Nia Jax reflects on that time Rhea Ripley brought out her inner Rikishi.
Amidst a string of WWE live events in March 2024, Rhea Ripley went viral for unloading a stinkface on “The Irresistible Force” Nia Jax in the corner of the ring. The following night, Shayna Baszler asked Ripley to hit her with one as well, which resulted in Jax knocking Ripley down and delivering the move to Baszler herself instead.
While appearing on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Jax confirmed that the stinkface spot was indeed her idea. “So obviously, that’s what I do. I do the stink face, and as a heel, I like to rub it in, literally,” she said. “I just thought we were on the live event; I thought one night, let’s change this up. Why not? Because it was a cool triple threat moment, me her and Shayna, and I was like, ‘Why don’t you give me a stink face?’ She’s like, ‘Really?’ She was like, ‘You mean like Rikishi style?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, do the full Rikishi. Get it, get it!’ And then we did it.
“Obviously, the crowd went nuts, and then it was a viral moment, and yeah, and then we had a good time,” she continued. “We actually switched it a couple nights because everybody was expecting it and I was trying to be a dick about it. Then I did it to Shayna, where Shayna was like, ‘Let me have it.’ She closed her eyes, and then I freaking took out Rhea, and then she didn’t realize it was me. It was funny. It was a good time.”
At the time of their triple threat encounters, Ripley reigned as the WWE Women’s World Champion, with Becky Lynch set to challenge her at WWE WrestleMania 40.
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