Rhea Ripley laid bare her emotions at the break-up of on-screen WWE group The Judgement Day, insisting they were like ‘family’ to her.

Arguably one of WWE’s most dominant performers, Ripley truly came into her own under the steam of the Judgement Day, the faction she was part of for over two years.

WWERhea Ripley has taken WWE by storm in the last couple of years[/caption]

Originally created with veteran performer Edge as the spearhead leader, Judgement Day dramatically evolved with the Canadian’s exit and the line-up of Ripley, Damian Priest and Finn Balor.

After a shocking on-screen betrayal of his father, Rey Mysterio Jr, Dominik Mysterio joined the line-up later on in the year and completed the set-up, with JD McDonagh and Carlito subsequent additions.

The group went on to snare singles and tag team gold across the WWE universe and were, for a time, the most high-profile group in the company.

Rhea’s career went from strength to strength as a member of the team, going on to win and hold the Women’s World Championship until she suffered a major, legitimate injury after a backstage brawl went wrong.

Priest, too, won men’s the World Heavyweight Championship in a major WrestleMania moment earlier this year, with Mysterio holding the NXT North American Championship for a time and Balor enjoying numerous reigns as a tag team champ.

Sadly, wrestling groups seldom stay together forever and, after Mysterio turned his back on Ripley at SummerSlam last month, the Annihilator and Priest have been forced to go it alone, with Liv Morgan joining the rest of Judgement Day as a de facto member in her own right.

The storyline switch-up marked the end of an era of sorts and given her rapid progress alongside her colleagues. Aussie Ripley, who has spoken publicly about her battles with shyness away from her in-ring persona, was understandably left upset at the call by bosses to break things up.

Speaking at times in character and in part as herself, the star spoke candidly to The Wrestling Classic, saying: “The Judgment Day was really family to me, it really was.

“It has helped my career so much more than I can actually put into words.

“I feel like that was when I started opening up and feeling comfortable going out there and being in front of the crowd because I had the boys and could fall back on.

WWERipley has flourished under the leadership of Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque[/caption]

WWERipley and Damian Priest have stayed together after leaving The Judgement Day[/caption]

“It was really emotional for me. I saw something come out about Judgment Day members, a specific one crying backstage after everything, and I’m not ashamed of it – that was me. I was upset.

“The last two and a half years of my life has changed now. I can’t go back to that. They were my boys and they were my family. It was really sad.”

The implosion of The Judgement Day will be complete early in October when Priest and Balor battle one-on-one and Ripley challenges for Morgan’s world title.

The 28-year-old knows the partnership with Priest – under the new name of The Terror Twins – has the potential to be special, too.

She went on to say: “When something so good comes to an end, the other side of it is something amazing is about to start as well.

“I wasn’t really thinking about that because I was so emotional. That was the most fun I’ve had in my career in a long time. I felt invincible. I felt I could go out there and be a cheeky little menace and get away with it, for real, and have fun with my friends.

“I loved my time with the Judgment Day. Now, I’m loving my time absolutely brutalizing the Judgment Day. They are not the real Judgment Day. They are street trash.”

Ripley first featured in WWE in 2017 before spells with NXT UK, NXT and latterly the ‘main’ roster where she now wrestles on Monday Night Raw.