Wrestling star Celeste formerly known as Kaitlyn in WWE has revealed the exact moment she realised Rhea Ripley was going to be a star in the industry.
The former WWE star spoke to the Rewind Relive Recap podcast recently. During the interview, she recalled her brief return to the company during the 2018 Mae Young Classic.
Kaitlyn mentioned how Rhea Ripley was also part of the tournament. According to the former Divas Champion, she knew The Mami was going to be a star when she was put in a tough spot but still delivered (Please credit WrestlingIp for the quotes):
“I was eliminated after the second round, but I was backstage and watching everything that was going on. So the two women that was supposed to be in the final. One of them tore her ACL in the match before the final. Rhea had just wrestled a match. I think she had actually just wrestled this girl that got hurt or something that she had just wrestled and it was a long, complicated, very good match that she had. So there’s an injury. This girl can’t wrestle in the final and it’s happening.
They went and grabbed Rhea. She changed. They told her the match, she learned it in gorilla, went out there and fucking killed it. Absolutely murdered it. I was like, I got to witness the greatness of it because it’s not like she could say no, first of all. Let’s be real. But she took it and she was like, ‘All right.’ It was one of the best matches I’ve ever seen. Something that makes it even better and elevates it even more is the fact that she learned it like in gorilla. While the pressure was on.
She was just like, ‘okay,’ I watched it. I watched the panic that was happening all around. It was just like one of those moments that I felt really grateful to witness. I had already got to spend a little bit of time with her. Like that week leading up to that and I had a few conversations with her and I really liked her. I just liked her vibe. She’s really dope, really cool, has a cool mindset. Just an interesting person. She’s fun. I was just like, ‘She’s cool.’ Then getting to witness that I was like, whatever she does, she was good. She’s gonna take it to the top.”
For those confused, Rhea Ripley battled Tegan Nox in the quarter-finals of the Mae Young Classic 2018. In an interview with TalkSport back in 2021, Rhea revealed that Nox was expected to go over in the bout but she suffered an injury. As a result, Ripley went on to face Io Shirai in the semifinal match which was filmed the same day. The finals took place at the Evolution PPV where Toni Storm defeated Io Shirai.
