Rhea Ripley, one of the WWE’s top women’s division stars, is gearing up for a big match at WrestleMania 39, amid the changing landscape for women in the company. Recently, Ripley shared her thoughts on intergender matches and how they have played a pivotal role for women in the sport.
During an interview with “Checkpoint,” Rhea Ripley shared her admiration for the evolution and expansion of the WWE women’s division. Ripley mentioned that she had never been certain if women would ever have the opportunity to compete in the main event of WrestleMania. However, she acknowledged the impressive strides that have been made in recent years and the significant achievements of female wrestlers in the WWE.
Moreover, Ripley emphasized that women are breaking barriers in all aspects of the sport and demonstrating their ability to compete with men on an equal playing field. As evidence, she pointed to her match against Akira Tozawa on RAW in December, highlighting how intergender matches can effectively showcase the skills and abilities of female wrestlers.
As a former RAW Women’s champion, Ripley has faced off against male WWE superstars, and has not been afraid to stand up against them. Although there aren’t many intergender matches, WWE hasn’t completely abandoned the practice. Notably, Chyna competed against Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Title on two 1999 pay-per-views, while Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton was promoted as the main event of Fastlane 2021. Nia Jax also entered the Men’s Royal Rumble a few years ago and took on several finishers.
Female WWE superstars like Beth Phoenix, Chyna, Nia Jax, and Kharma have been involved in Men’s Royal Rumble matches in the past. Given Ripley’s comments, fans would love to see her compete against a top WWE superstar in another intergender match. As women’s wrestling continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how the WWE approaches intergender matches moving forward.
“Like you said, having a match against Tozawa on ‘WWE Raw’ television. That’s something I didn’t think would happen, especially to someone like me. I didn’t think it would be in my timeline.
I thought it would still be down a little bit, like we’d have to work toward that one. But to know that it’s all changing and evolving so quickly, I’m so intrigued and excited to see what the future holds for the women’s division because we’re growing and you can’t really stop us. We’re shining.”
