The History Between Rhea Ripley And Raquel Rodriguez In WWE, Explained
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Highlights
- Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez have a longstanding history as rivals both on-screen and in real life, as they were the only two girls in their class at the Performance Center.
- Their feud dates back to their time in NXT, with Ripley winning their first singles match and Rodriguez coming out victorious in their Last Woman Standing match at New Year's Evil 2021.
- After taking different paths in their careers, Ripley and Rodriguez have crossed paths again on WWE's main roster, with a highly anticipated match between the two expected at SummerSlam.
Over the last number of weeks, WWE has been steadily building up the rivalry between reigning WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez. They are two of the most dominant members of the women’s roster in the company, and have been for a very long time. However, this feud did not come from out of nowhere. Ripley and Rodriguez have had careers linked to each other throughout their time in WWE. They had been rivals during their time in WWE’s developmental brand, NXT, and that feud has now finally found its way to the main roster. With SummerSlam heavily seeming like the place where the feud will culminate, it is beneficial to look at where the rivalry between the two has been and where it has the potential to go.
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Rhea Ripley & Raquel Rodriguez's History In NXT
Aside from being rivals on-screen, the two are genuine friends in real life with tremendous respect for one another. On After The Bell With Corey Graves (h/t WrestlingNews.Co), Ripley spoke about the two people who helped her most during her time in the Performance Center. Along with trainer Scotty 2 Hotty, she said, “The two people that I really like have to give credit to are Raquel Rodriguez. She's my best friend. We went through so much at the Performance Center together. We were the only two girls in Scotty's class.” Real life bonds have often helped in creating some of the best on-screen rivalries, something that Ripley and Rodriguez have done in their careers thus far.
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The on-screen feud between the two dates back to their time in NXT. Rodriguez and her tag team partner at the time, Dakota Kai, were involved in a feud with Ripley. This led to a few matches between Rodriguez and Ripley, two of the most dominant and powerful members of NXT’s roster ever. In their first singles bout at Halloween Havoc 2020, Ripley picked up the win. However, Rodriguez was on the winning side of the 2020 Women’s WarGames match against a team which Ripley was on. In their second singles match at New Year’s Evil 2021 in a Last Woman Standing match, Rodriguez picked up the victory. In addition, this was Ripley’s final match as a member of the NXT roster.
Rhea Ripley & Raquel Rodriguez's Path To WWE's Main Roster
Since then, Ripley and Rodriguez embarked on different paths in their careers. Ripley went on to join WWE’s main roster in 2021. There she went on to achieve a lot of success in the form of numerous championship reigns and great matches. Ripley’s greatest success came in the form of her joining The Judgment Day faction, which currently consists of her, Damian Priest, Finn Bálor, and her on-screen love, Dominik Mysterio. She also won the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble and is the reigning WWE Women’s World Champion.
As for Rodriguez, she remained in NXT for a while longer after beating Ripley. She went on to have her own successes with an NXT Women’s Championship reign and two NXT Women’s Tag Team Title reigns with Dakota Kai. She joined the main roster in 2022, and has had a number of WWE Women’s Tag Team Title reigns with both Liv Morgan and Aliyah.
Raquel Rodriguez & Rhea Ripley Look To Renew Their Rivalry
Rodriguez and Ripley have once again crossed paths, this time on WWE’s main roster. With weeks of build-up and tension, the most recent episode of WWE Monday Night RAW saw Ripley play a role in costing Rodriguez and Morgan their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. Ripley attacked Rodriguez’s knee, leading to a loss to Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville. It has been clear that WWE is building to a match between the two. With SummerSlam just around the corner on August 5, 2023, this will certainly be a rivalry for fans to watch and keep an eye on as it further develops.
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Ripley and Rodriguez clearly have an immense amount of chemistry in the ring. With both holding one televised singles match win over one another, it will be interesting to see how things go in the weeks leading up and at SummerSlam. They have consistently been two of the company’s very best ever since they began with their time in NXT. They have been two of the most prominent names of this new generation of WWE talent. It is a rivalry that makes sense, with history behind it from two genuine real life friends. While only time will tell where the story takes the two rivals next, their feud is one to watch.
