When Rhea Ripley, the 21 year old tall, blonde haired Australian made her way into The Mae Young Classic in 2017, the comparisons to Charlotte Flair were almost immediate. Ripley herself said in interviews for the tournament that she had been compared to Charlotte on multiple occasions. She would not be compared to Flair much longer. After losing in the second round during the inaugural tournament, Ripley would come back the following year sporting a new look and a new attitude.
This new version of Ripley had cut off some of that perfect blonde hair, darkened it, and had this bad ass, idgaf energy. This new and improved look with the attitude attached would lead Ripley all the way to the Semi Finals of the 2nd annual tournament. She eventually would be defeated by the current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Iyo Sky (formally known as Io Shirai). But this dominant run in the tournament would put her on the radar for NXT’s newest show: NXT UK.
Not soon long after The MYC, Ripley would find herself in another tournament: this time to determine the inaugural NXT UK Women’s Champion. The 8 woman tournament would have Ripley defeat the likes of current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Dakota Kai, as well as the current AEW Women’s Interim Champion Toni Storm. After defeating Storm, Ripley would become the new and 1st ever NXT UK Women’s Champion! After a whopping 139 day reign as the first female Australian champion, Ripley would go on to lose the title to the woman she beat in the finals of the tournament: Toni Storm.
After her time in NXT UK, Ripley would come across the pond to NXT. This is where she would go on to have a lot more firsts in her career. Ripley would lead her team to victory in the 1st ever Women’s WarGames match! Her teammate Dakota Kai turned on the team by taking out Tegan Nox, leading Ripley to win the match with only Candice LeRae on her side (not a bad pick if you ask me). Keeping that momentum going, the following night both Ripley and LeRae, now along side Io Shirai (as well as Toni Storm and Bianca Belair) would win the Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Match at the PPV in 2019. This was the 1st and only time the NXT Brand had a showing in the PPV’s history.
During this time of making history, the Nightmare, as she was now being called, would get the chance to take on her rival: NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler. Not only did Ripley confront Baszler when arriving in NXT, she also pinned Baszler for the winning pinfall during the WarGames Match. After about a month of going back and forth, Ripley would defeat Baszler to become NXT Women’s Champion- making her the 1st woman to be both NXT UK and NXT Women’s Champion.
Those comparisons mentioned previously between Ripley and Flair would finally come full circle when Ripley went on Monday Night Raw to confront the winner of the 2020 Royal Rumble: Charlotte Flair. Ripley offered Flair a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship at Wrestlemania, a title Flair had previously held for 258 days. This would the 1st time an NXT Title would be defended on the Biggest Stage Of Them All, as well as the first time the 2 women would be facing each other 1-on-1.
Ripley would go on to lose the title to Flair on the 2nd night of Wrestlemania 36. After this defeat, Ripley would return back home to Australia due to Visa issues. It would not be until the following month we would see the return of the Nightmare Rhea Ripley back in NXT trying to reclaim the title. With multiple opportunities, Ripley would not be able to successfully regain her NXT Women’s Title. She would have her final match in NXT in 2021.
After close to a full year removed from losing her title, Ripley would debut on Raw to challenge the Raw Women’s Champion Asuka for the title at Wrestlemania 37. Unlike the previous year, Ripley would win the match, giving her her 1st Raw Women’s Championship! But luck would not be on Ripley’s side 98 days later at Money In The Bank. The woman who took the NXT Title from her would be the one to defeat her again- Charlotte Flair.
Months later, Ripley would make her way into the Tag Team Division, having quite a bit of success. She went on to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships with then partner Nikki A.S.H. They would hold the titles for around 2 months before losing them to Zelina Vega and Carmella. This loss caused Nikki to attack Ripley, thus ending their partnership. It would not take Ripley long to find a partner she had chemistry with; that being Liv Morgan.
Although the 2 had tremendous amounts of chemistry and success together, Liv For Brutality could not win the Tag Titles. And after one too many losses, Rhea Ripley snapped.
Ripley was sought out to be an enforcer if you will. She would become the 3rd member of the faction Judgement Day, at the time fronted by WWE Hall of Famer Edge.
The Rhea Ripley we now see on t.v., the Eradicator of the Judgement Day, is nowhere near the same person from 2018. And that is not a bad thing at all. She continues to prove she can hang with both the women and the men, multiple times getting physically involved in Judgement Day’s matches if necessary. And Ripley recently competed in her first match after an injury put her on the shelf for well over 100 days. It was only fitting that it was in NXT, where she first started making a name for herself.
Its time to get ready for a new and improved Rhea Ripley.
This is her BRUTALITY.