Rhea Ripley and Zelina Vega will meet at WWE Backlash for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship, and when they get in the ring, Ripley says Vega won’t have anywhere to run.
Following Friday’s episode of SmackDown, which saw Vega get the upper hand on Ripley with a DDT following a win against Sonya Deville, Ripley said on the latest episode of SmackDown LowDown that whatever happened didn’t matter at Backlash. Ripley attributed the events of SmackDown to Vega being “slippery” and “quick,” but said that won’t happen when the two meet in the ring at Backlash.
“Yes, Zelina may have gotten the upper hand tonight because she’s slippery and she’s quick, nd I’ll give her that and that only,” said Ripley. “But at Backlash, Zelina can’t keep running. She can’t keep evading, she can’t run up the ramp when it’s just time to go. I might be going in the favorite, and that’s a fair call by everyone, they’re very, very smart. But I’m also going to walk out victorious. I’m going to walk out with my SmackDown Women’s Championship, and Zelina, she’s going to be flat down on the mat.”
Ripley was also asked about what the 2023 WWE Draft might hold for her. With Ripley eligible to be drafted on Monday’s episode of WWE RAW, Ripley said that no matter where she goes, her belt is going with her.
“Look, wherever I am, RAW, SmackDown, I’m going to be a champion,” Ripley said. “The SmackDown Women’s Championship, it’s coming with me. And yeah, I watched the draft tonight, I saw that [Bianca Belair] is coming here. So I guess we’ll see what happens, because I’m in the dark like everyone else. But all I know is that I am going to be a champion wherever the hell I am.”
