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Report: Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest Both Leaving NXT Following Sunday’s WWE Royal Rumble

NXT’s presence was certainly felt during Sunday night’s Royal Rumble event, but it sounds like the […]

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NXT’s presence was certainly felt during Sunday night’s Royal Rumble event, but it sounds like the Black & Gold Brand is about two lose two of its former champions to the Raw/SmackDown rosters. According to PWInsider, both Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley made their main roster debuts by competing in Sunday’s Rumble matches, and the site confirmed that Priest is backstage for tonight’s episode of Raw. This matches up with previous reports that Priest was nearly brought up to the main roster weeks ago (initially heading to SmackDown to get involved in the Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns feud) and what Dave Meltzer reported about Ripley over the weekend.

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“Rhea Ripley is on the main roster,” Meltzer said on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio. “She was gonna debut a couple of weeks ago and they put it off for a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks is now. Debuting her as a surprise in the Rumble and winning the Rumble, that just makes sense.”

Priest, the only NXT competitor in the Men’s Royal Rumble, entered at No. 14 and lasted 15 minutes before getting dumped out of the ring by United States Champion Bobby Lashley, Meanwhile, Ripley lasted 39 minutes in the Women’s Rumbe from the No. 14 spot and made it to the final two with Bianca Belair

If the reports wind up being true, NXT’s recent New Year’s Evil event will be revealed as the send-off for both stars. Ripley lost a Last Woman Standing match at the event against Raquel Gonzalez, while Karrion Kross defeated Priest in a 15-minute grudge match.

While Priest doesn’t have a ready-made feud waiting for him on either Raw or SmackDown, Ripley already has a well-developed storyline with Charlotte Flair. The two clashed at last year’s WrestleMania over the NXT Women’s Championship, resulting in Flair winning and spending the next couple of months on NXT. She dropped the title to Io Shirai without Ripley ever getting a full chance at revenge, though she did gain a bit on Sunday night by assisting Beliar in eliminating “The Queen.”

Check out the full results from the Royal Rumble below:

  • (Kickoff) WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler def. Asuka and Charlotte Flair (c)
  • WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre (c) def. Goldberg
  • SmackDown Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) def. Carmella
  • Women’s Royal Rumble: Bianca Belair last eliminates Rhea Ripley
  • WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) def. Kevin Owens (Last Man Standing)
  • Men’s Royal Rumble: Edge last eliminates Randy Orton
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