Charlotte Flair Attacks Rhea Ripley at NXT TakeOver: Portland, Sets Match for WrestleMania 36

Charlotte Flair made a shocking appearance at NXT TakeOver: Portland on Sunday night, attacking [...]

By Connor Casey

Charlotte Flair made a shocking appearance at NXT TakeOver: Portland on Sunday night, attacking NXT Women's Champion Rhea Ripley after she had successfully retained against Bianca Belair. "The Queen" attacked Ripley from behind moments after Ripley successfully retained her championship against Bianca Beliar, then grabbed a microphone. The 10-time Women's Champion stated, "So I've thought about it, and I'll see you at WrestleMania." She then posed over Ripley as the crowd in Portland booed, then attacked Beliar at ringside.

Flair won the Women's Royal Rumble match back in late January, but initially refused to reveal which women's champion she would face at WrestleMania. After cutting a promo on the Feb. 3 Raw about how she had already beaten Becky Lynch and Bayley in the past, Flair was interrupted and challenged by Baszler to a title match at Mania. Flair declined to answer but did appear on NXT two days later. Belair was furious that Ripley was overlooking her, but the two both attacked Flair after she insulted the brand.

Flair was the second NXT Women's Champion in the title's history, winning it via an eight-woman tournament that culminated in the first NXT: TakeOver event in 2014. She held the title for 258 days before losing it to Sasha Banks in a four-way match at NXT TakeOver: Rival.

Ripley already holds two victories over Flair. The Australian star pinned Flair in a triple threat on an episode of SmackDown back in November, then led her NXT team to victory against Flair's Raw team (and Sasha Banks' SmackDown team) at Survivor Series.

  • NXT North American Championship: Keith Lee def. Dominik Dijakovic
  • Dakota Kai def. Tegan Nox (Street Fight)
  • Finn Balor def. Johnny Gargano
  • NXT Women's Championship: Rhea Ripley def. Bianca Beliar
  • NXT Tag Team Championships: The Undisputed Era vs. The BroserWeights
  • NXT Championship: Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Flair's announcement gives WrestleMania its second official match. The first is a WWE Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Men's Royal Rumble match winner Drew McIntyre.

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