Rhea Ripley Is Open to Defending Her Title at NXT TakeOver Before WrestleMania, Says WWE Has Not Cleared Her Upper Body for Tattoos

– TalkSport and Alex McCarthy recently interviewed NXT women’s champion Rhea Ripley. During the interview, Ripley stated that she’s open to defending her title at NXT TakeOver: Tampa the night before WrestleMania 36, how she wants to get more tattoos, despite WWE not clearing her to get more for her upper body, learning of Vince McMahon making the call for her match with Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania, and more. Below are some highlights.

Rhea Ripley on potentially defending the title at NXT TakeOver: Tampa before WM 36: “If the championship has to be defended, the championship has to be defended. I’m a fighting champion because that’s what I love to do, so I’d definitely be there. This is what I’ve wanted to do since I was little and I ain’t going to give in now even if I do have WrestleMania the next day.”

On facing Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania: “I think that this is definitely going to help NXT a lot, defending the Women’s NXT championship at WrestleMania. I’ve got all the stress; everything is on my shoulders at this point in time! Just because, we are all riding on this and we feel like this is our one golden ticket to prove to everyone that NXT is the main roster as well. And our women’s is something not to mess with, because we are the best in the world. And I’m not just saying that because I’m apart of it, I’m saying that because I’ve watched a lot of wrestling and I truly do believe that we have the best women’s division in the world and I’m here to prove to everyone exactly why that is a fact.”

Her thoughts on Vince McMahon making the call for Flair vs. Ripley: “I don’t talk too much about backstage stuff. I don’t really mind, as long as I’m getting booked [laughs]. But I did see that on social media and I wasn’t sure if it was true or not, but I did see that Triple H said it was Vince McMahon’s idea and that makes me feel amazing. To be be able to have someone who’s run this business for a long time and seen everything come and go, every single different thing there is to see and to have him believe in me and what I’m doing is incredible. And it brings me pride that I know that I’m doing my job right. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I’ve loved wrestling since such a young age and to have someone who owns the biggest wrestling company in the world trust me to be one of the next faces is just insane! I’m all for it – I’m ready to go.”

On wanting to face Io Shirai and Raquel Gonzalez: “I would love to face Io [Shirai]. I think she’s injured at this current time, hopefully she’ll be cleared by WrestleMania because I’d love to go toe-to-toe with her. But other than Io, I’d love to get in there with Raquel Gonzalez. She debuted on NXT TakeOver: Portland and she attempted to put Tegan Nox through a table and helped Dakota [Kai] pick up the win. But I’d love to go toe-to-toe with her because I think it would be a very great battle and we know each other so well. I feel like we’d just go out there and put on a five-star match.”

Rhea Ripley on WWE not clearing her upper body for tattoos and how she wants more: “My dream since being a little girls is to be the most tattooed human ever. I just love tattoos, I don’t know why! I’ve always loved them. But, unfortunately for me, WWE isn’t clearing my upper body [for tattoos] – that’s why I wear pants! I got pants so I wouldn’t have to clear my tattoos because you can’t see them. I’m trying to finish my leg sleeves, then hopefully I can convince people to let me get my arm sleeves and other stuff, but we’ll see how that goes.”