Rhea Ripley Admits She Lost Her Confidence Following WWE WrestleMania 36
"It's been very difficult and I've been very lost at times"...
Dec 1, 2020
In the build-up to WrestleMania 36, many fans were worried about how WWE would maintain Rhea Ripley's momentum if she lost the NXT Women's Championship to Charlotte Flair. Those fears were seemingly warranted as many thought The Nightmare cooled off after The Showcase Of The Immortals and she was then pinned again at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.
After a brief feud with The Robert Stone Brand, the old Ripley has resurfaced in recent months and she had two widely praised matches against Raquel Gonzalez and Io Shirai.
During a recent appearance on Lillian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast, the former NXT Women's Champion admitted she lost her confidence following WrestleMania 36.
Ripley said: "I'm not really too sure. It did feel like that, though. I definitely have gone through a stage where I did start losing the confidence in myself because I just wasn't portrayed the same way that I was, you know? Even now, I'm still slowly building myself back up from it. My confidence definitely was tainted a little bit, which sucks because I try and like keep it up and do my best all the time. I don't know if it was just something inside my head that just wasn't getting the picture, but I don't know, I got a little bit lost after that.
"But right now, I feel like I'm getting back on track, especially doing all the things that I've done. Booting myself back up has been really really hard, I'm not gonna lie. It's been very difficult and I've been very lost at times but I've definitely found my track now and I'm getting back on it."
To regain her confidence, Ripley went back and watched some of her matches from NXT UK and her feud with Shayna Baszler.
"It's gonna sound real weird but I've been going back and watching some of my old matches," The Nightmare added. "Like, I'll watch matches from NXT UK. I'll watch matches from me and Shayna build up. And I've just got to remember who I am, pretty much, because I forgot who I was for a little bit and I hate forgetting who I was because it makes me feel like the first Mae Young Classic where I lost myself. And I don't like losing myself. I like being me and portraying myself in a certain way that makes me feel comfortable and confident. So I've definitely been going back and watching my old stuff and being like, 'This is how I used to act. This is what I need to do now.' And it's been helping me a bit."
