Beth Phoenix vs Rhea Ripley is a feud to make before WrestleMania

Beth Phoenix and Rhea Ripley should finally settle their issues before Ripley challenges for the gold at WrestleMania. 

Rhea Ripley is on her way to possibly getting some much-needed redemption when she faces Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39 for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. While the matchup understandably should be at the forefront of the Eradicator’s mind, some unfinished business between her and the Glamazon Beth Phoenix needs to be taken care of.

When Ripley delivered the conchairto onto Phoenix following the I-Quit match between Edge and Finn Balor, it immediately set up an intense showdown between the two women. Over the past several months, Ripley has demonstrated a newfound ferocity in her matches and has established herself as the most dangerous threat in the Raw women’s division. It seemed only natural that Ripley would find herself staring across the ring from perhaps her most fearsome opponent yet in Phoenix.

But now that Ripley is reigniting a feud with the Queen for WWE’s biggest show of the year, the possibility of Ripley and Phoenix tearing each other apart in a featured match on PPV seems unlikely, unless, of course, they end up squaring off in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at Elimination Chamber on February 18th. As of this writing, Ripley doesn’t have a match announced for the show and there is still a lot of time to fill between now and WrestleMania 39.

A win over a former women’s champion and Hall of Famer will give Ripley the momentum she needs heading into what will undoubtedly be the most important match in her career thus far. Additionally, the match between Phoenix and Ripley may finally be a sign that the company will end the feud between The Judgement Day and Edge, a feud which has been going on ever since the Rated-R Superstar was kicked out of the group back in June.

A women’s singles feud without a title

Another aspect of the Ripley and Phoenix dynamic that’s quite interesting is the placement regarding other feuds on Monday Night Raw. While Bianca Belair is holding it down as the top champion on the Raw brand, it has left Ripley to carve out a spot for herself without actually having to hold a title. Similar to the current feud between Bayley and Becky Lynch, Ripley’s issue with Phoenix stems from a personal grudge and not just the typical glory that comes from being a champion.

We’ll have to see if Ripley does get the chance to end her feud with Phoenix before the biggest wrestling event of the year rolls around. She certainly has enough momentum and charisma to ride out the weeks leading into Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania, but that doesn’t mean she can’t gain a huge win over a Hall of Fame talent in the meantime.