WWE's Rhea Ripley seemingly turns face versus Nia Jax ahead of Perth Elimination Chamber homecoming (2024)

Ever since she joined Damian Priest as a member of Edge's Judgment Day – which, frankly, feels like a decade ago – the WWE Universe has known Rhea Ripley as one thing and one thing alone: a heel.

Now granted, the exact flavor of heel Ripley has filled on the menu has changed from time to time, going from sinister to goofy and even occasionally filling the role of fan-favorite anti-hero, but through it all, you'd seldom find an example of Ripley flipping the proverbial switch to become a babyface, as frankly, why mess with a good thing?

But what happens when Ripley returns home to wrestle her first-ever WWE match in Australia at the Elimination Chamber? Does she act like a heel and brush off the praise from her hometown crowd? Or does she, even just for the night, embrace being a hometown hero and go babyface for the 45,000 fans with tickets to the show? Taking part in a joint interview with Nia Jax on RAW, Ripley tipped her hand pretty severely, letting Michael Cole and company know why this match matters more to her than most.

“I've worked for this. I wanted this. This is the first time that I get to compete in Australia as a WWE Superstar. Apart from that, the last time I competed there, it was a part of the independent scene, and that was seven years ago,” Rhea Ripley told the fans on RAW. “So when I came here, I wanted to please people. I wanted to do what I was told; I wanted to fit in, and I wasn't really comfortable in my own skin. There were actually times that I wanted to quit; I wanted to give it all up, but I had to sit down with myself, and I had to remind myself exactly who the hell I was. I had to remind myself that I didn't want to be like everyone and fit in, I wanted to prove my doubters wrong. I had to remind myself that I was Rhea ‘Bloody' Ripley, and I am the most dominant woman here within the WWE.”

“Aw, that's so cute,” Nia Jax responded. “Mami, I'm twice your size, and I've got triple your talent. I'm so happy this is happening in your homeland because when I squash you again, Mami is gonna go home crying to her mommy.”

Clearly not intimidated by the “Irresistible Force,” Ripley fired back, dropping the proverbial mic before putting down the actual mic and ending the interview with one question.

“You know what Nia, you can talk all you want, you can attack me from behind all that you want, but at the end of the day, when you stand in that ring in Perth, Australia, face to face with me, and you hear everyone in that stadium screaming for Mami, you, you are gonna crumble,” Ripley declared. “All of your momentum is going to fade away into nothing. Your nightmares, they're going to become a reality when you realize that you're just not good enough! So I will see you in Perth.”

Welp, there you go, folks; WWE is going full-on Hart Foundation with at least Ripley at the Elimination Chamber, using her as a babyface in front of her hometown crowd, even if she still gets heel reactions pretty much everywhere else. Will Ripley be treated like Bret “The Hitman” Hart in her Australian debut? Only time will tell, but for WWE's sake, let's hope Jax doesn't try to pull a Perth Screwjob.

Rhea Ripley hopes Judgment Day never splits up.

With members of Judgment Day officially booked in half of the matches at the Elimination Chamber, you'd think there's a pretty good chance WWE could play into the on-again, off-again tension inside the faction to set things up for something bigger at WrestleMania 40, right? Maybe yes, maybe no, but if Rhea Ripley has her say, Judgment Day won't be going anywhere any time soon, as other than kicking out R-Truth for good – assuming he was ever in the group at all – she'd like to see the group stick around indefinitely.

“Family fights. I fight with my sister all the time. There is no one that I love more and no one that I hate more. Family fights. Judgment Day, we fight,” Rhea Ripley told NotSam Wrestling via 411 Mania. “I’ve been friends with Priest for the longest. He is my day one. We came up to Raw together, we’ve been in NXT together. That entire time he’s been there, he’s had my back. We’re going to fight, but we have each other’s backs. I’m going to rev him up until he goes and beats the hell out of someone else. That’s just how it is. Family fights. I don’t see us breaking up. I just see us trying to bring out the best in each other. If that means I get under his skin a little bit, maybe I get under his skin a little bit. I know that’s going to be better for him than it is for his opponent.”

In professional wrestling, nothing lasts forever, not factions, not tag teams, and not even wrestlers, but hey, why can't Judgment Day stick together long-term instead of doing what every popular WWE stable does in a few years: break up? If anything, opting to embrace a New Japan-style of long-term faction warfare may be a way to get fans, young and old alike, more engaged with the product, as they'll know there will always be Judgment Day representation, even if the members shift around every now and then.