

Royal Rumble is arguably one of the biggest attention magnets the WWE ever came up with. The 30-contestant brawl for survival is the ultimate contest that sees all the big names go against each other in one single match. This year, Rhea Ripley claimed the 2023 Royal Rumble victory for herself, while also winning her title match at WrestleMania.
Mami’s domination is in full swing at the moment. She has established herself as one of the strongest WWE Women’s Champions to hold the title. While everything is going strong for Rhea Ripley right now, a rare image shows that her reign could’ve started earlier. In fact, the image shows that she could have potentially been the winner of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Rhea Ripley knocked Bianca Belair out of the ring in 2021?
The 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble match saw several top wrestlers compete against each other down to the last survivor. After a great struggle, the competition was reduced to Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. The wrestlers fought hard against each other, almost toppling each other over several times. The match ended with Belair taking the final win off a clothesline that eliminated Mami. A rare photo tweeted on X however, reveals something shocking instead.

The tweet carried the caption, “Rhea Ripley won the 2021 Royal Rumble btw.” The image shows Mami and Belair struggling for balance and hanging on the ropes, while Belair’s feet are dangerously close to the ground. The image does look very suspicious. However, the rules say that both feet of a wrestler must be completely on the ground for a valid elimination.
Rhea Ripley won the 2021 Royal Rumble btw pic.twitter.com/UyWJJwmSGu
— kendallwrestling (-_•) (@kendallprinxe) October 28, 2023
The photo shows Belair’s feet just slightly above ground, or barely touching them, instead of landing completely. The quality of the image doesn’t help either, thus, giving the referees at ringside more power to pass a judgment.
While Rhea Ripley may not have won the Rumble in 2021, she definitely ruled its 2023 iteration. In fact, Mami rose to the top despite being the first entrant in the match.
Mami’s undisputed Royal Rumble win in 2023
While Mami’s 2021 Royal Rumble performance in 2021 was nothing short of phenomenal, she surpassed herself in 2023. Entering the contest at number one, Rhea Ripley went hard against everyone and survived till the end. Interestingly, the last person standing between her and victory was the number two entrant, Liv Morgan.
Both wrestlers fought a long battle of endurance as they fought for one final elimination. This was the pinnacle of everything in Royal Rumble history, as both women lasted over the one-hour mark.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad

Despite the great show by Morgan, it was eventually Rhea Ripley who won the match. Ripley topped the number of eliminations scored at five, and also became the female wrestler to last the longest in a Rumble match at 1:01:08. However, this was just the beginning of Mami’s journey.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
She later defeated Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39 to become the new WWE Women’s Champion. She still holds onto the title and has been on an undisputed run ever since. What are your thoughts about Mami potentially winning the 2021 Royal Rumble?
Watch this story: ‘This Is Really Special’: Dominik Mysterio Shows Indelible Love For Rhea Ripley Through An Ink Tribute
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT