Rhea Ripley Agrees With Decision To Have Tag Title Match Main Event WWE WrestleMania
At WrestleMania 39, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn faced The Usos and headlined night one over the "WWE SmackDown" Women's Championship match between Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair. The women, though, went out and put on an instant classic in their battle for the title.
But, did WWE make the wrong decision that evening? "The Eradicator" of The Judgment Day doesn't necessarily think so. In her interaction with "My Love Letter to Wrestling," Ripley touched on the decision to have the WWE Tag Team Championship match headline the event, while also speaking about her competitive edge.
"Charlotte and I think we were more competitive towards — I wanna say the tag main event," she told Mark Andrews. "Just because normally it's the two Rumble winners that get the main event."
Ripley followed up her Women's Royal Rumble triumph in January by defeating Flair for the "SmackDown" Women's Championship that night. Yet despite the history of Rumble winners headlining WrestleMania, she understands why the tag titles got that spot this time around. "I understand why we didn't, because we didn't really have that good story build going into it like the Bloodline did with Sami and Kevin," she continued. "So, I 100% agree on that decision. But there was that side where you're like, 'Well, I'm gonna prove a point and be like follow that.'"
Understanding that Asuka and Bianca Belair were going to give each other everything the following night as well, Ripley and Flair wanted to set the bar on night one. No matter where they ended up on the card, they were going to leave everything in the ring.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "My Love Letter to Wrestling" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.