Current WWE Champion Pushes For Their Match to Main Event WWE WrestleMania 39

Rhea Ripley won the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble last month, then announced she’d be challenging Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 39. The announcement came as a bit of a surprise given many expected Ripley to challenge Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Title, but she quickly explained her intentions. Flair famously beat Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship back at WrestleMania 36, and despite “The Nightmare” being one of the most popular stars on the brand at the time, she never got the chance to beat Flair before “The Queen” was bumped back up to the main roster. She now wants the chance to finally get revenge.

Flair was a guest on Les anti-pods de la lutte this week and was asked if she felt her rematch with Ripley was worthy of the WrestleMania 39 spot. While Roman Reigns appears to have Night 2’s main event locked up already, there’s precedent for a Women’s title match to serve as the Night One main event. Belair famously beat Sasha Banks on Night One of WrestleMania 37 back in 2021. 

“No, Rhea and I are main event quality. It’s a main event story, and I want to be in the main event with her because I know it’s going to be that good,” Flair said (h/t WrestlingNews.co).

She also discussed working with Paul Levesque (Triple H) as WWE’s booker compared to Vince McMahon — “I think the exact same way. Whoever is in charge, I want to make them proud. I want to do my best. When I creatively feel…I see something different, then explain this to me. I don’t look at it any differently. My job as a performer is just to do the best job possible right. I think a lot of people see it differently, but for me, whoever is in charge, that’s who you want to make happy or do a good job for. I’ve known Hunter for so long, from not being in the company to being in the company to being his NXT Champion to his SmackDown Women’s Champion. I’m more familiar with him than Vince because I’ve known him longer. Being a talent and doing a great job shouldn’t change.”

WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn
• United States Championship: Austin Theory vs. Seth Rollins vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Bronson Reed vs. Damian Priest vs. Montez Ford (Elimination Chamber)
• Raw Women’s Championship No. 1 Contender: Asuka vs. Liv Morgan vs. Nikki Cross vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya vs. Carmella (Elimination Chamber)
• Edge & Beth Phoenix vs. Finn Balor & Rhea Ripley
• Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley