One of the most powerful women in the WWE ring, since her early days in the company, Rhea Ripley has been known for her brutality in the ring, having already conquered practically everything there is to conquer. Presently, she is the holder of the Women’s World Championship .
Born on October 11, 1996 in the Australian city of Adelaide, Demi Bennett’s real name practiced swimming, karate, rugby, soccer and netball before debuting in the rings of Riot City Wrestling, from Australia, in June 2013.
Four years later, she joined WWE, having started by competing in the Mae Young Classic tournament before making her NXT debut on October 25, 2017. Since then, she has been adding up, having already won the NXT UK Women’s Championship, the NXT Women’s Championship , WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship (with Nikki Cross), the Raw Women’s Championship , and the SmackDown Women’s Championship , all at once. At the same time, she won the women’s Royal Rumble match in 2023, in a match in which she became the first woman to emerge victorious after entering the first position and set a female record for time in the ring: one hour, one minute and eight seconds .
It is therefore worth remembering the ten best fights of Rhea Ripley’s career, in chronological order.
NXT (December 18, 2019)
NXT Women’s Championship : Shayna Baszler (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
On the August 28, 2019 episode, Rhea Ripley made a surprising return to NXT by interrupting Brand Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler. The Australian said that Baszler had already defeated every woman in NXT except Ripley. Meanwhile, both led their respective teams at TakeOver: WarGames, with Team Ripley (Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai) beating Team Baszler (Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray) .
On the following episode of NXT , Rhea Ripley congratulated Shayna Baszler for defeating Becky Lynch (Raw Champion) and Bayley (SmackDown Champion) at Survivor Series , but recalled the reigning championNXT that Team Ripley beat Team Baszler at WarGames and challenged them to a title match.
A week later, it was announced that Baszler and Ripley would face each other for the NXT Women’s Championship on the December 18 episode.
NXT TakeOver: In Your House (June 7, 2020)
NXT Women’s Championship : Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai
After winning the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble match , Charlotte Flair said on the February 3 episode of Raw that she had previously defeated Raw ( Becky Lynch ) and SmackDown ( Bayley ) champions and had held those belts multiple times. Having said that, NXT Champion Rhea Ripley interrupted her and said that Charlotte should challenge her, not least because Charlotte had never beaten Ripley.
After Ripley defended the NXT Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair at TakeOver: Portland on February 16 , she was attacked by Charlotte, who accepted the Australian’s challenge for a match at WrestleMania , thus making it official the first time that a Royal Rumble winner chose to fight for an NXT title and also the first time that an NXT belt was defended at the biggest event of the year.
At WrestleMania 36, Charlotte won the NXT Women’s Championship for the second time in her career by beating Ripley via submission, via a Figure-Eight Leglock .
On the following episode of NXT , Io Shirai won a six-woman ladder match to earn the opportunity to face Charlotte for the title.
On the May 6 episode of the NXT Women’s Championship match , Shirai defeated Charlotte via disqualification. After the duel, Ripley returned to the television shows after a few weeks of absence and saved Shirai.
Two weeks later, a match between Shirai and Ripley ended in a no-contest after Charlotte attacked both of them, which led to a triple threat match between the three for the title at NXT TakeOver: In Your House .
NXT (August 5, 2020)
#1 Contender; NXT Women’s Championship : Dakota Kai vs. Rhea Ripley
At TakeOver: In Your House, Io Shirai defeated former champion Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley to win the NXT Women’s Championship . At the same time, Tegan Nox defeated Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai and Mia Yim at The Great American Bash to become the main contender for the title.
On the July 15 episode, Io Shirai beat Tegan Nox to retain the NXT Women’s Championship , but after the match she was attacked by Dakota Kai. However, a match between Dakota Kai and Rhea Ripley was scheduled for the August 5 episode to determine the main contender for the title.
NXT Super Tuesday II (September 8, 2020)
Steel Cage match : Mercedes Martinez vs. Rhea Ripley
On the July 22 episode of NXT , Robert Stone recruited Mercedes Martinez to the Robert Stone Brand after Martinez attacked Shotzi Blackheart. Two weeks later, Mercedes Martinez helped Dakota Kai beat Rhea Ripley in a match to determine the main contender for the NXT Women’s Championship , having attacked the Australian after the duel.
