Cody Rhodes Recalls WrestleMania Incident, Rhea Ripley’s WWE Father Figure, Netflix Exec Talks WWE Performance

Rhea Ripley recently opened up about the encouragement she receives from Triple H before stepping through the curtain.

In the past, Ripley has been candid about experiencing panic attacks ahead of WWE appearances. Despite the anxiety, she says pep talks from Triple H have played a key role in helping her push through.

Speaking with “Myles Talks Wrestling” in a new interview alongside CM Punk, Ripley was asked what it’s like waiting in the gorilla position before going out. She described Triple H as a “father figure” and credited his words of support for helping calm her nerves in those high-pressure moments. She said,

“Gorilla (position).. I mean, it depends what time you go into gorilla because it’s a different experience depending on what is happening. But every time that I’ve pretty much gone in there before my matches, it’s very, I don’t even know how to put it. It’s a chaotic room, but at the same time, it’s not. It’s so hard to describe because there’s so many screens, people talking to each other, telling each other to do stuff with the cameras or times or what do we have to do, cut this, add this. There’s so much going on, but for me, I don’t speak that language, so that’s not my problem. Especially then, I’m just getting ready for my problem that’s coming ahead. But to have then Triple H come up to me and give me the pep talk, it means the world to me because sometimes I really need that. Sometimes I’m not in the best headspace or I’m stressing myself out. So he sees that and he’s like a father figure to me in this business. He’s been there every step of the way for me. So to have him continuously have my back and be there to give me pep talks and lift me up right before I go out, or just give me little pointers before I go out, it means the world to me.”

On the latest episode of the “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast, Cody Rhodes was joined by WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella for a candid conversation that revisited a low point in both of their careers — WrestleMania 29.

They recalled being set for an eight-person tag team match – Tyrus, Matt Bloom, Naomi, and Ariane Andrew were set to face Cody Rhodes, Aron Stevens, and The Bella Twins (Nikki and Brie Bella). But just moments before heading out, they were informed in Gorilla that the match had been pulled.

Rhodes shared that some backstage believed the match was never actually intended to happen — a conspiracy theory that still lingers. Nikki said she believes the match was cut due to time constraints, but admitted that she would be deeply disappointed if the real reason was to serve the storyline needs of the E! reality series Total Divas.

Nikki described the walk back from Gorilla as the worst “walk of shame” she’s ever experienced in WWE. Rhodes added that the incident marked the first time he seriously considered leaving the company.

You can check out some highlights from the exchange below:

Nikki: “That was really sad.”

Rhodes: “So it’s funny that we’re laughing about it now.”

Nikki: “Yeah, because it was not funny.”

Rhodes: “Here you are, you have, literally, Total Divas being your show. Moving into Total Bellas, executive producing. This wonderful career that comes out of it. The reason I’m asking about this photo (of us before our match got cut) is because the conspiracy was that the match was never supposed to happen in the first place, that the drama of it being cut would be entertaining but I felt like we… weren’t thinking that.”

Nikki: “No. This is my thing, because I’ve heard this, a lot. I mean, then, it was kind of notorious that matches would get cut, right? So, I feel like it actually really did get cut but, if they cut it for drama for TV, that actually pisses me off… I’ve had some walk of shames in college. That was the worst walk of shame I’ve ever done in my life.”

Rhodes: “So, my walk of shame is a little different. I knew you guys had been hit hard by it. There was one point — I’m not naming names — who is overly optimistic and like, ‘Alright! Well, we’ll do it at Raw!’ And they were in that place. I was so angry, and at that point, I think that’s the first moment where I was like, ‘I’m out. I am out.’ Out didn’t come till years later but I thought, no, I’m out… Ah man, I can’t believe that match got cut in Gorilla.”

Nikki: “You know what I mean? No one will ever understand it unless you’re us in that feeling… At that time, our biggest moment just taken right from us.”

WWE Monday Night RAW made its Netflix debut in January, launching a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar partnership between the two entertainment giants.

In a recent interview with Variety, Netflix’s Vice President of Sports, Gabe Spitzer, praised the collaboration and the early success of the move. He said,

“It’s everything we could have hoped for and more. We knew from the beginning we weren’t going to change WWE. It was more about how we could enhance it in subtle ways — and that’s exactly what we’ve seen so far.”

He continued, “[WWE’s] distribution had been fairly fragmented until now. The goal was to combine the strength of what WWE does with the reach of Netflix’s global distribution, bring our marketing teams together, and elevate the entire brand.”

International fans now stream WWE RAW, NXT, SmackDown, and pay-per-view events exclusively on Netflix.

The partnership also marked the end of Monday Night RAW’s long-running broadcast home on the USA Network.

(h/t – Fightful)