Australia’s WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley has fought back tears while describing the impact performing in front of home fans had on her during Saturday night’s Elimination Chamber at Optus Stadium.

Ripley headlined the event in a match against Nia Jax, entering the ring with the Australian flag on her jacket and ending the show by celebrating with her family who watched the match from ringside.

It was the South Australian’s first match for WWE in Australia. She moved to America in 2017 after receiving a hero’s send off at Riot City Wrestling, and said returning home to an adoring reaction from more than 50,000 people had left her feeling sentimental.

“It’s hard to put into words how special this is. I’m still so taken aback by the crowd reaction and actually seeing my family out there,” she said.

“To be completely honest, at the very end when I had that extra time to myself, I let it fully soak in.

“It’s funny because I had a weird flashback of my last match here in Australia. I defended my title then and I left as champion.

“ I remember sitting in the middle of the ring and just soaking it all, soaking up the crowd and letting them in and letting them affect me in a way I don’t really try and let them affect me. I did that same thing tonight without even meaning to.

“It gave me that flashback. It was an awesome moment for me. I hate getting teary on camera but I guess you’ve got to see every single side of Mami.”

A whopping 52,590 people attended the event at Optus Stadium, making it the seventh largest WWE crowd outside of North America and jumping into the company’s top 30 attendances of all time.

They also saw Australians Grayson Waller and Indi Hartwell.

Waller interviewed mega stars Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes but now appears set for a significant storyline change after failing to come to the aid of his tag team partner Austin Theory when he was attacked.

Hartwell opened the night in a tag team match with Candice LeRae. Waller and Hartwell are both in their first year on the main WWE roster.

Former Women’s Champion Biance Belair said Perth’s reaction to having the WWE in town showed why they are taking more events overseas.

“It shows how big WWE is and how much of a gem WWE is. WWE transcends and brings people together,” she said.