Why Rhea Ripley Won & Why Dominik Mysterio Lost at WrestleMania 39 – WWE News April 2023
Why Rhea Ripley Won & Why Dominik Mysterio Lost at WrestleMania 39 – WWE News April 2023
WrestleMania 39 Night 1 is over and we now have the shocking real reasons behind the winners and losers of the matches. In a match that was several months in.
Three years ago, many WWE fans expected that year’s WrestleMania 36 to be the launching point for Rhea Ripley. She was the women’s champion of WWE’s NXT brand, which often serves as the feeder league for the main WWE roster. Charlotte Flair, the most decorated female star in the WWE, won that year’s Royal Rumble, earning her a title shot against anyone she wanted. Instead of challenging the champion of the “Raw” or “SmackDown,” brands, Flair surprisingly challenged Ripley.
It was assumed that Ripley would win, move up to the main roster and become the dominate star. Instead, she lost by submission to Flair, then disappeared for a while returning to Australia to deal with work visa issues. She returned to NXT and didn’t get promoted until almost a year after WrestleMania 36. Over the last year, since becoming aligned with the Judgment Day faction, she has become arguably the most popular woman on the roster, even though she is a heel. With her goth look and power moves (occasionally even power slamming men), there is a definite buzz in the arena when she enters.
It all culminated back where it was three years ago. 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. We recently talked to Ripley about her journey.
Q: Three years ago, it seemed you were on the cusp of being one of the top WWE stars, instead, you lost and your rise was delayed. Do you look back at that night with any sense of disappointment?
Ripley: Charlotte and I wrestled in front of zero people at WrestleMania (note: WrestleMania 36 was held in an empty arena because of the Covid pandemic). That’s a historic moment right there. And we absolutely tore the house down. We went out there and left everything that we had in that ring. Even though there was no adrenaline, there was no noise, there was no nothing. So I am not disappointed in that match. Obviously, the outcome sucks to me wanting to win. But I’m not disappointed in that match at all. It’s actually one of my favorites. It was a very hard time for a lot of us. And I think a lot of us grew in that period of time.
Q: You seem to have improved by leaps and bounds over the last two years. Do you feel that?
