Ranking 22 WWE Debuts And Returns In 2021

2. Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley
WWE.com

You would think a wrestler who won their first main roster world title at WrestleMania would rank at the top of the list, but Rhea Ripley inexplicably had an up and down year and closed out 2021 on an overall downslope.

Ripley started the year by entering the Royal Rumble and finishing as the runner-up. She challenged Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship and defeated her at WM 37. She held the title for just three months, dropping the title to Charlotte Flair, because God knows she needed a title reign.

The Nightmare slid down the card, alternating between face and heel and not regaining her footing. Nikki ASH vaulted her to win (and subsequently lose) the Raw Women’s Championship. Then Ripley and Nikki formed a tag team, won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship and had a heatless run with the titles.

As 2021 closes, Ripley is ensconced in a storyline where Nikki has lost her confidence (again) and is costing the team (and Rhea) matches. If not for her great start to the year and tremendous presence and potential, she’d be much further down on this list.

In this post: 
Brock Lesnar
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.