In WWE NXT, Rhea Ripley as become a fast rising star in their women’s division. She would be on the winning side of the first Women’s Wargames match in WWE history, and would become NXT Women’s Champion shortly after, defeating Shayna Baszler. Losing the title at Wrestlemania 36 to Charlotte Flair, she became the first person to defend an NXT Championship at Wrestlemania. However, she was never meant to be this star, she was only supposed to be a one off challenger for Baszler.
Having previously made her name in NXT UK where she was the first NXT UK Women’s Champion, she had been kept away from NXT where Shayna Baszler had beat them all. As a way to introducde her to the fans of NXT, she would interrupt a promo from Shayna Baszler to challenge her. This would change the course of her career.
Fans Exploded When Rhea Ripley Showed Up To Challenge Shayna Baszler
‘Shayna had gone through pretty much everyone in NXT. I had finished with NXT UK and handed it off to Piper. I was coming into NXT to do that promo. We were supposed to do a match later that night, because everything was taped at that time, and I was supposed to tap out. It was supposed to be a one-off, I tap out, and that’s it. As soon as my music hit, Full Sail was so loud. I cut my promo, the best I’ve had, and people popped so loud for it.
I came back and everyone backstage was like, ‘That was really good.’ We go to get changed and Sara Del Rey comes in and goes, ‘Change of plans, Rhea got too big of a pop, we have to change the ending.’ Shayna was like, ‘We’ve been telling you this for weeks. Every time we’re on a road loop, Rhea gets the biggest pop out of anyone.’ ‘Yup, we believe you now.’ They were like, ‘We need to do a DQ so we can continue it.’
This is proof that fans can absolutely influence how someones career can go. If they didn’t react so strongly to Ripley when her music blasted in Full Sail University, we might have never seen her facing off with Charlotte Flair in the best match from Wrestlemania 36. Who do you think would have taken the belt of Shayna Baszler had Ripley not become the star she is today? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get The Overtimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