However, Martinez and Ripley were involved in confrontations and tag team matches in the weeks that followed. On August 19, Shotzi Blackheart and Rhea Ripley beat Aliyah and Mercedes Martinez. The following week, Martinez cost Ripley and Io Shirai a match against Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez.
On the September 1 episode, NXTSuper Tuesday I, a Steel Cage match between Ripley and Martinez was scheduled for a week later.
NXT Halloween Havoc 2020
Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez
At NXT TakeOver XXX, Raquel González accompanied Dakota Kai in her loss to champion Io Shirai, in a match in which the NXT Women’s Championship was on the line. After the feud, González attacked Shirai but was confronted by Ripley . González and Kai beat Ripley and Shirai on the ensuing episode of NXT , after interference from Mercedes Martínez.
After Ripley beat Martínez in a Steel Cage match at NXT Super Tuesday in early September, a match between Ripley and González was scheduled for Halloween Havoc .
NXT (November 18, 2020)
NXT Women’s Championship : Io Shirai (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
At Halloween Havoc , Rhea Ripley defeated Raquel Gonzalez, while Io Shirai retained the NXT Women’s Championship by defeating Candice LeRae in a Tables, Ladders and Scares match. A week later, on the November 4 episode of NXT , Io Shirai said that she wanted to prove herself as the reigning brand by challenging Rhea Ripley to a match. Ripley stressed that, since she lost the title, she still hadn’t fought to regain it in a singles match . However, the title match between the two was scheduled for the November 18 episode.
WrestleMania 37 (Night 2 – April 11, 2021)
WWE Raw Women’s Championship : Asuka (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
A fight with a simple genesis. On the March 22 episode of Raw , after Asuka successfully defended the Raw Women’s Championship against Peyton Royce, Rhea Ripley made her main roster debut and immediately challenged the Japanese woman to a title match at WrestleMania 37, which challenge was accepted.
WrestleMania Backlash (2021)
WWE Raw Women’s Championship : Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
At WrestleMania 37, Ripley captured the Raw Women’s Championship by pinning Asuka after applying a Riptide . Ripley defended the title against Asuka the following night, on Raw , but the match ended in a no-contest after interference from the returning Charlotte , who attacked Asuka .
A week later, Charlotte lost a match to Asuka due to a distraction caused by Ripley. After the duel, Flair became enraged and attacked the referee. Due to the assault on the referee, Charlotte was suspended by authority figure Adam Pearce, but was reinstated on the orders of another authority figure, Sonya Deville, upon a public apology by Charlotte on Raw .
On the May 3 episode of Raw , Ripley and Asuka were scheduled to compete for the Raw Women’s Championship for WrestleMania Backlash , but Charlotte was added to the match by Deville.
Money in the Bank 2021
WWE Raw Women’s Championship : Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
At WrestleMania Backlash, Rhea Ripley retained the WWE Raw Women’s Championship against Asuka and Charlotte Flair after applying a Riptide to the Japanese woman .
The following night on Raw , Charlotte Flair confronted authority figures Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville, demanding from them another title opportunity , as it was not Charlotte who suffered the bottoming at WrestleMania Backlash . Pearce and Deville said they would consider this request if Charlotte won a match against Asuka , but Charlotte lost thanks to a distraction caused by Ripley.
The following week, Charlotte faced Asuka again and this time got the upper hand, receiving another title opportunity at Hell in a Cell . At that pay-per-view , Rhea Ripley lost the match via disqualification, but Charlotte didn’t win the title since titles don’t change hands when there are disqualifications .
The following night, on Raw , a new match was scheduled between the two, once again for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship , for Money in the Bank .
WrestleMania 39 (Night 1)
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship : Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
Rhea Ripley won the women’s Royal Rumble match in 2023 despite entering in the first position, having also set the record for the time of a woman in the ring in a Royal Rumble match: one hour, one minute and eight seconds . The following night on Raw , Ripley chose to face Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship , thus reuniting with the woman who defeated her for the NXT Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36 .