Rhea Ripley’s Relationship With WWE Star Allegedly Killed Her Character

Rhea Ripley won the 2026 Women’s Elimination Chamber match last month. She is set to face Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 42 for the WWE Women’s Championship.

In the build-up to WrestleMania 42, Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill have been having confrontations both online and on WWE SmackDown, where they have insulted each other. In this storyline, Rhea Ripley is being portrayed as the babyface while Jade Cargill is the heel.

However, according to WWE veteran Vince Russo, this babyface-heel dynamic does not suit the storyline.

Vince Russo Believes Rhea Ripley Should Be the Heel Against Jade Cargill

Speaking on the Coach and Bro Show, Russo suggested that Jade Cargill should have been booked as the babyface while Rhea Ripley should have been the heel in this storyline, because, according to him, that dynamic would be better suited to their characters.

Rhea Ripley has transformed into a fan-favorite babyface character over the past year, and Russo is not happy with her character change. He believes that Ripley’s association with IYO Sky is the reason why the once dominating and threatening Ripley has turned into a softer babyface character.

Russo said, “You’ve got Rhea Ripley, who I honestly feel, in my opinion, has killed her character with the relationship with IYO SKY. Killed it. On the other side of the coin, you’ve got Jade Cargill, who is just a box-cutter wrestling heel.”

“I would love to see Jade be more herself, and be more like a regular person. And I would love to see Rhea be less of a regular person, so both of these characters right now are off-kilter for me,” he added.

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