When Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 36 to win the NXT Women's Championship, most people thought that was the beginning of the story between the two women, not the end.
The two never had another singles matches and Charlotte ended up losing the NXT Women's Title to Io Shirai in a triple threat match at NXT TakeOver: In Your House where Io pinned Ripley.
Ahead of NXT TakeOver: In Your House, Triple H said the loss to Flair at WrestleMania 36 would help Ripley's character. He later said that plans changed for Ripley and that the loss was good for her growth.
Speaking to Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT, Ripley gave her side of the story.
“I didn’t really know what the whole plan was for the rest of the year, but I thought it would last a lot longer than it did. I thought I’d be, in my mind, having matches with Charlotte for the majority of the year then possibly going to RAW or SmackDown and continuing things there. But, it didn’t happen and I’m still really thankful I got that extra time in NXT because I got to do so much cool stuff. Like I got to wrestle one of my best friends, Raquel Gonzalez, and have epic matches. I’m still really thankful I got to stay and do my work there, but I definitely thought it was going to lead somewhere different," she said.
One year later, Ripley earned some redemption by defeating Asuka at WrestleMania 37 to win the Raw Women's Championship. Charlotte is back in the mix as well, attacking Asuka and Ripley on Monday's WWE Raw during their WrestleMania rematch.
“Yeah, it’s wild! You just got to trust the process because even if you don’t know what’s going on, they always do,” Ripley said of the creative. “It’s wild to think we’re back to where I was a year ago and I’m back into something with Charlotte Flair. And it’s cool to have Asuka there too. I think that’s going to be magic.”
Ripley previously revealed that she expected Charlotte to be added to her WrestleMania 37 bout against Asuka. You can find her full comments by clicking here.
If you missed anything from Monday's WWE Raw, check out Fightful's full report on the show by clicking here.
