10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Rhea Ripley
3. The Build To The First Asuka Match
Why did WWE wait so long to debut Rhea Ripley?
Why did WWE take the wildly popular Royal Rumble runner-up and make her a heel?
And why did WWE not think of a more creative way to arrive at a match many considered a dream?
The broad answer to those three questions is the same of course, but "because standards have slipped lower than ever before" can't just be WWE's get-out-of-jail-free card every time they creatively stumble and slip.
There was a real Dave Batista/John Cena 2005 energy to the concluding moments of Royal Rumble 2021. Bianca Belair and Ripley were simultaneously ascending, and while only one could win, it felt like a certainty that the other wouldn't have to lose.
This was eventually proven true when 'The Nightmare' showed up with just weeks to go before the 'Show Of Shows' and pointed at the sign to get her shot. Not only did this nullify all that Rumble effort, but it also steered the pair into the exhausted and exhausting partners-who-don't-get-along bit right as a genuine rivalry should have been peaking.
And the ramifications extended beyond a few bad weeks of television...