Rhea Ripley challenges former NXT male superstar to a fight after jump scaring him at a WWE live show

The SmackDown Women's Champion Rhea Ripley dominated a WWE announcer at a recent house show, leaving fans chuckling.


Rhea Ripley challenges former NXT male superstar to a fight after jump scaring him at a WWE live show

Rhea Ripely (via Twitter)

Rhea Ripley is undoubtedly one of the most intimidating superstars to be around on the main roster. She loves to scare people around her, be they superstars or fans. At a recent house show, WWE announcer Byron Saxton became a victim of bullying by the SmackDown Women’s Champion.

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The Eradicator is a part of Judgment Day, with Finn Balor, Damian Priest, and Dominik Mysterio. Her relationship with Mysterio is one of the major attractions of Monday Night Raw. Rhea stands strong in front of their opponents, while Dominik stands behind her, mocking their opponents.

During a recent house show, Rhea Ripley sat down next to Byron Saxton during a match. Hilariously, she scared Saxton and moved him away. Ripley later challenged the former NXT superstar to a match on Twitter. The entire interaction was caught on camera and is going viral. Saxton has been a long-time announcer, backstage interviewer, and color commentator for WWE. However, he is often subjected to ridicule and mockery by the heel superstars on the shows. 

The former 24/7 Champion retired from in-ring action in 2012 and has been playing various roles in the company ever since. Byron Saxton wrestled on the independent scene before getting a WWE tryout in 2007. The 41-year-old stayed in the WWE developmental brands for a major part until 2012. He has been in multiple roles in color commentary on NXT, Raw, and SmackDown.

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Related: Rhea Ripley reveals whether her real-life boyfriend, Buddy Matthews, has forgiven Seth Rollins for inappropriately touching her on RAW

Byron Saxton responds to Rhea Ripley’s challenge

byron saxton
Byron Saxton (via Twitter)

The Virginia native was quick to respond to the challenge issued by the SmackDown Women’s Champion. He, unfortunately, declined the offer but still appreciated the gesture. His exact words were, “While I do appreciate the gesture, I will have to respectfully decline at this time.” This was a sarcastic reply to Ripley’s challenge, as the match would never happen.

Rhea Ripley has recently shown interest in having intergender matches with the male wrestlers on the roster in WWE. She believes that she can destroy all of them if given a chance, and she can prove it anytime. However, WWE does not usually do intergender matches since becoming a PG product. Therefore, it is a very rare thing in WWE programming these days.

However, there have still been instances when female wrestlers have faced off against male wrestlers. Nia Jax entered the 2019 Men’s Royal Rumble in a losing effort. During his feud with Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton had to wrestle Alexa Bliss in 2021. Moreover, Ripley also faced Akira Tozawa on the main roster once.

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