In a recent interview with WAAY 31 News, former WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley clarified why WWE live events are so enjoyable, noting that she can interact more with the live audience.
Ripley said, “A lot. I feel like, even though the PLEs and TV are like what you really want to be on, like they’re really the amazing things that help you become the person you are on screen that everyone learns to love or learns to hate — I feel like the live events are like where the fun really is, you know? You get to interact with the crowd that little bit more because you’re not catering to the people at home watching through the screen, we get to actually interact and do fun and funny stuff. I don’t know, there’s something about the traveling life like, yeah it does suck being in the car and the planes, but it’s fun at the same time because you’re doing it with your best friends and you’re going out there and getting the reactions that you want, whether it’s cheers or boos. You’re going out there and getting a reaction and you’re either being nice to fans and high-fiving them or you’re being a menace to them like I normally am and like untying their shoelaces or stealing their water and giving them cool little memories to remember for the rest of their life because like as a kid, that’s all I ever wanted watching wrestling. I would go to riot wrestling shows and if someone even glanced in my direction, I’d be like, ‘Oh my god, they looked at me.’ It’s just those cool little things and interactions and special moments and bonds that you get with the fans and I love it.”
On a recent edition of the “Battleground” podcast, Tommaso Ciampa discussed his desire for the WWE tag team division to have more opportunities, such as being showcased prominently at pay-per-view events.
Due to WWE pay-per-view events featuring a five-to-six-match format, the tag team division has not been featured on major shows as frequently.
Ciampa said, “Being on the inside of that, I always want more and I always want it to go faster. That’s the normal nature of competitive business. You always want more than you’re getting and you always want it to happen faster than it’s happening. It’s exciting to see tag teams getting that light shown on them. For example, the last two or three pay-per-views, we’ve had pretty decent profile matches on the SmackDown the night before, which is awesome because it’s a pretty similar crowd and energy level. Now, what we want, is we have to get on the PLEs. You watch the France crowd from home. You watch SummerSlam from home. That’s the best crowd you’re going to get. We just did a tour of Germany and every night was a great crowd. Berlin crowd was by far the best one. You want to be part of that. That’s commercial-free; most eyes are on you, and it’s the biggest stage possible. It’s very cool that the tag division is starting to get some prominence, but boy, do we want more. I think that’s just the nature of the beast.”
