Rhea Ripley Wins NXT Women's Championship, Johnny Gargano Returns

Shayna Baszler's reign is finally over.

By Benjamin Richardson /

WWE.com

Shayna Baszler's 416 day reign with the NXT Women's Championship came to an end during last night's episode of NXT.

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The curtain came down on her second stint with the belt after Rhea Ripley hit The Queen of Spades with an avalanche Riptide off the second rope in the show's main event.

The Australian had escaped Baszler's Kirifuda Clutch moments earlier. After the victory, Ripley jumped into the jubilant crowd to celebrate the victory.

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MMA crossover Baszler won the title from Kairi Sane way back at October 2018's Evolution pay-per-view. Her defence against Ripley last night was made official when the latter pinned the former at last month's WarGames.

The accolade marks Ripley's second championship in WWE. In August 2018, she was crowned the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion, keeping a firm grip on the gold until she dropped it to Toni Storm at January 2019's NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.

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Elsewhere on last night's NXT, NXT Champion Adam Cole retained his belt against the threat of Finn Bálor, after the Irishman was distracted by a returning Johnny Gargano just moments away from securing a win for himself.

After the match, Gargano assaulted Bálor with a steel chair.

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