Rhea Ripley Says Shutting Up the Fans at WWE Backlash ‘Felt Amazing’

– As noted, WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley was victorious at tonight’s WWE Backlash event, beating the San Juan favorite in challenger Zelina Vega. After the match, Rhea Ripley discussed her victory and overcoming a crowd that was strongly behind Vega in a post-match interview video. She stated the following:

Rhea Ripley on not caring about the crowd: “I don’t really care if the crowd was strongly behind Zelina. I don’t care about these people. They don’t mean anything to me, just like Zelina doesn’t. But carry on with your stupid little question, Megan.”

On how her first title defense felt getting a win: “I mean, you could’ve just asked that question instead of all the other stuff that came with it. But you know what? It actually felt amazing. It felt amazing because they were behind Zelina Vega so much, and I shut them all up for good when Mami walked out the SmackDown Women’s Champion still, and Zelina Vega was left in the ring like a little pretzel. So yeah, you could say I’m pretty ecstatic. That’s all you’re going to get from me. Goodbye.”

While Rhea Ripley retained her title tonight, she was still drafted to the Raw roster during the WWE Draft. Meanwhile, Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair was drafted to SmackDown. It’s not yet clear how WWE intends to handle the champions switching brands.

EXCLUSIVE: After defeating @ZelinaVegaWWE, #SmackDown Women's Champion @RheaRipley_WWE has some choice words for the WWE Universe in Puerto Rico. #WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/KpngUKVrXT

— WWE (@WWE) May 7, 2023