Following a victory over Chelsea Green on tonight’s WWE Raw, Raquel Rodriguez revealed that she will officially get a rematch against Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s World Championship on next week’s show. Rodriguez and Ripley clashed over the weekend at WWE Payback, with Dominik Mysterio getting involved to ensure Ripley retained her title. Along with the match announcement, Rodriguez stated that Mysterio will be barred from ringside for next week’s title bout to hopefully even the odds.
Saturday’s match went over 15 minutes, with Mysterio getting involved as a distraction near the end, allowing Ripley to set up her finisher. Rodriguez has spent much of her time over the last year or two in the company’s tag division, with partners including Liv Morgan, Shotzi, and Aliyah. That division, and the set of titles at the top of it, have been plagued with injuries, stop-start booking, and a number of other bumps in the road. Tonight, it was revealed that Green’s partner and fellow WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Piper Niven was not medically cleared to compete, leading to the bout between Rodriguez and Green.
Ripley’s title reign began at WWE WrestleMania 39, when she defeated Charlotte Flair in a memorable singles match. Since then, her 157-day reign has included defenses against Zelina Vega, Natalya (twice), and now Rodriguez. The title was even rebranded while held by Ripley, changed from the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship to its current moniker.
Despite only a few defenses, Ripley has stayed very busy in recent months with shenanigans related to The Judgment Day. Each member of the group now holds championship gold, and the members have so far been quite loyal to one another in providing support during matches, especially Ripley and Mysterio. Though Mysterio has apparently been banned from ringside next week, there was no mention of Ripley’s other stablemates, Finn Balor and Damian Priest, the new Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions.