Rhea Ripley Reveals Why She Walked out on Rey Mysterio’s WWE Hall of Fame Speech

Rhea Ripley is on top of the WWE women’s division after beating Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 39 on Saturday. But before that, the 26-year-old WWE Superstar took heat for walking out on Rey Mysterio’s Hall of Fame speech. While speaking to reporters on Saturday night, Ripley explained why she walked out with Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest. 

“I mean, yeah, good for Rey, he’s getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. That’s a massive accomplishment and he should be proud of himself. But the one thing that he can’t be proud of himself for is being a ‘good father because he wasn’t,” Ripley said. “He’s a deadbeat dad like Dom likes to say. I wasn’t going to show any sort of respect to a man that can’t even be there for his son. So that’s why we remained seated and that’s why we walked out because I’m not gonna put Dominik through that. He doesn’t want to sit there and watch his dad get inducted after he put the WWE before his own family.”

Before Rey Mysterio took the ring for his Hall of Fame speech on Friday, received a standing ovation from the WWE Superstars and legends who were in attendance. However, Ripley, Preist and Dominik Mysterio were seen sitting while everyone else was standing. The good news for Rey is he defeated Dominik at WrestleMania on Saturday. Ripley was not a ringside for the match as she was getting ready to take on Flair later that night. 

“I wish that I could’ve been there for my Dom Dom, my Latino Heat, Dominik Mysterio,” Ripley explained. “But at the end of the day, mommy had business to settle, and mommy’s gonna settle some more business later on as well.” With the win on Saturday, Ripley becomes the first woman in WWE history to win the NXT Women’s Champion, NXT UK Women’s Champion, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion, Raw Women’s Champion and Smackdown Women’s Champion making her an ultimate Grand Slam Champion. 

“I’m here to make history,” Ripley said. “Growing up in Adelaide, South Australia, I always got told that my dream of coming to the WWE would probably not happen. So just making it here is such an accomplishment, but being the first Grand Slam champion to have those exact championships is so satisfying.”