Velvet Sky Defends Rhea Ripley and Tiffany Stratton Amid Gear Criticism

04/01/2025 08:27 AM

The wrestling gear debate sparked by Mickie James isn't cooling down—and now Velvet Sky has returned fire with even more pointed commentary, shifting the spotlight back onto modern stars like Rhea Ripley and Tiffany Stratton.

After Velvet defended LFG competitor Zena Sterling in a viral clip—mocking Mickie's critique that women are wrestling in "jazzed up lingerie"—a fan tried to justify Velvet's past by saying, "To be fair, it was part of your gimmick. Person by person basis."

Velvet wasn't having it. She hit back on April 1 with a firm response, saying, "Rhea Ripley and Tiffany have some of the most revealing gear and it's not part of their gimmick. They work hard on their bodies just as hard as they work in the ring. It's part of the entertainment industry. They can wear whatever they want."

That comment blew up fast, bringing even more attention to the original remarks made by Mickie James, who had said in her LFG appearance, "You want to be taken seriously as a wrestler, but you are pretty much wrestling in jazzed-up lingerie… It's very distracting. I can't focus on the match. All I see is their ass."

Velvet's earlier reaction was dripping in irony, given her own Knockouts past where she famously emphasized sex appeal. "I feel attacked! lol nothing wrong with sex appeal in wrestling. Diva era or not," she said. "Let the pigeons loose, Zena!"

Fans were quick to dig up Mickie's own risqué WWE moments from the Diva era—including her provocative WrestleMania gestures and scenes that pushed TV boundaries—calling her out for hypocrisy.

But with Velvet now shifting the discussion toward current top stars like Ripley and Stratton, she's making one thing clear: in her view, wrestling is still entertainment—and how a woman dresses in the ring shouldn't be anyone's business but hers.