Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY are officially taking a hiatus from their tag team partnership. The decision, announced during the latest episode of WWE Raw, will allow Ripley to exclusively focus on her upcoming WWE Women’s Championship match against Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 42.
During tonight’s WWE Raw, Jackie Redmond interviewed Ripley and SKY near the stage area. Redmond initiated the segment by congratulating Ripley on her recent victory inside the Elimination Chamber and asked her about the upcoming championship opportunity against Cargill.
Ripley stated that the last few days have been a whirlwind of emotions. She directly addressed the team’s recent loss of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships this past Friday on SmackDown. Ripley expressed her disappointment regarding the title change, noting that the defeat really sucks.
Ripley then shifted her focus to her partnership with SKY, detailing how much the alliance has meant to her both professionally and personally. Ripley stated that SKY has been a variety of things to her throughout her career, including an opponent, a tag team partner, and ultimately, her best friend. Following this declaration, the two superstars embraced on the stage. Ripley explicitly thanked SKY for supporting her and credited SKY with pulling her out of a very dark situation in her life.
SKY reciprocated the sentiment. She told Ripley that she did the exact same thing for her when she needed support. SKY praised Ripley for her dominant performance at the Elimination Chamber premium live event, stating that Ripley won the chamber and showed the world why Mami is always on top. SKY then assured Ripley that she would be alright competing as a singles wrestler on the Raw brand moving forward. She encouraged Ripley to handle her business and win the championship at WrestleMania.
Ripley accepted the encouragement from her partner. She stated that she will win the title and emphasized that she will do it for SKY. Ripley instructed SKY to hold down the fort on Monday Night Raw during her absence. Ripley then announced her immediate plans, revealing that she will travel to the SmackDown brand this Friday. She intends to confront Cargill face-to-face. Ripley concluded the interview segment by declaring that she will leave WrestleMania as the new Women’s Champion.
The amicable split of the tag team follows a highly eventful weekend for Ripley. After losing the tag team titles on Friday, Ripley competed in the Women’s Elimination Chamber match the following night at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Ripley outlasted Tiffany Stratton, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Raquel Rodriguez, and Kiana James inside the steel structure. She secured the pinfall victory over Stratton after executing the Riptide maneuver to guarantee her championship opportunity.
The upcoming face-to-face confrontation on SmackDown follows a highly publicized and personal war of words between Ripley and Cargill across social media. Over the weekend, the two exchanged heated insults on X. Ripley shared old interview footage of Cargill referring to her as a “dream opponent.” Cargill responded by claiming she was just talking and subsequently accused Ripley of spending hours backstage talking to the WWE creative team.
Ripley escalated the situation further by utilizing her Instagram Stories to issue a stern warning to the current champion. Ripley published a statement declaring that the two are not friends. She also demanded that Cargill learn to work and never lie to defame her real human character by breaking the fourth wall.
