Rhea Ripley Pins Asuka, Retains RAW Women’s Title At WrestleMania Backlash
WWE WrestleMania Backlash kicked off with a battle between WWE RAW’s three top stars.
Rhea Ripley defended her RAW Women’s Championship against Asuka and Charlotte Flair in a clash filled with bad blood.
As soon as the bell rang, Flair tried to evade her opponents, but they chased her down. A-Asuka sent Flair crashing to the floor, so the match evolved into a WrestleMania rematch between “The Nightmare” and her challenger. But Flair wisely blindsided Asuka and suplexed her onto the floor. “The Queen” squared off with the champion and gained the upper hand.
#TheQueen @MsCharlotteWWE takes ✈️ FLIGHT ✈️ yet again in a high-stakes #TripleThreatMatch, this time against @WWEAsuka and @RheaRipley_WWE!
Stream #WMBacklash on @PeacockTV ▶️ https://t.co/RsfCdPBh3U pic.twitter.com/YLHCeabNbl
— WWE (@WWE) May 16, 2021
With a chop block to Ripley, Queen took control of the bout. But Asuka rallied and trapped Flair with an arm-bar until Ripley broke the hold. After a flurry of offense, Ripley spit on Flair to disrespect the queen.
😮😮😮#WMBacklash @RheaRipley_WWE @WWEAsuka @MsCharlotteWWE pic.twitter.com/V2mGeP1n6U
— WWE (@WWE) May 16, 2021
Later in the match, a double superplex left all three women down, and the bout seemed like it could go any way. With a double Natural Selection, Flair nearly won the contest. But in the end, Ripley pinned Asuka to retain the gold.
#AndSTILL!#WMBacklash @RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/21sqcXZIIs
— WWE (@WWE) May 16, 2021