Disagreement between two creative teams in WWE on the finish to the NXT Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania 36
Fightful Select is reporting that there were disagreements between the creative teams for RAW and NXT (RAW overruled) as to how to book the NXT Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania 36 this past April between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley. Sean Ross Sapp is reporting that the idea of NXT creative was to book Ripley to retain the title and add Bianca Belair to the mix so Ripley could pin Belair and that way Flair wouldn’t have to take a loss.
This would have made sense for two reasons.
- Belair was called to the main roster the very next night – and evidently she has been drafted to SmackDown (even though she made her debut on RAW with her husband Montez Ford of The Street Profits) and is on pace to become a women’s champion in 6 – 12 months.
- She was featured in a match in March with The Queen. This was a hint after looking back on the situation in hindsight – which is always 20/20 – that one booking team was pushing for Belair to be in the match.
The RAW creative team ended up winning this battle and they got their singles match between Charlotte and Rhea, with The Queen – the established star – going over.
Not to say I’m upset about that. I like Flair, but Ripley would have used the victory a lot more – a brand-new main event star in the women’s division would have been made instantly – and before she even hit the age of 25. Charlotte is only 34 years old and still building her legacy to hopefully one day catch her father with 16 titles.