One of the most viral moments in recent memory saw Rhea Ripley hit Nia Jax with the Stink Face at a live event.
Rhea Ripley was recently interviewed by Chris Van Vliet on his Insight podcast. During the interview, the former WWE Women’s World Champion opened up about the ‘Stink Face’ on Nia Jax that went viral. She shared how both she and Jax discussed the spot and opened up about all the publicity she got.
“I knew it was gonna be big, but that sh*t exploded. It wasn’t even my idea. It was Nia’s idea. She’s like, ‘Yeah. And then you stink face me.’ I’m like, ok, if you want. But then, before all of that, I was like, I think I should do like the Rikishi pull them up, just do the little dance beforehand. I was like, I’m not gonna get it spot on, so I’m just gonna do my own thing. But I’ll do the whole gimmick and yeah, it still pops up on my Twitter, it’s wild. I got so much publicity off that, but I also got so much like, negativity. I was like guys, you need to calm down.”
The Eradicator also opened up about the negative publicity she received. Some fans claimed that Ripley was pushing the women’s division two decades behind.
“Just people were saying that I’m taking the women’s division back 20 years. And I’m like, That’s not what’s happening. It’s a fun moment, and it’s a house show. Am I not allowed to have fun? If it was anyone else, you’d be supporting it. I feel like people love to hate Rhea Ripley. And you know, the more you talk about me, the more you act like a fan, so continue talking. It wasn’t even my idea, Nia wanted to take my ass to her face, just trying to make the wishes come true.”
Rhea Ripley on her unique pinning style
The Eradicator has one of the most unique pinning styles in all of professional wrestling. During the same podcast, Ripley opened up about her pinning style.
“So that actually started in Australia. I’ve been doing it for a long time. I pinned Zack Sabbath that way, which was an intergender match that I had. But I’ve been doing it for a long time. And I think the reason that it’s really stuck with me is because Matt and Chris Basso, my trainers, they used to call it the sexy pin, and we used to laugh about it every time we’d do it, we’d be like, ha sexy pin. So it’s just like, I think that’s just stuck in my head. I don’t know why. It’s just my automatic movements now. It works. Very Rhea,” Ripley said.
Now, Rhea calls it the “pretzel pin,” although Damian Priest joked that he called it the “Take It Easy” pin.
What was your reaction when you saw the Stink Face?
