One wise woman or man once said (probably) “there are few guarantees in life, but when you find one, run with it.” Okay so that may be made up, but the idea is clear. When you find a guaranteed star, use them to the best of your ability. That exact claim goes towards WWE when it comes to the one and only Rhea Ripley. Few have made such a major impact for a company despite being in the “developmental brand” that is NXT. She was the first woman to defend an NXT Championship at WrestleMania when she faced Charlotte Flair for her NXT Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36. And even if that was in front of a whopping zero live fans, it was still historic.
But it’s almost been one year since then and Ripley has done her best to try and rebuild her image to that of what it was as champion. As we near the 2021 Royal Rumble, the same event that Charlotte won to face Ripley at last year, it seems it would only be right that Ripley gets called to the main roster. It’s time for her to unleash that brutality and here’s why.
Rhea Ripley Has Accomplished Everything In NXT
Much like Shayna Baszler, Asuka, and Bayley before her, Rhea Ripley has done everything possible in NXT. So much so that she has even won the NXT UK Women’s Championship and remains the only woman to hold both NXT Women’s titles in history. There is no where else to go for her but up — that is the main roster. She has had some of the most important moments in the history of NXT’s women’s division. Whether it be her own title win over the dominant Baszler, being the first to defend an NXT title at WrestleMania, winning the first-ever women’s WarGames, and being a massive part of NXT’s win over the main roster at Survivor Series in 2019. Ripley has done it all and it’s now time to move her up before it’s too late.
There’s No Better Redemption Than Reversing The Roles
At WrestleMania last year, Rhea Ripley faced the biggest match of her career and came out of it on the losing side. She tapped out to Charlotte Flair in the middle of the ring, losing her title and watching her meteoric rise come to a screeching halt. Fans have said this was what stopped Ripley from being the biggest star humanely possible, but do not believe that to be the case. Ripley is such a start that she built herself back up to being that popular again and she was able to aid the likes of Io Shirai and Raquel Gonzalez because of that star power. Ripley being called up now would give her the chance to do what she has long deserved — redeem that loss. There’s an automatic story to be told here and it involves Ripley’s jump to the main roster.
Last year, Charlotte used the Royal Rumble to stump Ripley. So it seems right that she wins the fourth women’s Royal Rumble in history to get back on that track. It would only make it sweeter for Charlotte to defeat Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship before that, setting up the ultimate rematch one year later where Rhea Ripley gets her win back and wins the Raw Women’s Championship. This would perfectly set her up to be WWE’s next big star.
She Is Ready To Be WWE’s Biggest Star
When Becky Lynch left WWE unexpectedly due to being pregnant, Raw took a massive hit. But bigger than Raw, WWE took the biggest hit. Replacing Lynch is next to impossible, and yet they have someone young enough and charismatic enough to do exactly that. What Lynch found was lightning in a bottle, but in Rhea Ripley’s run to the gold in NXT, she had some of the loudest reactions anyone could hear in any arena. And that’s why it is time more than ever to call her up. Raw more than any show WWE produces has the biggest identity problem. Drew McIntyre is great, but he doesn’t mirror the level of his counterparts on SmackDown in Roman Reigns and Sasha Banks. Rhea Ripley can mirror that star power with the right push to the top. Her time in NXT is up and Raw needs her more than ever. She has all the tools to become the biggest star in WWE, it’s just a matter if WWE allows her to do that.
It’s time for brutality to be unleashed on the main roster. It’s time for Rhea Ripley to take her talents to the top.
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