Rhea Ripley won the women’s Royal Rumble match this past Saturday night in San Antonio, Texas, entering at number one and going for over an hour to score the victory and book a ticket to a championship match at WrestleMania 39 in Inglewood come April.
But what championship would she choose to go after?
As it turned out, we didn’t have to wait long to find out. Indeed, with Elimination Chamber just a couple weeks away, WWE wasted no time having Ripley announce her decision on Monday Night Raw this week.
She’s challenging Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown women’s championship.
BREAKING: 2023 #RoyalRumble Match winner @RheaRipley_WWE has chosen to challenge #SmackDown Women’s Champion @MsCharlotteWWE at #WrestleMania!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/lcdInCK0Fk
— WWE (@WWE) January 31, 2023
There is some backstory here. Back in 2020, Flair won the Royal Rumble and chose to challenge Ripley for the NXT women’s championship at WrestleMania 36. She won the title there too.
Now, Rhea wants her payback.
The updated WrestleMania 39 match card:
WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
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