WrestleMania 39 was a grand two-night event that saw Roman Reigns retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship over Cody Rhodes, WWE Hall of Famers Trish Stratus and Lita team with Becky Lynch to defeat Damage CNTRL, Snoop Dogg defeat The Miz after Shane McMahon’s quads got the win over him, and it also saw Rhea Ripley get her WrestleMania win back over Charlotte Flair.
Ripley had won the 2023 Royal Rumble and chose Flair, who was SmackDown Women’s Champion, as her opponent. The decision mirrored Flair’s 2020 Rumble victory, where she chose Ripley to face for the NXT Women’s Championship at that year’s “Showcase of the Immortals.” Flair won the NXT gold from Ripley that year, and following her own official main roster call-up in 2021 and huge Rumble victory, Ripley was out for “The Queen’s” title at WrestleMania 39.
“The Eradicator” had only been on the main roster for just over two years at that point, but she was no stranger to the spotlight. Prior to her impressive Rumble victory, Ripley defeated Asuka at WrestleMania 37 to become the new Raw Women’s Champion, a title she also dropped to Flair after 98 days. Ripley had also become a member of Judgment Day, and was already in her “Mami” era alongside Dominik Mysterio, quickly becoming a fan favorite.
In the weeks between Ripley’s challenge and WrestleMania coming around, Ripley and Flair traded verbal barbs. Ripley told Flair that she needed to become a star, and Flair said that whether she was champion or challenger, “The Queen” was always a star on the ‘Mania stage. In between their verbal battles, the women brawled, all the way up until April 1.
‘Mami’ Gets Her Lick Back
Flair and Ripley would go to war for the SmackDown Women’s Championship in an over 23-minute match during night one. The women would go back-and-forth in a methodical pace in what was a truly slow burn of a match, with plenty of trash talking thrown in with the physicality, which included Flair’s signature chops leading into the champion attempting to take out Ripley’s legs for the figure four.
Flair attempted to go to the top for a cross body, but Ripley rolled through and attempted to overpower her with a Riptide, but Flair had an impressive counter into a DDT and almost had Ripley pinned. Despite the near fall, it was too early for Flair to get her signature submission locked in.
Ripley met Flair on the ropes to avoid the moonsault, and “The Eradicator” almost had the match won with a suplex that somehow still sent Flair into a moonsault, where she landed face-first on the canvas. An incensed Ripley sent Flair shoulder-first into the ring steps on the outside, and planted her once again in the ring, but the match rolled on. Ripley hit an impressive suplex, with help from Flair seemingly over-rotating like crazy, sending “The Queen” once again face-first onto the canvas in a scary spot that very nearly spelled the end of Flair in the match, or even beyond.
Flair hit a moonsault to Ripley from the top rope to the outside and somehow the challenger was still able to counter the figure four. The pair traded huge moves into very-near-falls and submission maneuvers, including spear by Flair, a Prism Lock by Ripley, and a figure four by “The Queen.” In the end after an extremely hard-fought battle that included an all-out slug-fest in the final moments, it was Ripley who scored the victory with an avalanche Riptide.
Reception & Aftermath
With the victory, Ripley became the seventh Women’s Triple Crown champion in company history, and the fifth Women’s Grand Slam Champion. At 26-years-old, Ripley would also be the youngest Grand Slam Champion, of either division, in WWE.
While the crowd seemed quiet toward the beginning of the match, they really got into it with the Riptide into the DDT counter sequence. As of this writing, the match currently has a 9.10 rating on Cagematch, with 1,180 votes, 460 of them calling the bout a 10/10. The women earned 4.75 stars from Dave Meltzer in The Wrestling Observer.
Ripley may have won the gold and set records, but her breakout with fans really came down to her storyline with Mysterio, Judgment Day, and Liv Morgan, who seduced Mysterio while “Mami” was on the shelf.
“The Eradicator” defended the title plenty of times over the course of the next year plus, including against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40. Her reign ended at 380 days, however, due to injury after she was attacked in a backstage segment by Morgan, kicking off their aforementioned storyline that would see Ripley become a megastar.
As for Flair, she would go on to challenge Asuka for the WWE Women’s Championship in the following months, never winning gold, and would unfortunately suffer a major knee injury in December, which put her on the shelf until the 2025 Royal Rumble. Flair returned to win the Rumble, her second time winning the bout, but failed to capture the WWE Women’s Championship from Tiffany Stratton at WrestleMania 41.
While they’ve wrestled in tag team matches alongside their respective partners, IYO SKY alongside Ripley and Alexa Bliss with Flair, they have not met in singles action since their WrestleMania 39 battle.
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