WWE: 5 stories that must be told before WrestleMania 37

Rhea Ripley becomes an important part of the main roster

I can’t think of many wrestlers in WWE who are as dominant as Rhea Ripley. Each year, she hits a new level since becoming a legit breakout star in 2018. Ripley  is one of the strongest wrestlers on the roster, and her promos have become among the best in NXT.

Star power. Ripley has it, and after losing to Io Shirai on the episode of NXT before Survivor Series, she is a strong candidate to get a call-up from NXT. And The Nightmare is a real contender to win the Women’s Rumble next year, as the field feels totally wide open.

Imagine this for a second. The Nightmare wins the Royal Rumble just a month after making it onto Raw and has a feud with Charlotte Flair, who is the Raw Women’s Champion around WrestleMania season time. And this time, Ripley gets her revenge and her huge title win at WrestleMania after coming oh-so-close last year.

I’m not sure that’s going to happen, and it would be bold to predict that for Ripley. But it’s not out of the question for Ripley to win a championship soon after a call-up, since wrestling fans are already incredibly familiar with her work. Her feud with Charlotte may have disappointed fans with the outcome of the match at WrestleMania, but the rivalry served to boost Ripley to another level. And I do think that in the end, the initial decision to have Charlotte go over would look better in hindsight if Ripley wins the title off the Queen to bring the story full circle.

Regardless, I’d love to see Ripley entrenched as a top star on Raw with Bianca Belair as one of the new top stars on SmackDown. WWE needs to go all-in with pushing more women to the top of the card, especially up-and-coming stars like Ripley and Belair who have BEEN ready for this.