Rhea Ripley has been one of the most dominant wrestlers to grace the women’s division in recent times. She dominated in NXT and continues to do so as the Women’s World champion on the main roster. However, an old foe, just as dominant as she is, is coming for some Payback.

There are not that many female stars that can match the size and aggression of Ripley. However, this old foe already beat her during their NXT days. With the Payback PLE around the corner, will Ripley remain dominant, or will she finally meet her match?

Former NXT Champion calls Rhea Ripley a bully

Rhea Ripley will defend her world title at the upcoming PLE event Payback on September 2. It will take place at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The two are the most dominant females in their division. Both women have dominating physiques and weigh around 140 lbs, though Rodriguez is a bit heavier than Ripley. This clash of titans is something fans have been waiting to see. 

Although the feud between them has built up for weeks, even before SummerSlam, the roots of their feud started back in NXT. However, the two crossed paths on the main roster only a few times. To prove who is the most dominant in the women’s division, Ripley took things too far and injured Rodriguez. Ripley made sure Rodriguez would not compete at SummerSlam. Despite her best efforts, Rodriguez is back and has a message for Ripley.

Ahead of Payback, during her promo, Rodriguez said, “Rhea is the strongest and most dominant female in all of WWE, except for me.” Both Rodriguez and Ripley have dominated the women’s division due to their strength and size. While Rodriguez made friends like Liv Morgan, Ripley joined the heel stable The Judgment Day. Keeping to a heel personal. She injured Morgan, which rubbed Rodriguez the wrong way.

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In her promo package, Rodriguez said that she could not wait to get her hands on Ripley and make her pay for what Ripley did to her and Morgan. She vowed that at Payback, she would take Ripley’s title and make sure she would cut down to size. Rodriguez said, “Every bully has a weakness.” She claimed that Ripley was nothing more than a bully who needed to be stopped. And this is what she is planning to do at Payback. 

The long road to Payback started in NXT

Believe it or not, this rivalry to see who is the more dominant one dates back to Halloween Havoc 2020. During their first bout, Ripley picked up the win. Following this was NXT: WarGames in the same year, where Rodriguez’s team would win. During their second singles bout, in 2021’s New Year’s Evil, Rodriguez won in their Last Woman Standing match. 

Ripley joined the main roster much sooner than Rodriguez. While there, she joined Judgment Day and dominated the Women’s division. Rodriguez was late to the main roster party as she debuted in 2022. During her time in NXT Rodriguez won the Women’s title but singles glory on the main roster has eluded her so far.

Fans will now await this clash and hope this is the beginning of a lengthy program between the two stars.

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