wins the Royal Rumble. Elimination Chamber begins to take shape. West Coast Pro Wrestling starts the build for the annual Queen of The Indies, and more! Let’s break it down in this week’s edition of Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up!
Rhea Ripley Wins The Royal Rumble
2023 looks to mark the rise of Rhea Ripley.
Saturday night, “The Nightmare” outlasted 29 other competitors to survive the Women’s Royal Rumble, setting an impressive record in the process. Ripley began the match at #1, joined by her former tag team partner Liv Morgan at #2. The two would battle through a sea of Superstars until they reached the final two.
Throughout their ventures in the Royal Rumble, Morgan and Ripley found themselves in the midst of chaos, shocking eliminations, and some even more shocking returns. Coming into the fray at #20, “The Hot Mess” Chelsea Green seemed poised to make a statement in her return to WWE. She surely achieved that, maybe not exactly how she had originally imagined it though. Before Green could even gather her bearings, Rhea Ripley launched Green over the top rope and onto the floor. Now, Chelsea Green claims the record for the quickest elimination in the history of the Women’s Royal Rumble, with a mere five seconds.
In at #25, former Divas Champion Michelle McCool stunned the San Antonio audience as she rose from her front row seat to join the Rumble match. McCool racked up a decent run with over 13 minutes, eliminating Tamina, before being eliminated by the eventual winner, Rhea Ripley.
Perhaps most surprising, though, Nia Jax returned in the highly favorable #30 spot. She quickly experienced some difficulties though. The eleven other women in the ring surrounded her, before eliminating the “Irresistible Force.”
Some NXT representatives made it into the match as well. NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez drew a huge reaction, not too far from her hometown of Laredo, Texas. Later on, Zoey Stark and Indi Hartwell entered as well. Stark accumulated an impressive time of 26:34 in her first appearance in the match.
In the end though, it came down to Asuka, Liv Morgan, and Rhea Ripley. Arriving in her former “Kana” ensemble, Asuka sprayed blue mist into the face of Morgan as the three teetered on the apron. Ripley eliminated Asuka soon after that, leaving the first two as the final two now. Morgan stunned Ripley with a codebreaker, but it wasn’t enough. Ripley clapped back with a headscissors to knock Morgan to floor, securing her win in the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble.
With their performances, Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan now sit atop the leaderboard for the longest time spent in a single women’s Royal Rumble. Ripley clocked in at 1:01:08, with Morgan trailing by just one second behind.
#RoyalRumble just became RHEA RUMBLE!@RheaRipley_WWE has won the Women's Royal Rumble Match from the number 1️⃣ spot and now … MAMI IS GOING TO #WRESTLEMANIA!!! pic.twitter.com/5zWrk4QwKN
— WWE (@WWE) January 29, 2023
The Nightmare Wants The Queen
Following her huge victory at the Royal Rumble, Rhea Ripley had an important choice to make.
With the win, Ripley earned the chance to claim the title shot of her choice. Last night on RAW, Ripley had three options in front of her. She could revisit the NXT Women’s Championship, facing Roxanne Perez. The RAW Women’s Championship emerged as another possibility for Ripley, should she crave some competition with Bianca Belair. In the end, though, Ripley fixated on the SmackDown Women’s Championship, and old foe, Charlotte Flair.
“I advise you to enjoy everyone rising and bowing down to ‘The Queen,” because they’re about to rise to Rhea Ripley. At WrestleMania, I put you in your place. Charlotte Flair, I choose you,” Ripley declared.
Now, the two will meet in a rematch of WrestleMania 36. Then, Flair beat Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship, but now, Ripley is hellbent on retribution.
BREAKING: 2023 #RoyalRumble Match winner @RheaRipley_WWE has chosen to challenge #SmackDown Women's Champion @MsCharlotteWWE at #WrestleMania!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/lcdInCK0Fk
— WWE (@WWE) January 31, 2023
Rhea Ripley Chooses Charlotte Flair As Her WrestleMania Opponent On 1/30 WWE RAW
2023 Elimination Chamber Takes Shapes
With Elimination Chamber just three weeks, WWE has laid out a huge opportunity for the women’s division.
