WWE: Ranking The Top 10 Breakout Stars Of 2018

10. Rhea Ripley, NXT UK

After a strong showing in the Mae Young Classic 2, in which she marched to the semifinals before losing to Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley became the first United Kingdom Women’s Champion after faring out better in the UK Women’s Championship tournament.

Ripley defeated Toni Storm, who won the Mae Young Classic 2 by defeating Shirai in the finals at Evolution, in the finals to join Pete Dunne as NXT UK’s singles champions.

Though Ripley first emerged on the scene in WWE at the inaugural Mae Young Classic, she saved her best work for Fall 2018. Ripley ripped through MJ Jenkins, future star Kacy Catanzaro, fan favorite Tegan Nox, the upstart Xia Brookside, the “Kingslayer” Dakota Kai, and the formidable Storm in both tournaments.

Impossibly tough and among the strongest wrestlers on the United Kingdom brand, Ripley is ushering in a new era of pain in women’s wrestling in WWE. With a Divyded song as her theme and a desire to spit on her opponents after tossing them aside with a “Riptide”, Ripley breaks the mold and looks poised for an exciting run as the first UK Women’s Champion in WWE.

Ripley’s heel work in the aftermath of Nox’s injury has been a textbook example of how to actually generate heat from an incident without crossing the line, which is something Sami Callihan and Nia Jax could probably learn from.