Weeks ago, it was announced that former NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley would be moving to the RAW roster. After weeks of teasing, WWE has finally revealed that the Nightmare will be making her debut on the Red Brand this Monday, the day after Fastlane.
As Rhea Ripley makes the move from NXT to RAW, here are just a few of her potential first rivals on the brand.
Shayna Baszler
Back in NXT, Shayna Baszler was a huge rival for Rhea Ripley. Ripley and the Submission Magician enjoyed a vicious rivalry, that resulted in Baszler dropping the NXT Women’s Championship to the young star after a lengthy reign.
Shayna Baszler has had a mixed run on the main roster, and despite coming to RAW as a force to be reckoned with, she has fallen into a strange comedic role with her tag team partner Nia Jax, who she appears to despise.
When Rhea Ripley comes to Monday Night RAW, she and Shayna Baszler could reignite their rivalry from late 2019.
Charlotte Flair
In the build-up to WrestleMania 36, Charlotte Flair chose to target Rhea Ripley and the NXT Women’s Championship in a shock move following her Royal Rumble victory. Fans expected Rhea Ripley to retain the title but were left stunned when Flair was victorious at WrestleMania.
In some ways, it seemed as though Rhea Ripley never quite recovered from the loss in NXT. It felt like her title reign should have lasted much longer than what it actually did.
When Rhea Ripley debuts on RAW tonight, an obvious choice would be for her to seek vengeance from Flair for what went down last April and kick off a feud that could potentially save the flagging RAW women’s division.
Asuka
Launching Rhea Ripley straight into the title scene on her RAW debut would be a great move. The star put on an amazing showing during the 2021 Royal Rumble, and having her confront Asuka and begin chasing the RAW Women’s Championship would be a great way to capitalize on her momentum from then.
Despite being only 24 years old, Ripley has proven that she is championship material. She is the only woman as of now to have held both the NXT UK and the NXT Women’s Title. Having her challenge Asuka for the RAW Women’s Championship would inject some much-needed life into the women’s title scene on the red brand, which had been near-enough non-existent.
Do you think that Ripley will go after one of these three women or do you think there will be other plans in store for The Nightmare? Discuss in the comment section below.
