Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley welcomed Charlotte Flair to her brutality as she captured the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 39.

Eventually, a Rip Tide from the top rope was enough for Ripley to pick up the win and the SmackDown Women’s Title. Late on, Flair survived a Rip Tide for a two count with Ripley kicking out of a Spear to The Queen’s surprise. Rhea Ripley booked her place in a title match for WrestleMania 39 by virtue of outlasting twenty-nine other stars and going coast to coast in the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble.

IF RIPLEY WINS TITLE Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair on NIGHT X of WrestleMania 39 on Xday to win the SmackDown...

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. 1 entrant, lasting for one hour, one minute and eight seconds, which is the all-time longest record for the women's contest. The ending sequence of a brutal and physical match began when Ripley slammed Flair's head off the top of the ring post.

The SmackDown Women's Championship match at WrestleMania saw Charlotte Flair defending against Rhea Ripley. Ripley was able to secure a win after hitting the ' ...

We have a NEW A new SmackDown Women’s Champion crowned. The SmackDown Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania saw Charlotte Flair defending against Rhea Ripley.

After shooting her shot at the SmackDown Women's Champion as the Royal Rumble winner, Rhea Ripley dethroned "The Queen" at WrestleMania.

But at WrestleMania 39, Flair was afforded a chance to prove whether or not she’s still the top woman in WWE, as she went up against a starving Rhea Ripley who wanted nothing more than to prove she’s the now. She’s won more world championships than any other woman in WWE history, has headlined “Premium Live Events” across the country, and will eventually join fellow WrestleMania performers Lita, Trish Stratus, and Rey Mysterio in the Hall of Fame when she decides to hang up her robes for good. Flair, to her credit, took part in one of the most hard-hitting matches in her career, taking shots to the head, a Rip Tide, and even a particularly brutal headshot to a turnbuckle that left her seemingly unconscious and ultimately set up for an avalanche Ripley Rip Tide for the 1-2-3.

Rhea Ripley seemed ascendant three years ago at WrestleMania, but she wasn't. Now she is in the main event of Night 1 at WrestleMania 39.

And I want them to know that it’s OK to be themselves and look how they want to look. I imagine that’s a blessing and a curse in some ways because, if you’re out in public, you’re just trying to have a day off. It’s just it’s been fun to watch his evolution and him grow into the Latino Heat that he is today. I think right now I would love to have Dom Dom induct me. I’m saying what I want to say and I’m doing what I want to do. And it’s really cool because that’s where a lot of people get connected to your character as well because they get to interact more with you since you’re not just focused on the camera. Because I want them to know that you don’t always have to please people in your life. But if I’m outside of work I’ll be nicer to them, and I’ll encourage them to do whatever they want, because obviously, I want people to feel comfortable in their own skin. Q: I’ve seen video of you at house shows where you interact with people along the aisle and like you know, your main character is trying to scare people or interact in different ways. And I think a lot of us grew in that period of time. And it’s funny, because that’s not just Rhea Ripley, but that’s me as a person. This time Ripley won the Royal Rumble and challenged Flair for the SmackDown women’s title in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania on Saturday.

Australian WWE star Rhea Ripley has won the SmackDown women's championship on the opening night of WrestleMania 39.

I want to stand out but in a way that screams me. “I strive to be different but also myself. They wear a lot of things I do. I’m going out there and being myself. I’m growing as a human outside of wrestling, which is following through into my wrestling character. She’s acquired several tattoos on a bulked up physique, while black lipstick has become part of her wrestling uniform.

Rhea Ripley has said her aim is to make history after adding the SmackDown Women's Championship to the four other titles she has won in WWE.

Now I’m confident, but I also have the skill set to back it up. I think the main thing is I’ve grown up. I was NXT Women’s Champion, and Charlotte had just won the Royal Rumble, and I was like, “You know what, if she wants to challenge me, bring it.”

ALEX McCARTHY IN LOS ANGELES: Speaking to SportsMail at SoFi Stadium on Saturday, Ripley explained how Edge - Adam Copeland - talked her into joining the ...

it's going to come back to me and Bianca and it's going to be these are the two girls who are changing the women's division and taking over and they are going head-to-head to see who is leading now. Knowing that he was going to be a part of it too, I was so down. We have great chemistry and while I didn't know what my chemistry was going to be like with Edge, but I knew I would learn. Edge came to me and said ''I have this idea, would you be down'' and I was like ''Absolutely!''' It was one of my childhood dreams - I cried when he retired. 'I remember Edge came to me one day, I was tagging with Liv Morgan at the time,' Ripley explained.