12 Wrestlers Who Suffered The Most From WWE WrestleMania 36
7. Rhea Ripley
Rhea Ripley's loss to Charlotte Flair need not be the burial some are making it out to be.
This is an extreme reaction born of frustration towards 'The Queen's' perma-push, with the unfavourable, complimentary John Cena/Roman Reigns comparisons strengthened by what went down at WrestleMania 36. Charlotte's victory was allegedly designed to boost NXT's fortunes in a ratings war despite the viewership tanking for her recent Wednesday night main event against Bianca Belair. She doesn't need the NXT Women's Championship and she didn't need to beat Ripley, though there's more to it than the harshest critics would have you believe.
Losing to the most steadily-pushed heel in the company isn't an automatic burial. Getting dunked on by Shaq doesn't make you Anthony Bennett. Pushing an esteemed multi-time champion to the limit in a bruising, hard-hitting banger of a fight doesn't mean you've been hit by a golden shovel. In the medium and long run, Rhea Ripley will be fine: she's 23-years-old, after all.
But in the short-term, this was a sign of demotion. Her title reign was never allowed to flourish like Shayna Baszler's before her and with a paltry two defences to her name, that's a shame.