Rhea Ripley is ready for the 2026 Women’s Elimination Chamber match this weekend.
Heading into the bout this Saturday in Chicago, Illinois, where the winner earns a shot against WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill on “The Grandest Stage of Them All” at WrestleMania 42, “Mami” appeared on ESPN SportsCenter to promote the show (see video below).
During the discussion, the WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champion spoke about headlining the 2024 Elimination Chamber show, seeking out her family in the crowd in Australia, the anxiety of being locked in a pod for a lengthy amount of time, as well as how her pre-match ritual has changed over the years.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where she touches on these topics with her thoughts. Also embedded below is a complete video archive of the discussion.
On headlining the 2024 Elimination Chamber show in Australia: “It was absolutely wild. Just going back to Australia and having WWE go there, it was just such a wild experience, and being able to be on the show and just see my family in the front row and be the main event of Elimination Chamber, it was just… it was a dream come true. It really was. I don’t even know how to really put it into words because it was just such a special night for me, and it was wild. Cause like normally I’m so in the zone. I’m so like Rhea Ripley, you know, in that moment. But like, I remember doing my entrance and seeing my mom and my dad and my sister and my best friend and like all the family and friends in the front row, and I instantly got emotional and just like overwhelmed, but like, I felt so happy to be there, surrounded by my Australian crew.”
On if she wanted to seek out her family in the crowd during her entrance: “Yeah, so I didn’t actually know where they were sitting. I had a feeling that they’d be somewhere close, but I didn’t actually know exactly where they were. But they were right there, like bang in the middle, camera side, and it was just like, as soon as I did my entrance, I was just like, ‘wow, I can’t believe that this is my life and I get all my loved ones here to come watch this amazing moment.'”
On anxiety over being locked in a pod for a lengthy period of time: “Just how much your anxiety spikes being stuck in one of those pods. That’s the main one. You go into the match and you know it’s gonna be brutal. You know it’s gonna be painful and the steel is not gonna feel good on your body. You know all these things just by looking at the Elimination Chamber. But what you don’t take into consideration is if you’re not the first two, you don’t know how long you’re going to be standing in that pod for. So like you have so much time to think and like rev yourself up and then doubt yourself and talk yourself out of it and then rev yourself back up. It’s just, it’s craziness just standing there. But that’s all part of the game, you know, it’s all part of the fun. I love Elimination Chamber. I’ve only been in one, and I had the time of my life because even though, yes, it is a little bit claustrophobic in those pods, as soon as you get let out, it’s time to wreak havoc.”
On changing her pre-match ritual over the years: “I feel like when I first started, I made time for myself before matches. I would listen to music, I would get in the zone. I would have to pump myself up because I would be so nervous. Now, I still get nervous, probably to the same extent to be completely honest, but I don’t really have time to rev up. I’m normally running around like a chicken without a head here in WWE. “So by the time that my music hits, it’s kinda just like, (snaps fingers), ‘I’m Rhea Ripley, it’s time to kill, it’s time to go out there and bring the brutality and win the match.'”
Make sure to join us here at WrestlingHeadlines.com on 2/28 for live WWE Elimination Chamber results coverage from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
