Rhea Ripley captured her first SmackDown Women’s Championship on the Grandest Stage of Them All!
The star has always been impressive, but she’s proved even more dominant since joining The Judgment Day. She earned her way to WrestleMania when she won the 2023 Royal Rumble, declaring on the next edition of Monday Night Raw that she wanted to face SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair in an attempt to gain retribution for her previous losses to The Queen.
The two have come face to face on a number of occasions in recent weeks, with tension reaching a fever pitch.
The match between the two was a hard-hitting affair with both women taking plenty of punishment. Charlotte took a particularly nasty bump after a suplex, landing on her nose and scraping it open, though surprisingly the bump didn’t cause a nosebleed.
Still, The Queen fought on, and the two continued going back and forth. In the end, it was a Riptide from the second rope that sealed Charlotte’s fate and allowed Rhea to pick up the pinfall victory.
Ripley celebrated in the ring while Charlotte sat on the outside, giving a sly smile of respect at having been defeated by such a formidable foe.
We have a NEW #SmackDown Women's Champion at #WrestleMania!
Congratulations to @RheaRipley_WWE! pic.twitter.com/Mr0udhoYJP
— WWE (@WWE) April 2, 2023
Rhea Ripley Gets Revenge
For Rhea Ripley, WrestleMania 39 was about banishing the ghosts of 2020. On that occasion, the star held the NXT Women’s Championship, while Flair had won the Royal Rumble.
At the event, in front of an empty arena, it was Flair who scored the win, a result which Ripley claimed: “put her in her place.” However, this defeat only served to provide even more motivation in 2023.
Flair became SmackDown Women’s Champion when she made a surprise return to the blue brand on December 30th, defeating Ronda Rousey following Rousey’s victory over Raquel Rodriguez.