WWE Criticized For Rhea Ripley’s Character Change

Former WWE booker criticizes the company for Rhea Ripley’s character being softened up.

Rhea Ripley has been a dominant force in the women’s division in WWE. She has had major main event feuds as a singles competitor with the likes of Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, and Becky Lynch.

Ripley is known for using her towering frame and goth girl energy to intimidate her opponents in the ring. However, recently, Ripley has been relegated to the tag team division, and her pairing with Iyo Sky to form a tag team (now called Rhiyo) over the past few months has changed her on-screen persona.

Her character is now friendlier and more approachable, and she is seen hugging her tag team partner and being more wholesome in general, which is a stark contrast from her previous intense character.

Former WWE Booker Vince Russo Doesn’t Like Rhea Ripley’s Character Change

Speaking on his podcast, Russo’s The Brand, former WWE booker Vince Russo criticized Ripley for making these major changes to her character by saying that it looks like she’s in love with her girlfriend rather than being a menacing gothic badass.

What is Rhea Ripley doing with her character? She went from Mami and gothic and the big foot stomp and the big bada*s to like she’s in love with her girlfriend. Like constantly hugging IYO SKY and rubbing heads and smiling. Do you think somebody literally said to Rhea Ripley, ‘You need to change your character?’ Because I don’t get it. She’s not feared anymore. There’s no goth feeling.

Russo says he even compared her to late WWE Legend Chyna, but went on to say that with this character change, he can no longer make the comparison.

I used to compare her to Chyna. Chyna wasn’t freaking hugging Sunny. She’s nowhere near Chyna. I would never compare the two of them now. There’s been such a character change with her, and I don’t think it’s for the better

Rhea Ripley was last seen on the Netflix anniversary episode of Raw, where she won the Women’s World Tag Team Titles with her partner Iyo Sky. The pair faced the Kabuki Warriors in a see-sawing match, which eventually saw Rhiyo pick up the win after Asuka was pinned following a moonsault from Iyo Sky.

Also read: Female WWE Star Threatens To Reverse Cowgirl Rhea Ripley