Rhea Ripley Lost Her Confidence Following WrestleMania 36 Match Against Charlotte Flair

Rhea Ripley was on top of the world heading into WrestleMania 36 against Charlotte Flair. She was the NXT Women’s Champion and one of the hottest stars in the company after she dethroned Shayna Baszler in December 2019 to win the title. 

Ripley was defeated by Charlotte at WrestleMania 36, cooling her off on television and putting her at a crossroads behind the scenes. 

Speaking to Lilian Garcia on Chasing Glory, Ripley detailed how she lost herself following the WrestleMania bout. 

“I’m not too sure,” said Ripley when asked what happened. “It did feel like (the wind was taken out). I felt like I went through a stage where I was losing confidence in myself because I wasn’t portrayed the same way. Even now, I’m still slowly building myself back up from it. My confidence was tainted a little, which sucks because I try to keep it up and do my best all the time. I don’t know if it was something in my head that wasn’t getting the picture, I just got a little bit lost after that. Now, I feel like I’m getting back on track. Building myself back up has been hard, it’s been difficult, but I’ve found my track now and I’m getting back on it.”

When asked how she’s worked to get her confidence back, Ripley said, “I’ll watch matches from NXT UK, from the Shayna build-up, and I gotta remember who I am because I forgot who I was for a little bit and I hate forgetting who I am because it makes me feel like the first Mae Young Classic when I lost myself. I like being me and portraying myself in a certain way. So I’ve gone back and watched the old stuff and being like, ‘This is how I used to act, this is what I need to do now.’ It’s been helping me.”

On television, Ripley has become a featured star again, recently challenging for the NXT Women’s Championship against Io Shirai. On Monday, Rhea was added to Team Shotzi at NXT TakeOver: WarGames.  

Fightful will have live coverage of NXT TakeOver: WarGames beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday. 

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