Rhea Ripley Chooses Charlotte Flair over Bianca Belair for WWE WrestleMania 39 Match

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2023 Royal Rumble winner Rhea Ripley made her choice for her WrestleMania 39 opponent on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.

Ripley announced that she will challenge SmackDown women’s champion Charlotte Flair on the grandest stage of them all. Ripley’s choice leaves Raw women’s champion Bianca Belair still waiting to find out her opponent for the two-night event, which will take place on April 1-2.

Ripley chose Flair because of their prior history, which still irks her to this day. In 2020 when Flair won the Royal Rumble, then-NXT women’s champion Ripley made the bold move to challenge The Queen to a title match at WrestleMania 36. Flair accepted, making the Australian superstar the first NXT champion ever to defend their title at WWE’s marquee event.

However, Ripley came to regret her decision when Flair pinned her to end her title reign after just under four months. The 26-year-old was unable to avenge her loss at the time, as she had to take time off to address visa issues because the pandemic made it impossible for her to travel to Australia.

The history between Flair and Ripley doesn’t end there. After Ripley won the Raw women’s championship at WrestleMania 37, Flair defeated her for the title at the 2021 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, ending her reign at 98 days.

While it will be interesting to see Ripley chase after redemption, a potential match between her and Belair would have been an exciting match between the two best young women’s wrestlers on the WWE roster. Both Belair and Ripley are cornerstones who will carry the women’s division for years to come, and fans are still salivating for the moment they ignite their rivalry.