Rhea Ripley Points To Akira Tozawa Match As Proof Of Evolution In WWE Women's Division

Royal Rumble winner Rhea Ripley is on the verge of headlining WrestleMania 39 this year when she challenges Charlotte Flair for the "SmackDown" Women's Championship. Her path to redemption is a story in and of itself, but her place in women's wrestling history is also one worthy of recognition.

During a recent interview with "Checkpoint," Ripley reflected on how "cool" it has been to watch WWE's women's division evolve and grow, noting that she wasn't sure women would ever be able to main event WrestleMania. She believes women have been breaking barriers across all sports, proving to be on the same level as their male counterparts. Case in point was her "WWE Raw" match against Akira Tozawa in December.

"Like you said, having a match against Tozawa on 'WWE Raw' television. That's something I didn't think would happen, especially to someone like me," Ripley said. "I didn't think it would be in my timeline. I thought it would still be down a little bit, like we'd have to work toward that one. But to know that it's all changing and evolving so quickly, I'm so intrigued and excited to see what the future holds for the women's division because we're growing and you can't really stop us. We're shining."

WWE hasn't completely strayed away from intergender wrestling, but those bouts are few and far between. Notably, Chyna faced Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship on two 1999 pay-per-views, while Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton was, for all intents and purposes, advertised as a featured bout for Fastlane 2021.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Checkpoint" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.