WWE NXT: Rhea Ripley on renewing old hostilities with Dakota Kai for title shot at TakeOver XXX

Rhea Ripley talks to Daily DDT about her upcoming number one contender’s match on WWE NXT, Dakota Kai’s transformation, her unfinished business with Charlotte Flair, if Raw or SmackDown is in her sights, and more.

Following her loss of the WWE NXT Women’s Championship at WWE WrestleMania 36, Rhea Ripley will have her chance to re-enter the title picture when she collides with Dakota Kai in a number one contender’s match on Wednesday’s edition of NXT at 8/7c on USA Network.

Ripley has been in chase mode for months now. She decisively knocked off both Robert Stone and Aliyah in a two-on-one Handicap match at The Great American Bash, and now, Kai is the only woman standing in her way of challenging Io Shirai for the prestigious prize at TakeOver XXX on August 22.

The bad blood between the two dates back to when Kai betrayed Ripley and the rest of her WarGames team at TakeOver: WarGames III. While she wasn’t able to get her hands on Kai at the time (as Mia Yim and Tegan Nox already had that covered), she believes the beating coming Kai’s way on Wednesday is “way overdue.”

“Every time Dakota and I step in the ring, everybody knows it’s going to be a hard-hitting match,” Riley told Daily DDT in an exclusive interview conducted over the phone on Tuesday. “We don’t hold back, we leave everything that we have in that ring and that’s what fans have to expect this Wednesday. We both want to win. Dakota said she’s sick and tired of winning everything apparently. I’m an ex-NXT Women’s champ and I believe I’m the number one contender, so we’re going to go in and give everything that we have.”

Ripley and Kai have waged war before, both in NXT and NXT UK, but the Kiwi competitor Ripley faces this Wednesday night is drastically different. Kai has come into her own as an aggressive heel since her split from Nox and is every bit as hungry for an opportunity to vie for the NXT Women’s Championship at Ripley is.

The Mosh Pit Kid can relate to Kai in a way with how she herself made the transition from being a bland babyface to a ruthless villain earlier in her career. However, nothing will stop her from getting the job done when they go one-on-one to ensure she earns that all-important title shot.

“There’s a reason why I didn’t choose her for my WarGames team and it’s because I didn’t see the tough side of her,” Ripley said. “Dakota and I have stepped in the ring a far few amount of times and this is definitely going to be a different Dakota. She’s doing everything for her. I have to give her props, she’s doing really, really well. I did the same thing when I was in NXT UK. I had had enough of everyone and that’s pretty much where Dakota is these days, so I have to be careful and strategic and go in knowing what I’m going to do.”

If Ripley manages to defeat Kai and advance to TakeOver XXX for the NXT Women’s Championship, it will mark her fifth appearance on the TakeOver stage, including NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool in January 2019.

To be a part of yet another monumental event, fighting for one of the most coveted championships in all of WWE, would mean “absolutely everything” to the 23-year-old up-and-comer.

“Just to think about it, three years ago, I wasn’t even in America, to now being able to accomplish all the things that I have and to possibly be on TakeOver XXX,” she said. “That’s just absolutely insane to me, so I’m working my bum off to try and get there.”

Her most recent TakeOver outing at In Your House saw her, Charlotte Flair, and Io Shirai take center stage in the main event for the NXT Women’s title. It was only the second-ever women’s main event in TakeOver history, with the first being Bayley vs. Sasha Banks five years ago at TakeOver: Respect.

Although she fell short of victory on that evening, it was still an unbelievable honor for Ripley to be put in such a prominent position at a show of that magnitude, especially this early on in her WWE journey.

“Dude, it’s crazy. When they said we were going to be the main event, I was gobsmacked,” she said. “I was so surprised but so excited and so nervous and I had every single emotion you could think of. To be in the main event of TakeOver and to be in the second women’s main event at TakeOver ever is insane. I’m proud, I’m very proud of how far our women’s division has come and we’re only getting better.”

In such a short span of time, Ripley has already accomplished a great deal in WWE from winning WarGames to competing at WrestleMania and in a Royal Rumble to winning both the NXT UK and NXT Women’s Championships.

Of course, becoming a two-time NXT Women’s champion by beating Shirai at TakeOver XXX leads her list of immediate goals, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that a move to either Raw or SmackDown could be on the horizon for her. She’s well aware that a call-up could occur at any given moment but is adamant about living in the moment and making the most of her current surroundings.

“I would definitely love to get my NXT Women’s Championship back. That is definitely a goal for me,” she said. “Apart from that, I feel like I’ve done most things I’ve wanted to do. Obviously, there’s a lot of people in NXT I still want to step into the ring with. But if the time comes that I have to go to Raw or SmackDown, then that’s my time. I’m onto different things and I get to face different people and it’s just as cool. I guess we’ll see where everything leads and what happens in the next few months because I honestly I have no idea.

