# WWE Star Zena Sterling Talks Ukrainian Pride, Rhea Ripley Dream Match & Future Raw Debut

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/tmz-s-inside-the-ring-7438261/wwe-star-zena-sterling-talks-ukrainian-pride-rhea-ripley-dream-match-future-raw-debut
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/tmz-s-inside-the-ring-7438261/wwe-star-zena-sterling-talks-ukrainian-pride-rhea-ripley-dream-match-future-raw-debut.md
Podcast: [TMZ's Inside The Ring](https://stenobird.com/podcast/tmz-s-inside-the-ring-7438261)
Published: 2026-03-17T02:05:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/FOXM1491758341.mp3?updated=1773713960
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/FOXM1491758341.mp3?updated=1773713960
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/tmz-s-inside-the-ring-7438261/episodes/wwe-star-zena-sterling-talks-ukrainian-pride-rhea-ripley-dream-match-future-raw-debut
Duration seconds: 2356

## Resource

Zena Sterling joins TMZ Inside The Ring to talk about her journey to WWE and what it means to represent Ukraine in professional wrestling as the first Ukrainian woman in WWE. The 21-year-old rising star opens up about growing up in a Ukrainian household in Ohio, her path from Division 1 swimming and bodybuilding to WWE, and how she fought her way into the WWE Performance Center. Zena also discusses competing on WWE LFG, debuting in WWE EVOLVE, and why she believes she didn’t truly “lose” after finishing runner-up on the reality series. Plus, she reacts to fans calling her the “female Gunther,” reveals her dream match with Rhea Ripley, talks dealing with social media criticism, and teases a darker side of her character that could one day debut on Raw or SmackDown. Host: Branson Quirke Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/tmz-s-inside-the-ring-7438261/episodes/wwe-star-zena-sterling-talks-ukrainian-pride-rhea-ripley-dream-match-future-raw-debut/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/tmz-s-inside-the-ring-7438261/wwe-star-zena-sterling-talks-ukrainian-pride-rhea-ripley-dream-match-future-raw-debut.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.