WWE: 6 superstars who could win the battle royal to challenge Bayley at SummerSlam

Rhea Ripley

Speaking of people who didn’t have WrestleMania 36 go as planned, none fit that bill more than former NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley. After Charlotte Flair won the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble, Ripley made her presence felt and managed to find her way to The Grandest Stage of Them All.

As amazing as it was to compete at WrestleMania 36, the night must have been bittersweet as Rhea Ripley came up short and lost the NXT Women’s Title to Charlotte Flair. Since that night, Ripley has been scratching and clawing her way back to championship gold.

Rather than continuing to target NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley could make her presence on the main roster permanent with a huge victory in this battle royal. Similar to Belair, Ripley’s only match with Bayley was during the 2019 Women’s Royal Rumble.

Shotzi Blackheart

A newer face to WWE NXT, Shotzi Blackheart has had her momentum interrupted as of late due to The Robert Stone Brand and their recent recruit Mercedes Martinez. While “The Ballsy Badass” will surely look to settle the score against Martinez, she could also move on entirely by winning this battle royal.

It would be fantastic to see Shotzi Blackheart riding her tank to the ring every Friday night on SmackDown, and she has a similarly sparse history against SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley. Contrary to Ripley and Belair, Blackheart tangled with Bayley very recently.

Their first in-ring clash was in a tag team match on WWE NXT, where Blackheart teamed with Tegan Nox to challenge Bayley and Sasha Banks for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles. If she wants to find her way to singles gold, there’s no better way than winning this tournament and making her main roster pay-per-view debut against Bayley at SummerSlam.