5 reasons why Rhea Ripley defeated Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women's Championship
The December 18 episode of WWE NXT had two huge Championship matches scheduled for the night. The NXT Championship was defended by Adam Cole against Finn Balor to kick off the night, while the women of NXT ended the night with a huge NXT Women’s Championship match.
A return from Johnny Gargano prevented Balor from winning the NXT Championship and set up another angle between the two men.
However, Rhea Ripley fought through countless intrusions and assaults to become the new NXT Women’s Champion.
She ended Shayna Baszler’s reign of terror on the women’s roster with her win and has birthed a new beginning for the division. To celebrate the huge victory, we'll look at 5 reasons why Ripley won the NXT Women’s Championship after defeating Baszler.
#5 To shake-up the landscape
Shayna Baszler held the NXT Women’s Championship for a combined 548-days, becoming the longest titleholder after overcoming Asuka’s reign. Baszler dominated her opponents in her contests, and only Kairi Sane managed to break The Queen of Spade's reign for just over two months.
With Baszler’s current reign lasting over 400-days, the women’s roster seemed a bit stale although the competition was very high. Every time a competitor stepped up to her, fans always hoped that they’d see a change at the top, even though Baszler was an incredible Champion.
With Rhea Ripley winning the Championship, the landscape of the women’s division will shake up a bit for the first time since NXT signed a television deal and also stole the show at Survivor Series.
Ripley was already riding high on momentum after great showings at WarGames and during the buildup to Survivor Series, and with her as the Women's Champion, NXT might end up with even more viewers.