Rhea Ripley Discusses the Future of the Four Horsewomen, Her Creative Freedom in WWE, and More

At WWE WrestleMania 40 Night One, Rhea Ripley emerged victorious over Becky Lynch, thereby securing her position as the reigning WWE Women’s World Champion. The post-event press conference shed light on Ripley's reflections regarding the latitude of creative freedom she's been accorded in her career, her thoughts on the continuation of the Four Horsewomen's legacy in women's wrestling, among other insights.

Discussing the role of creative freedom in her career, Ripley remarked, “Everytime I step out there in front of everyone, even doing things away from the crowd as well, I feel like I get to be the genuine person that I am. Obviously, it’s a little bit revved up because some of the things I do, I’d get arrested for in every day life, but on the other hand, it’s just an organic version of me, it’s how I would react to things, it’s what I would say to things, it’s how I would feel emotionally to the things that are happening around me, and I’ve had a lot of creative freedom with that, I get to be myself, be genuine, go out there and be the bad ass you all love, be the mami that you all love, but also show that side of me where I do let you see that little glimpse into my life where I am excited, genuinely, about something that is happening in my life, like you saw tonight with Motionless in White, me and Chris there screaming, that’s a life moment right there, something I’ve absolutely dreamt of my entire life.”

When questioned about whether her consecutive victories over Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch signal the end of the Four Horsewomen's dominance in women's wrestling, Ripley paid homage to their era, stating,  “The Four Horsewomen era will live on forever, they accomplished so much, they took the women’s division to heights that we could only dream of, they’ve done so much for the business and I have all the respect for every single one of them. I feel like the way that I’ve been going WrestleMania after WrestleMania, finally knocking off the Horsewomen, and same as Bianca Belair, she’s been doing the same, we’ve been proving that there is a shift coming and these new women, they are taking over and we’re showing out and trying to take it to higher heights than it has been taken to.”