Rhea Ripley Thought 2020 Feud With Charlotte Flair Would've Lasted Longer

Rhea Ripley dropped the NXT Women's championship to 2020 women's Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36, a match that some expected Ripley to win. Two months later, Ripley took the fall in a triple threat match with Flair and Io Shirai for the belt at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.

Shortly after, Ripley and Flair went their separate ways story-wise, which Ripley admits wasn't expected.

Speaking with talkSPORT, Ripley says she figured she'd work with Flair for most of 2020, and though that wasn't the case, she's fine with how things turned out for herself.

“I didn’t really know what the whole plan was for the rest of the year, but I thought it would last a lot longer than it did," Ripley said. "I thought I’d be, in my mind, having matches with Charlotte for the majority of the year then possibly going to Raw or SmackDown and continuing things there. But, it didn’t happen and I’m still really thankful I got that extra time in NXT because I got to do so much cool stuff. Like I got to wrestle one of my best friends, Raquel Gonzalez, and have epic matches.

"I’m still really thankful I got to stay and do my work there, but I definitely thought it was going to lead somewhere different.”

Ripley and Flair crossed paths once more this past week on Raw, when Flair disrupted a Raw Women's title match between Ripley and Asuka.