Rhea Ripley’s participation at WrestleMania 41 was in serious jeopardy due to a debilitating back injury, a situation she recently detailed during an interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. The former champion explained that the pain became so severe in the days leading up to the event that she was unsure if she could perform.
The issue escalated to the point where Ripley questioned her ability to even make it to the ring for one of the biggest shows of the year.
“WrestleMania 41, I didn’t think I was going to be able to compete because my back was so bad leading up to it,” Ripley stated.
With her status in doubt, Ripley required intensive, last-minute intervention from her masseuse, Matthew, on the two nights immediately preceding the event. She described the desperate measures needed just to ensure she would be mobile.
“The two nights beforehand, I got [my masseuse] Matthew to come to my room, and he worked on me the night before Hall of Fame and the night of Hall of Fame,” she explained. “I was like, ‘I need you to make sure I can walk tomorrow.’ And he worked on me those two nights, and it loosened completely just in time for the match.”
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Ripley noted this is a persistent problem she must manage, admitting some of the fault lies with her for not consistently keeping up with her stretches. She is still uncertain about the exact nature of the ailment but described how it fluctuates in intensity.
“It gets really bad,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s a sciatic thing or whatnot, or just my body in itself, the shape of my body and how I’m put together. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s something. But it does go down, and it definitely revs up sometimes, and sometimes it’s just bearable.”
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