Rhea Ripley made an emphatic debut on last week’s episode of Monday Night RAW by entering the title picture, straightaway. She appeared following Asuka’s hard-fought win over Peyton Royce to immediately make her intentions clear. The former NXT Women’s Champion called out Asuka for a RAW Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania 37.
The challenge was accepted on the spot as Rhea Ripley will compete against Asuka in the Raw Women’s Title Match at the Grandest Stage of Them All. Since Asuka has been carrying the belt for almost the entire 2020 and 2021, there’s been a need for a new face to capture it. The deliverer of Brutality is expected to fill that spot by capturing the title.
Rhea Ripley’s Wrestlemania 37 Plans Changed By WWE
If Rhea Ripley does win the title at WrestleMania 37 then she will be the first woman in WWE history to hold titles on NXT, NXT UK, and on the main roster – RAW/SmackDown. While speaking on the latest episode of WWE After the Bell, co-hosts Corey Graves and Vic Joseph talked about the upcoming match at the Show of Shows.
Vic Joseph mentioned the fact with the following words,
“If Rhea Ripley defeats Asuka, she will be the first women ever and superstar ever to hold titles on NXT UK, NXT and Raw or SmackDown. She’d be the first one to ever do it. That to me is cool because of the brand history I have with NXT and NXT UK. I am very much looking forward to that much, that is at the top of my list. Asuka and Rhea Ripley are at the top of my list for WrestleMania matches, that’s what I’m going to be glued to.” (Quotes courtesy Wrestling Inc)
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Rhea Ripley could win the title at Wrestlemania 37
Rhea Ripley will also be a female NXT Superstar to win a championship in her very first singles match as the main roster superstar. Paige was the one to do so back in 2014 by defeating AJ Lee in her debut match to win the Divas Title. Ripley has participated in Royal Rumble matches and at last year’s WrestleMania but that was as an NXT Superstar.
Some fans mentioned via Social Media that Rhea Ripley could also become the youngest RAW Women’s Champion in history at WrestleMania 37 but that won’t be the case. If The Nightmare wins the Title on Night 2 of WrestleMania 37 on April 11, she would do so at an age of 24 years and 182 days.
In that case, she would miss that record by a couple of days since Sasha Banks currently holds the record of becoming the youngest RAW Women’s Champion in history – at 24 years and 181 days who defeated Charlotte Flair to achieve the same back in July 2016.