WWE WrestleMania 39: Rhea Ripley Defeats Charlotte to Become New SmackDown Women's Champion

By Nick Valdez

WWE WrestleMania 39 saw Rhea Ripley finally taking on Charlotte Flair for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship following her winning of the Women's Royal Rumble match earlier this year. Charlotte and Rhea have a pretty notable history between the two of them as Charlotte defeated Rhea at her WWE WrestleMania debut a few years ago for the NXT Women's Championship. While the two had long since gone different paths, it wasn't until Rhea won the Royal Rumble and picked Charlotte as her opponent that this history started to build itself up once more as Rhea wanted her revenge. 

As Charlotte and Rhea finally kicked off their highly anticipated bout, it really became a match of control as the both of them tried to use their techniques to control the pace of the match. It was clear that this match was not going to go the same way it did before as Rhea was ready for whatever Charlotte was able to throw at her. But at the same time, Charlotte's counters proved why she was the WWE SmackDown Women's Champion heading into WrestleMania 39. Still, Rhea was one step ahead and became the new WWE SmackDown Women's Champion:

Who Wins Charlotte vs. Rhea? 

Rhea proved to be quite the match for Charlotte this time around as their strengths and energy seemed to perfectly match up at the right times. The both of them had quite a few close pin falls right after one another, and had just as may brutal looking counters for one another's biggest techniques. It had looked like Rhea was going to get the victory at many points, only for Charlotte to kick out at the last second. 

Rhea pushed Charlotte to brutal new limits with some nasty looking moves, and it was the same for Charlotte as she fought back against all of Rhea's locks and even a few of her signature moves. But with a final Riptide off the top rope, Rhea took the victory and became the new WWE SmackDown Women's Champion. As for the rest of the evening, the card and results so far for Night One of WrestleMania 39 break down as such: 

  • United States Championship Match: Austin Theory def. John Cena
  • WrestleMania Showcase Match: The Street Profits def. Braun Strowman and Ricochet, Alpha Academy, and The Viking Raiders
  • Seth Rollins def. Logan Paul
  • Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus def. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, IO Sky) 
  • Rey Mysterio def. Dominik Mysterio
  • SmackDown Women's Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
  • Undisputed Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos (c). vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens

What did you think of the match between Charlotte and Rhea Ripley? Let us know all of your comments on it and everything WWE WrestleMania 39 in the comments! 

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