Joining the Judgment Day was just the lightning rod that Rhea Ripley needed to jolt into superstardom. It was the clear tuning point in her career and has led to her becoming one of, if not the most popular superstar in WWE. 

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on his “Insight” podcast, Ripley discusses her Judgment Day era and teaming up with Dominik Mysterio, noting how it made her a better performer. 

“Honestly, I think that was another turning point in my career, being partnered with Dom, and also being partnered with Judgment Day. It made me open up as a performer, it made me have to work a lot more, ’cause I was doing like nine segments in a 16 segment show, sometimes more,” Ripley said. “It’s wild to see how far that ‘Mami’ character went, like I had so many different ‘Mami’ phases within that two years. Each “Raw” would see like two to three different ‘Mami’s.”

While she struck gold with the “Mami” persona, Ripley admits that she wanted to go in a more paternal direction, until Damien Priest redirected her focus. 

“I was trying to push that ‘Papi’ agenda. They were like, nah we can’t do that,’ then Priest was like, ‘what about Mami,’ I was like, ok I guess I’ll be ‘Mami’.” 

Ripley touches on a lot of other topics in the hour-plus conversation. In the multifaceted interview, Ripley also comments on how her WrestleMania 41 triple threat match surpassed her first WrestleMania moment. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the “Insight With Chris Van Vliet” podcast and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.