Rhea Ripley | From raw potential to WWE dominance, The Nightmare is living the dream
If you'd just started watching wrestling this week, you'd be forgiven for thinking Rhea Ripley was one of WWE's top stars and an absolute veteran of the game. Now, the first point is arguable, but it's so easy to forget that the NXT Superstar is only six years into her professional wrestling career - and hasn't long turned 23 years old!
The Nightmare has proven over the past week that she's a ready-made star, and someone WWE could most definitely strap the rocket to in a big, BIG way if they so wish.
Over the space of the past four days, Ripley has established herself as potentially the hottest star in the company. On Wednesday, the Australian competed against current RAW Women's Champion, WWE 2K20 cover star, and arguably the biggest active name in the world of wrestling right now - Becky Lynch - with the match ending prematurely, and teasing the WWE Universe with a dangling carrot that THIS could be a major rivalry going forward, and one no-one would argue with.
Now, less than two days later, an NXT invasion of SmackDown would see the former NXT UK Champion challenge both Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks - two women who are most definitely no stranger to WWE gold - to a Triple Threat match, and picking up the win by pinning the most decorated woman in WWE history in arguably one of the most creative finishes you'll see for a very long time.
Ripley competed against RAW and SmackDown's best across two shows, and showed absolutely zero signs of weakness. Two immensely dominant performances - and all of that was before arguably the biggest weekend of the 23-year-old's life.
Ahead of captaining Team NXT in the traditional Women's Survivor Series Match tonight, Ripley would be involved in a hellacious WarGames match, the first women's incarnation of the chaotic encounter in a twin-cage structure, and emerge victorious - pinning current NXT Women's Champion, and the woman with the most individual days as champion, Shayna Baszler!
An outrageous week from one of WWE's top stars, and that's before we look at the context of these five days across Ripley's short life thus far.
Ripley - with long, blonde locks - would make her WWE debut in 2017 following four years working in her native Australia against the likes of Toni Storm, Saraya Knight, and Mercedez Martinez after signing with the company. A Mae Young Classic debut would see Ripley victorious in the first round against Miranda Salinas - before Dakota Kai would eliminate an exciting, yet raw, Ripley from the competition.
Now, fast-forward to 2018 and the road to the top for The Nightmare had begun. Sporting a new look, Ripley would enter the second Mae Young Classic and reach the semifinals, following wins over MJ Jenkins, Kacy Catanzaro, and Tegan Nox - losing only to fellow NXT Superstar Io Shirai. But it wasn't just aesthetic changes Ripley had made. Her attitude was incredibly intense, her character work was perfectly polished, and the Australian shone as arguably the star of the tournament, despite only making the final four.
A short run in NXT would build Ripley up towards her NXT UK debut, where The Nightmare would dispose of Xia Brookside, get redemption for her second-ever Mae Young Classic match against Dakota Kai, and emerge victorious over her compatriot Toni Storm to become the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion - holding the title for 139 days before Storm would end Ripley's reign.
Call it a springboard, if you will, but Ripley has been a dominant force since her paradigm shift ahead of the Mae Young Classic 2018, that saw The Nightmare threaten to reach this position ever since - garnering compliments from WWE Hall of Famers along the way.
November 2019. The threat becomes reality, and Ripley becomes 'The Nightmare' of every woman on RAW, SmackDown and NXT. The former NXT UK Champion is victorious on her SmackDown debut against Fire & Desire while teaming with Tegan Nox, before standing side-by-side with Triple H and declaring war on RAW and SmackDown, and completing the transition from potential star to top WWE Superstar heading into the biggest week of her life - and we all know how that went.
The Nightmare is living the dream.
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