“I’m just going along for the roller coaster ride that is, but I’m excited either way because wrestling is my life and if I can take anything off my bucket list, then I’m happy,” she continued. “There’s just so many things I want to do and hopefully I accomplish all of them.”

As far as avenging her WrestleMania loss to Charlotte, Ripley intends to right that wrong when the opportunity presents itself. Their ‘Mania match stole the show on Night 2 of the April extravaganza and fans have been begging for a rematch ever since.

“I haven’t beaten Charlotte in a one-on-one competition and that does frustrate me a lot,” she said. “I’m not really a person who likes to lose, I’m very competitive. I’d like to step into the ring just one more time with Charlotte just to see if I’ve gotten better at my craft and I can finally beat The Queen.”

Ripley recently debuted a new look of sorts on NXT TV, wowing viewers with her bleached-blonde hair. Speaking on her updated appearance, she admits a variety of factors led to her change in hair color and that it turned out to be better than what she was originally expecting.

“So, I was always really light blond when I was younger and growing up,” she said. “I’ve sort of missed those times because my hair has gotten darker over my years of living and not being out in the sun. I started putting lemon products like shampoo and conditioner and after-wash spray in my hair. It actually went an orange-y color and I wasn’t really happy with it. It wasn’t the color I liked, so I said, ‘Screw it’ and went to the hairdresser. Luckily, my hairdresser is a lifesaver and he absolutely killed it. It was a lot lighter than I expected and that’s just because it was so orange and there was no going back. I was like, ‘Just bleach it.'”

No matter her hair color, the former NXT Women’s champion is always down to fight, whoever and whenever. That includes Mercedes Martinez, who cut Ripley’s eye upon her return to NXT TV last month.

With Martinez now a part of The Robert Stone Brand, an invitation Ripley declined, it’s quite likely fans will witness them do battle before long.

“I love Mercedes Martinez,” Ripley said. “I actually wrestled her a long time ago in Australia when I was 17-years-old. It was a long, long time ago, so I’m just so happy that she’s here and she’s joined all of us and she’s on NXT TV. I’m hoping I can step in the ring with her again just to see how different it’s going to be and what the outcome is, but I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

Similar to Martinez, Bronson Reed is another NXT star that has been a part of the black-and-gold brand for some time but is only just now being given more chances to shine. He stepped up in a major way two weeks ago when he qualified for the NXT North American Championship Ladder match at TakeOver XXX.

Ripley commented on her fellow Aussie’s success and how she’s been a big fan of his work since before he signed with WWE in 2019.

“I love Bronson Reed, he’s one of my favorites. I watched him growing up in Australia,” she said. “I was a big fan of him and Brendan Vink and even Shane Thorne and all of that. To see him finally getting the spotlight he deserves, I’m ecstatic for him. He’s been working so hard for this position for years now and he’s always been amazing and I’m glad people are starting to realize that.”

She went on to say that she hopes more wrestlers from her homeland join the WWE system soon so she can feel more at home and because they’ve earned the big break.

“In Australia, every single performer that’s there, we work so incredibly hard to get the slightest bit of spotlight,” Ripley said. “I think the dedication of everyone there because it is so far away from America and it doesn’t really get the spotlight it deserves, so we’re all forced to work so incredibly hard just for a little bit of spotlight. I think all that dedication put into our training and into ourselves is finally being noticed and that’s why we’re all getting the recognition we are now. Hopefully one day we see a lot more Australians here because I would absolutely love that.”

From binging “90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days”, scheduling tattoo appointments, and working hard in the gym, Ripley has been staying busy whenever she isn’t inside the squared circle. She’s also been throwing around ideas for what her potential TakeOver gear might look like after her Dragon Ball Z-inspired attire at WrestleMania 36 left viewers in awe.

Ripley revealed that an Android 18 gear could be forthcoming given the similarities she shares with the Dragon Ball Z character.

“I haven’t come up with anything sure with anything cool recently, unfortunately, but sometimes it just comes to me and I tell my gear lady. She makes it and we put our ideas together and she kills it every time, so hopefully I can come up with something else that’s cool. I might end up doing an Android 18 at some point just because everyone always says that I look like her, so why not? I’m just trying to figure out how to make it into my gear because she has the long-sleeved striped top. I don’t look great in stripes and I don’t want to wear long sleeves, but there’s a lot of thinking that goes into it and morphing it into what I would wear.”

Ripley aims to reclaim the NXT Women’s Championship from Io Shirai at TakeOver XXX, assuming she can first defeat Dakota Kai this Wednesday night on WWE NXT at 8/7c, only on USA Network.