Rhea Ripley Wins 2023 Royal Rumble; Faces Bianca Belair or Charlotte at WrestleMania

Rhea Ripley won the sixth annual women's Royal Rumble match at the same-titled pay-per-view on Saturday night, guaranteeing her a shot at the Raw or SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 39.

Entering from the No. 1 spot, The Eradiacator beat out 29 of the top female Superstars WWE has to offer to solidify her place on The Road to WrestleMania.

Ripley eliminated Asuka and Liv Morgan at the end to win the Rumble for the first time in her career. She becomes the first woman to enter the match at No. 1 and emerge victorious.

Since debuting in 2018, the women's Rumble match has been one of the most highly anticipated bouts in WWE every year, and the 2023 edition was particularly intriguing since any number of participants could have won.

Of those who were announced ahead of time, Ripley was arguably the favorite due to the dominant manner in which she has been presented recently with The Judgment Day.

The Australian has trounced female Superstars and stood up to⁠—and defeated⁠—male wrestlers in matches.

It seemed like the right time to strike with Ripley, but WWE also could have gone with a pair of firmly established names such as Becky Lynch or Bayley.

Fittingly, the two were embroiled in a heated rivalry leading up to the Rumble, and both entered the match in hopes of returning to their past championship glory.

At the same time, neither Lynch nor Bayley necessarily needed to win the women's match in order to join the title hunt, which potentially left the door open for an unexpected winner to emerge.

Ultimately, WWE's recent push of Ripley was clearly done with an eye toward the Rumble, and she cashed in on her massive opportunity.

She became the sixth different person to win the women's match, improving on her runner-up finish in 2021. She also assured herself of what will likely be the biggest contest of her career at WrestleMania on April 1-2.

Ripley has history with both Raw women's champion Bianca Belair and SmackDown titleholder Charlotte Flair, so either would be a sensible choice as her opponent.

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