Rhea Ripley Confirmed To Be Backstage During Recent AEW Show

(Photo Credit: WWE)

Rhea Ripley has been absent from the wrestling spotlight since relinquishing the WWE Women’s World Championship.

But she has still been around.

During a recent Gabby AF appearance, women’s wrestling star Serena Deeb confirmed Ripley was backstage at the recent AEW Double Or Nothing 2024 pay-per-view.

Deeb confirmed the news while talking about the WWE NXT/TNA crossover appearances and working alongside Ripley at the WWE Performance Center in the past.

Featured below is an excerpt.

“Anything is possible. Itโ€™s a cool place for the business to be at because for so long, it wasnโ€™t like that, and it was very rigid, the very rigid lines of, โ€˜No, you canโ€™t cross that,โ€™ and now the lines are blurred. You mentioned Jordynne [Grace], I thought her match at that NXT pay-per-view was really good. I really respect her. Sheโ€™s honestly somebody, yeah, I would love to get in there with Jordynne at some point. But I would say definitely number one is Rhea Ripley. When we were at the Performance Center together, we just had a really cool bond. I felt really close with her. I think of all the coaches, myself and Scotty 2 Hotty, we were kind of her people. I always had her back, I always tried to pep her up and encourage her. I know, and Iโ€™m not saying, โ€˜Oh, I knew,โ€™ but I knew. I was like, this girlโ€™s a star. Once she gets that right thing, forget about it, sheโ€™s gonna rise so fast, which she has. I actually saw her at Double or Nothing. I saw her, I couldnโ€™t believe it when I saw her. I was completely shocked. We embraced each other, I gave her the biggest hug, and we seriously did not let go for like ten minutes. We were just standing there with our arms around each other. I cried multiple times. I told her, โ€˜Iโ€™m so proud of you, I knew it. Youโ€™ve persevered through so much.โ€™ I love watching her. I think sheโ€™s the biggest star in womenโ€™s wrestling. I think her in-ring work is incredible, on top of all her character work. Sheโ€™s number one. I told her that. In my personal opinion, sheโ€™s just operating at a level that, thereโ€™s a lot of great women, but sheโ€™s up here in my opinion. When I saw her, I was like, โ€˜I want to wrestle you so bad.โ€™ I think for both of us, itโ€™s a dream match, for sure.”

Check out the complete interview at Spotify.com. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.