Aliyah Says She Wrestled Through a Fractured Rib in Her Final WWE Match

Aliyah is finally telling her side of the story after staying quiet since her WWE release, and the details she’s sharing about her final match are intense.

While speaking on The Identity Crisis podcast, the former SmackDown star (real name Nhooph Al-Areebi) opened up about suffering a legitimate injury early in the bout and choosing to push through it anyway because she believed the moment was too important to waste. According to Aliyah, the damage happened almost immediately, but quitting never crossed her mind. She made it clear that she did exactly that.

“I got injured at the beginning of the heat. I took a kick. It was a hairline fracture on my first rib. I remember just being in so much pain. But in my mind, I was like, I need to focus because this is a huge opportunity for me. I don’t care what anybody has to say — ‘Oh, you suck,’ this, that, blah blah blah — I am going to ignore this pain that I’m feeling right now and I’m going to finish the damn match.”

“And I finished that damn match. Looking back, that’s probably one of my favorite matches.”

As she continued to explain, the pain wasn’t minor discomfort — she genuinely thought something more serious had happened.

“It’s crazy… I was in so much pain. Like 10 out of 10 pain. I thought I broke my collarbone.”

Aliyah admitted she got emotional afterward backstage, something she normally tries to avoid, but the experience stuck with her because of how much mental strength it took just to get through the performance.

“If I wasn’t beat up so much, I don’t know if I could’ve performed at that level.”

She also connected that toughness to years of criticism and negativity she dealt with online during her WWE run, explaining that it created a drive to prove people wrong rather than break her down. For Aliyah, the moment became less about the injury and more about what it proved to her personally.

“I was a badass. And that was a product of years of being harassed on Twitter. I had something in my gut where I was like, I need to prove everyone wrong.”

“It shows you it’s not just a physical battle. It’s equally a mental battle. And if we can convince our minds to do something, we’re so much stronger than we think.”

Hearing a WWE talent openly talk about working through real injury, self-doubt, and pressure adds to how fans view her run and her departure. It also raises bigger questions about what performers feel they have to endure behind the scenes just to hold onto their spot.

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