10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Rhea Ripley
4. How A Broken System Destroyed A Potential WrestleMania Banger
There were too many questions around Rhea Ripley's WWE main roster debut in 2021, not least because she looked like the talent with all the answers just two years prior.
Why had they waited so long to debut her, when her Royal Rumble runner-up spot had been so well-received. Why, when that run had been so well-received, was she then brought in as a heel for her big chance at WrestleMania redemption? And why would WWE book Rhea Ripley Vs Asuka for the first time proper and not heavily. heavily promote it as a dream clash-of-the-titans encounter?
None of those questions were answered effectively. Quite the opposite in fact; creative standards were pathetically, criminally low and 2021 was so far into the "stuff just happens" era that the pair were sent out to have a largely heatless contest over what would ultimately become Ripley's first main roster title.
Back then, Ripley and Bianca Belair's closing moments had been compared to the John Cena/Dave Batista conclusion in 2005. Only one could win, but both stood a chance of shining on WWE's 'Grandest Stage'. Sadly, the comparison carried over. Cena's corronation against JBL was underwhelming in the extreme. So too, sadly, was this. Everybody - socially distanced crowd included - deserved more than they were given here.