As Rhea Ripley declared her opponent as Charlotte Flair for WrestleMania 39, that meant Bianca Belair’s opponent needed to be filled for the spectacle. Six women will now step into the Elimination Chamber to earn a title shot for the RAW Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.
Last night on RAW, Adam Pearce announced four of the six members of the Women’s Elimination Chamber. The last four women eliminated from the Royal Rumble earned their spots in the respective match. Therefore, Asuka, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, and Nikki Cross will officially compete inside the caged structure. A fatal four-way qualifying matchup will determine the 5th entrant between the likes of Candice LeRae, “Michin” Mia Yim, Carmella, and Piper Niven. That goes down next week on RAW.
The final entrant will likely come from the SmackDown side, but no official announcement has emerged thus far regarding that detail.
Who will qualify for the Women's #WWEChamber Match?
NEXT WEEK on #WWERaw: @CandiceLeRae vs. #PiperNiven vs. @MiaYim vs. the returning @CarmellaWWE! pic.twitter.com/qYXhilKPny
— WWE (@WWE) January 31, 2023
The Queen Of The Indies Reveals Its First Batch Of Competitors
Last month, West Coast Pro Wrestling announced it will hold its first-ever “Queen of the Indies.”
The tournament will feature a number of top independent wrestling stars from around the world as they gather in San Franciso, California on May 13th. There, the women will compete for the inaugural title. Now, the first four competitors have been revealed.
Upholding the “global” aspect of the tournament, West Coast Pro will partner with Marvelous to bring in representatives from the Japanese promotion to participate in Queen of Indies. Accordingly, legendary talent Chigusa Nagayo was unveiled as the first entrant, as she wrestles in America for the first time in nearly 10 years.
Secondly, former Future of STARDOM Champion Unagi Sayaka will make her United States debut there. Former RMP Lockettes Champion Rachelle Riveter will also be in action. Perhaps most shocking is the addition of a former SHIMMER Champion.
On May 13th, Nicole Savoy will come out of retirement for one night only to take part in the Queen of Indies.
ANNOUNCEMENT!
Nicole Savoy comes out of retirement for ONE NIGHT ONLY TO be a part of Queen of Indies!
Queen of Indies sponsored by The Joshi Pod.
Tickets on sale TOMORROW at 10am PST!
? San Francisco
?️ Saturday May 13th
?️ https://t.co/Z7rMUsazDl pic.twitter.com/pAbmupQPHQ
— West Coast Pro (@WCProOfficial) January 26, 2023
As of this writing, no further talent announcements have been made, but WrestleZone will provide more details as they become available.
INTERVIEWS:
Former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Zelina Vega appeared on Anna Faris Is Unqualified to discuss growing up, playing a WWE villain, meeting The Rock, meeting her husband, and more.
RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair spoke with Denise Salcedo of Instinct Culture about the year she’s had in WWE, how she’s about to start filming her new reality show, the one thing she’s not good at, and more.
Former Divas Champion Nikki Bella joined Us Weekly to discuss marriage drama claims with Artem, future kids, her son Matteo, show return, and more.
Former WWE NXT Womens Champion Mandy Rose spoke with the NY Post about dropping the NXT Womens Championship, her WWE release, money she’s made with her Fantime, and more.
UPCOMING EVENTS
– February 4th
We're only 5 days away! ? #CCW #Victory
Saturday, February 4th
? 11:00am ? 12:00pm
?Superkrazee Wrestling & Entertainment Center
1030 Delsea Dr. Unit 4W
Westville, NJ 08093
?️ Tickets: https://t.co/lAD8oGqXka pic.twitter.com/COgR6BMYyS
— Capital Championship Wrestling (@CCWAction) January 30, 2023
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