{"id":160011,"date":"2026-05-04T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=160011"},"modified":"2026-05-03T23:06:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T03:06:05","slug":"every-real-threat-to-rhea-ripley-before-wwe-summerslam-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/05\/04\/every-real-threat-to-rhea-ripley-before-wwe-summerslam-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Real Threat to Rhea Ripley Before WWE SummerSlam 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rhea Ripley dethroned Jade Cargill at<span>\u00a0<\/span>WrestleMania 42<span> to become the new WWE Champion, and she did all of that in ten minutes. In this day and age, that is considered the average time for a pro wrestling match within the confines of the WWE. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Whether that average time caters to the severely diminished attention span of this generation or reflects deficiencies in the creative process, some individuals could probably take a break to make a bagel with cream cheese or a peanut butter jelly sandwich and miss the entire match before coming back to a plethora of superfluous ads. Nonetheless, <\/span>Rhea Ripley moved on from Jade Cargill and is currently feuding with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/04\/30\/wwe-smackdown-predictions-05-1-26-jacy-jayne-will-fluster-charlotte-flair\/\" target=\"_self\">Jacy Jayne<\/a>, who has as much of a chance of dethroning Ripley as the NY Mets have at winning another World Series.<\/p>\n<p><span>However, it would be quite insular to acquiesce to the vices of Major League Baseball when analogizing the inexcusable shortcomings of the women&#8217;s division on SmackDown. Jacy Jayne and Fatal Influence are cowardly heels who nefariously succeeded throughout their NXT careers. However, their skill levels on the microphone and in the ring are inadequate for world title contention. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This is not to say that they should be eating green beans in catering. Rather, they are just better suited in the mid-card and tag divisions. Jacy Jayne would be a major threat to Tiffany Stratton&#8217;s U.S. Title, and Fallon Henley and Lainey Reed would be major threats to Paige and Brie Bella&#8217;s Tag Titles. With that being said, here are the three actual threats to Ripley&#8217;s World Title on the road to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/04\/23\/wwe-summerslam-2026-predictions-full-match-card-after-wrestlemania-42\/5\/\" target=\"_self\"><span>\u00a0<\/span><span>SummerSlam<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SmackDown Predictions - Mark Justice\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PL4Cbox4S9rfP8S9n7AwSptkab9sy3yzdp\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Blake Monroe<\/h2>\n<p>Blake Monroe is set to debut on SmackDown soon, and she should be a top candidate to dethrone Rhea Ripley. Blake Monroe<span> has had compelling character work ever since her time in AEW as Mariah May. The fact that she was the champ of the mid-card in NXT when she is actually world championship material is baffling. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She has this majestic and captivating aura to her that makes the fans listen to every word that comes out of her mouth and pay attention to every move she makes in matches and segments. <\/span><span>Other than her character work being worth an investment, she has also been delivering bangers in the ring, stealing the show at every event. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Her immense talents have proven that she is already main roster-ready, and the most notable feud in her career was with &#8220;Timeless&#8221; Toni Storm. Rhea Ripley also has plenty of history with Toni Storm from her days in NXT UK, and it can be argued that said feud was the best feud of Ripley&#8217;s entire career as well. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If Blake Monroe can win the Queen of the Ring Tournament, that would launch her straight to a world title match against Rhea Ripley at SummerSlam. However, since she is European, it would even be more suitable for her to have a battle with Ripley for the title at Clash in Italy. If WWE wants to sell tickets, they would not hesitate to book that match.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Lash Legend<\/h2>\n<p>Rhea Ripley eliminated Lash Legend in the Royal Rumble, but she pinned Ripley to win the tag titles with Nia Jax. Although this was a tag match, it was still a major statement. Legend can call back to that moment and let Ripley know that she can pin her again, but this time, it will be for the World Title.