlotte Flair in her first Mania bout and in a four-way tag title match at WrestleMania 38 won by Naomi and Sasha Banks, where she teamed with Liv Morgan.

It will be Belair’s sixth WrestleMania appearance. She is currently undefeated at the event with a 5-0 record. As for SKY, she’s 0-2 at WrestleMania and dropped the WWE Women’s Championship to Bayley at last year’s event.