WWE's Rhea Ripley Confronts Carmelo Hayes on NXT and Shows Support for NXT Superstar

By Matthew Aguilar

Tonight's episode of WWE NXT held a number of surprises, sending out Gold Rush in style, and one of the biggest surprises involved Rhea Ripley. Ripley would show up during Gold Rush week two early on, confronting NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes, but she would also show up later in the night and show some support for another big-time NXT Superstar. First thought she confronted Hayes, which tied to Hayes helping out Seth Rollins on this past Monday Night Raw. Hayes would take a chair away from Finn Balor in a post-match attack on Rollins, and that led to a match later in the night.

While Balor would win the match, it appears The Judgement Day and Ripley in particular wanted to send a message to Hayes to make sure nothing like that happens again. Ripley told Hayes "Next time you guys want to jump into our business, you become our business." It would seem the message was received, though it remains to be seen if Hayes will consider the warning.

Later in the episode, Jacy Jayne was featured in a segment with several other NXT stars, and she was complaining about Lyra Valkyria. She told the room that she was going to tell Lyra to get her little wings and send her back to Europe, not knowing that Lyra was behind her for most of the rant. Jacy kept taking, saying that Lyra peaked at NXT Battleground, and Lyra had enough.

Lyra then turned Jacy around and hit her with a forearm to the face, knocking her to the ground. Lyra then knelt down and told Jayne she doesn't play games before leaving, but the segment wasn't done. At that point, we see familiar shoes and purple gear in the camera shot, and it's non-other than Ripley. Ripley laughed and told Jayne "You kind of deserved it, and Lyra's a badass."

Jayne and Valkyria looked primed for a match, and it remains to be seen if Ripley will make another appearance when that happens. As for Hayes, his next opponent is to be determined after taking on Corbin and winning, but perhaps his time running into the Judgement Day isn't quite over. Regarding Ripley, she will have her eyes on Money in the Bank, as someone will walk out of the event with the chance to cash in on her and her Title.

The Money in the Bank Women's Match includes Zelina Vega, Zoey Stark, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Iyo Sky, and Trish Stratus. It's a star-loaded match, and there are a number of possible outcomes, but the early rumored favorite is Iyo Sky. Sky got a huge reception at WWE Backlash and has been in conflict with Bayley lately in regards to Damage CTRL. This could be the way to kick off her solo run, but we'll have to wait and see. You can find the full Money in the Bank card below.

  • World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
  • Bloodline Civil War: Roman Reigns & Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos
  • Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar vs. Butch vs. Damian Priest vs. Logan Paul
  • Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Zelina Vega vs. Zoey Stark vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley vs. Iyo Sky vs. Trish Stratus
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio

WWE's Money in the Bank kicks off on Saturday, July 1st at 3 PM EST, and will stream exclusively on Peacock.

What do you think of Ripley's appearance on NXT? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

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