Road To WrestleMania 39: Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair

“If you didn’t know the future of women’s wrestling is Rhea Ripley, now you know.” – Trish Stratus

WWE WrestleMania 39 is set to feature the latest chapter in the rivalry between Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair when “The Nightmare” challenges “The Queen” for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. It wasn’t a rematch that many fans had on their radar until Ripley won the Royal Rumble and selected Flair as the champion she wanted to face at the “Show of Shows.” But in hindsight, it’s absolutely a rematch that should be happening now.

2019 marked a major turning point for Ripley as she transitioned from NXT UK over to NXT and was warmly welcomed by Full Sail fans, setting her up to be the next face of the women’s division. The lead up to Survivor Series was even more crucial as Ripley had her hands full leading the charge for both a WarGames match and a 15-woman Survivor Series tag bout. During a November episode of SmackDown, Ripley — still considered a rookie — was thrown into a triple threat match against decorated former champions Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks. As it played out, Ripley pinned Flair for the upset victory.

From there, Ripley pinned Shayna Baszler inside WarGames and then pinned Banks the next night at Survivor Series to keep her momentum rolling. Less than a month later, Ripley pulled off what few had been able to do when she slammed Baszler with a Riptide off the top rope and pinned her to capture her first NXT Women’s Championship.

Ripley walked into 2020 with her confidence so high that she laid out a bold challenge. After Flair won the Royal Rumble, Ripley appeared on Raw to confront her. The surprise meeting ultimately led to Flair officially declaring she would challenge for the NXT title at WrestleMania 36.

The world had other plans for WrestleMania 36, though, when the pandemic forced the event to relocate from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa to WWE’s own Performance Center with no fans in…