25 Best Wrestling Moments Of 2024
16. Dominik Turns On Rhea Ripley
WWE fans don’t just want soap opera and they don’t consider the in-ring entirely incidental - that is reductive, and GUNTHER is the World Heavyweight Champion for God’s sake- but they bloody love it when it’s done well.
And done well the Dominik Mysterio/Rhea Ripley split was. Yes, the tone was questionable, as was the timing, but the plotting was fantastic. Installing Liv as the reason through which Dom finally defeated his father was a stunningly resourceful spot of narrative dovetailing. The next big Rey Vs. Dom match will feel almost as big as the first - particularly if they finally do the big Hair Vs. Mask stipulation.
The idea that Liv, being blonde, was automatically “hotter” and thus the “better” choice for Dom was a grim echo of WWE’s past, but the crucial difference was that Dom, Rhea and Liv each seemed to be having the time of their lives performing the material. The pops at SummerSlam stole the entire show.
If this is your sort of thing, it was the young adult fiction version of the Mega Powers Explode. That’s barely hyperbole, either; this storyline was the biggest thing in WWE as it continued to luxuriate in its third boom period.