5 WWE Women’s Wrestling Standout Moments This Week
By JB Alexander
via WWE.com
Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm Shine
It was this week that the last match of the NXT UK Women’s Championship tournament finally went live on the WWE Network. After months of waiting for this moment, I can’t say I was disappointed to see anti-hero Rhea Ripley take home the beautiful new title. Though I would have preferred this match go on a little longer and be given a grander stage, the two finalists did their job of representing this new women’s division exceptionally well.
Toni Storm won the second annual Mae Young Classic and rightfully stood out among her peers throughout the tournament, which says a lot considering the plethora of talent involved in the WWE Network special. She came up short in winning the NXT UK Women’s Championship this week, but somehow it feels like Toni’s winning at life.
That’s because she oozes star power; Storm’s real-life passion for pro wrestling is worn on her sleeve in front of the cameras because it means too much to her to be hidden in the first place. She’s fully present in every match she’s a part of and fans have caught on. Toni Storm is no doubt a huge heroine in the main roster women’s division of the future.
Rhea Ripley can be seen as sort of the anti-Toni Storm in just about every way except for one: they’re both bad to the bone. Otherwise, Ripley’s role as a villain is effortless and she’s infinitely dislikable in such a good way. Her in-ring style isn’t meant to have a lot of flash but it sure has a whole lot of substance. She hits like a truck and throws around opponents with enough raw power to back up that cocky smirk of hers.
Rhea Ripley is the quintessential monster of women’s wrestling and WWE is lucky to have her on board because the sky is the limit for the first ever NXT UK Women’s Champion.