Rhea Ripley Beats Zoey Stark, Retains Women’s World Title at WWE Survivor Series 2023
Rhea #Rhea
Rhea Ripley defeated Zoey Stark at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames on Saturday to retain the Women’s World Championship.
Stark almost had her opponent in trouble after a running knee, but The Eradicator recovered and eventually put her rival in position for Riptide to seal the win.
Leading up to Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, several of the top contenders in the Raw women’s division attempted to challenge Ripley to a title match, and Raw general manager Adam Pearce decided to give all of them an opportunity.
Much to Mami’s chagrin, she had to defend the women’s world title in a Fatal 5-Way match at Crown Jewel against Stark, Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler and Raquel Rodriguez.
While the Australian emerged victorious and escaped with her title reign intact, it was the toughest challenge of her time as champion to that point, as she was milliseconds away from dropping the belt on multiple occasions.
On the heels of Ripley’s impressive win, Pearce booked a Battle Royal on Raw with the winner earning the right to challenge for the title at Survivor Series.
Stark and Baszler worked together to eliminate both Jax and Rodriguez, resulting in them being the final two competitors left in the match.
They battled it out on the apron, but Stark secured the victory by hitting The Queen of Spades with multiple superkicks followed by a DDT onto the apron.
During a backstage segment later in the night, Ripley seemed to dismiss Stark as a threat since she already beat her and three others at Crown Jewel, but Stark reminded her rival that she was a heartbeat away from taking the title in Saudi Arabia.
Stark entered Survivor Series having never held a singles title in WWE, but she is one of the most athletic and explosive in-ring workers in the company, which made facing her a dangerous proposition for Ripley.
Even so, the leader of The Judgment Day managed to overcome Stark’s challenge and extend one of the most dominant women’s title reigns in WWE history.
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