Rhea Ripley Responds To Criticism For Using The Stinkface During A House Show Match

Six months ago, a clip of Rhea Ripley giving Nia Jax a Stinkface at WWE’s house show in Springfield, Illinois, went viral, with fans loving the callback to 90s star Rikishi. Yet, while it seemed the majority of those on social media found it humorous, some would be critical of her, going as far as to claim she was setting women’s wrestling back to the days when it was all about selling sex. And now, during an interview with Ring The Belle , the Australian star has addressed this by telling her detractors to “shut up,” noting they’re just made because she is popular.

“Shut up, shut up, honestly, like it’s real funny because I get criticism for every single little thing I do, but you see the men doing this, and you’re like, ‘yeah, that looks cool. Amazing. Tiffany Stratton does this the other week, and they’re like, ‘Oh my god, I love you, Tiffany, oh, my, god, you’re so sexy, please do that to me,’ but when I do it, there’s a problem? Why? You’re just mad that I’m popular, that’s why.”

27-year-old Ripley, real name Demi Bennett, signed with WWE in 2017, and after impressing during runs in NXT UK and NXT, she received her main roster call-up in 2021. Subsequntly, she has been presented as one of the most dominant women on the roster and even headlined WWE’s Elimination Chamber event in February. Therefore, it seems inevitable that she will get another run with the Women’s World Championship when her storyline with Liv Morgan finally runs its course.