<\/p>\n<p>Also, Legend&#8217;s tag partner, Nia Jax, has a lot of history with Ripley, as they had torn the house down in their home country of Australia back at Elimination Chamber in 2024. Jax can use her history with Ripley to help Legend tell a more compelling story with Ripley as she gets her feet wet in singles competition as a young, eager, and hungry upstart.<\/p>\n<h2>Alexa Bliss<\/h2>\n<p>Alexa Bliss is a five-time World Champion who has not been a World Champion since 2018. That was eight years ago, which is disgraceful considering her superior skills on the microphone, decent work rate in the ring, and fastidious attention to detail in her storytelling.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, the days are numbered for this team between Bliss and Charlotte, as <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.cagesideseats.com\/wwe\/438522\/dark-alexa-bliss-retired-wwe-releases-wyatt-sicks-bray-respect-uncle-howdy-gone-lilly-cameo\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it is time for Bliss to carve her own path<\/a>. Ever since losing the tag titles, she has been eating pins and getting the short end of the stick every time, and she even got eliminated by Charlotte in the Rumble. Betraying Charlotte with a heel turn would help Bliss regain the momentum she needs to target Ripley&#8217;s World Title.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 610px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"8afcbf7a9ed3fd6bf7763b62addc7cf8\" image-id=\"3He6YPcZnoFV\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 2145px; aspect-ratio: 2145\/3150;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Honorable Mention: Giulia<\/h2>\n<p>Rhea Ripley vs. Blake Monroe, Lash Legend, or Alexa Bliss would all be fresh matchups that have never been done before on WWE television. However, Rhea Ripley vs. Giulia was a match that was done on television on the road to &#8216;Mania.<\/p>\n<p>During that match, Giulia delivered a brutal stomp to Ripley that bruised her eye. That match inconclusively ended in disqualification to protect Giulia, who was the U.S. Champion at the time. However, now that she has lost the title to Tiffany Stratton, Giulia can move up from mid-card to the main event scene and run it back with Ripley for a world title match. If not, she can just be relegated to the tag division with Kiana James.<\/p>\n<p>However, it must be noted that none of these opponents on SmackDown would be more ideal to dethrone Rhea Ripley than IYO SKY, who is currently on Raw and will be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/05\/03\/wwe-backlash-2026-predictions-kairi-sane-will-help-iyo-sky-wreak-vengeance-on-asuka\/\" target=\"_self\">battling Asuka at Backlash this Saturday<\/a>. If IYO SKY wins the Queen of the Ring Tournament this year and challenges her best friend, Rhea Ripley, for the WWE Title, she would essentially move to SmackDown to reunite with her best friend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 610px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBsBnelLLk\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 4069px; aspect-ratio: 4069\/3255;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>IYO has had Rhea&#8217;s number since day one, as Ripley has been unable to defeat her. That track alone makes her the biggest threat. And, if IYO SKY beats her again at SummerSlam, that could make Ripley snap, turn heel, and break the team of RHIYO forever.<\/p>\n<p><span>If you\u2019re not down with just that and would like even more WWW SmackDown Coverage from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@MarkTBKJustice1327\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span>Mark Justice<\/span><\/a><span>, check out more of his articles right here on LWOS and subscribe to his popular YouTube channel by clicking\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@MarkTBKJustice1327\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span>HERE<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rhea Ripley dethroned Jade Cargill at\u00a0WrestleMania 42 to become the new WWE Champion, and she did all of that in ten minutes. In this day and age, that is considered the average time for a pro wrestling match within the confines of the WWE. Whether that average time caters to the severely diminished attention span [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5747,"featured_media":160698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2192,3,320],"tags":[168,9425,5900,8349,3041],"class_list":["post-160011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wwe","category-wrestling","category-wwe-universe","category-wwe-women","tag-alexa-bliss","tag-blake-monroe","tag-giulia","tag-lash-legend","tag-rhea-ripley"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5747"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160011"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160941,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160011\/revisions\/160941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}