Rhea Ripley has responded to criticism of the build-up to her WrestleMania 41 encounter.
The Mami is scheduled to compete in a triple threat Women’s Championship match against IYO SKY and Bianca Belair at the Show of Shows. While SKY is the champion heading into this bout, the tensions between Ripley and Belair have taken center stage in their feud.
Ripley talked about her focus heading into the biggest wrestling show of the year during an interview with Sports Illustrated. She claimed that they are not overlooking IYO because they know how big of a threat she can be:
“I don’t want to say we’re overlooking IYO, because we’re not. We know that she’s a threat. We know what she’s capable of. Hell, I’ve never beat her in a one-on-one competition. I know exactly what IYO brings to the table,”
Not Going To Argue With 16-Year-Old: Rhea Ripley
A singles match between Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair is long anticipated. Rhea held the women’s title when Bianca won the 2025 Women’s Elimination Chamber to earn a WrestleMania title shot, so fans at the time believed we’d finally get the one-on-one encounter between the two female stars.
WWE, however, pivoted towards a triple threat, adding IYO SKY to the mix. SKY won the title from the Eradicator during the March 3 episode of Raw after Rhea got into a fight with Bianca Belair who was at the ringside for the title match.
The pivot and the story coming out of it is something fans have been vocal about. Rhea Ripley addressed the online chatter but said that she will be focusing on taking out Bianca, no matter what the fans say:
“The story is getting spicy. 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.”
WWE recently revealed the match lineup for both nights of WrestleMania 41. You can check out which night this triple threat will take place here.
