Serena Deeb Knew Rhea Ripley Would Be A Star ‘From The Second I Saw Her’
NWA Women’s Champion Serena Deeb was a recent guest on Women’s Wrestling Talk (formerly Women’s Wrestling Weekly at Afterbuzz TV) and spoke about facing off with Thunder Rosa, when she knew she’d stop coaching to return to the ring, who impressed her most in WWE and more. Highlights are below:
Serena Deeb Talks About The Evolution of Women’s Wrestling
“I mean from a female stand point the business is a completely different place. As you guys know, I started my training and it was still like the Diva’s era and they were doing the Diva’s search every year. The qualities in performers that they were looking for were very different. So, if you were about the wrestling, it wasn’t always the best environment for that or the most conducive to growing in that area. It’s weird being out of the ring for as long as I was … almost 5 years and then coming back into that role and seeing all those changes. To even have a women’s match on the card let alone an awesome women’s match is huge, compared to 15 years ago.”
Serena Deeb Talks The Wrestler She was Most Impressed By At The Performance Center
“There are some who are naturals and wrestling just clicks with. Rhea Ripley is an example of that. She was somebody that from the second I saw her, I was like ok, the girl is going to be a star and do big things in this business and watching the growth of someone like in the time I was there was really rewarding and just proud.”
Related: Serena Deeb Is Gunning For The AEW Women’s Championship, Wants To Be A Dual Title Holder
On a related note, Triple H also addressed Ripley’s progress during a recent media call, as well as his past comments about her involvement in long-term storytelling plans in the NXT Women’s division.
“Everything changed,” Triple H said of their plans for Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley after WrestleMania. The NXT head honcho noted the unpredictable nature of the coronavirus pandemic and how he never thought that’d we’d still be in lockdown come December. As a result, WWE isn’t able to commit fully to some of its long-term storytelling plans. “It’s hard to plan for next week, let alone next year or next month.”
Despite Ripley’s plans being sidelined, Triple H believes that this year has seen the former NXT Women’s Champion improve greatly. Check out his full remarks and audio from the media call below: