18 HUGE WWE WrestleMania 36 Predictions You Need To Know

5. Rhea Ripley (c) Vs. Charlotte Flair

Rhea Ripley Charlotte Flair
WWE.com

Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair didn't deserve any of this. Their eventual match didn't deserve this mess of a show and their build didn't deserve tragic empty gym of a stage. That said, the build hadn't yet deserved the one it was supposed to take place on.

Before everything was confined to the Performance Center, Ripley took a walk around Raymond James Stadium to soak up the atmosphere and the reality of her impending battle with Royal Rumble winner and former NXT icon. From that we were to gather that the story was to be about one being more than prepared for the pressure and the other having to rise above it to claim the biggest victory of her career.

With that story absolutely f*cked, the company instead decided to not really promote it. Ripley and Flair was once the sort of thing that could have been added to "dream WrestleMania card" lists, but found itself one of the only promoted matches on a show becoming Vince McMahon's worst nightmare. If anything, the gap in storyline progression and change of destination has actually found its way to favouring the Champion, as if any of this matters now they're working without a crowd.

What a mess.

Winner - Rhea Ripley

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett