Rhea Ripley was pushing for a different nickname.
The 'Mami' moniker has been a big success for Ripley and WWE, especially in the merchandising department. But as it turns out, Ripley was originally looking at using Eddie Guerrero's 'Papi' name.
In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Ripley said the 'Papi' name was turned down by WWE, allowing Priest to make the 'Mami' suggestion.
“No, I was trying to push the Papi agenda. And they were like yeah, we can’t do that. And then Priest was like, ‘What about Mami?’ I was like, Okay, guess I’ll be Mami. I was really set on the Papi thing. I was like, I can be a little sh*t stirrer, just be Papi this, Papi that. But they’re like, we just can’t go there. And I was like, Okay, I respect that. Mami’s gonna grow on me, though.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Ripley said that Vince McMahon didn't know what to do with her once she got to the main roster. Check out her full comments on the matter by clicking here.
If you missed anything from WWE Night Of Champions, catch up on the show by clicking here.
Special thanks to Chris Van Vliet and his team for the quote(s).
