Rhea Ripley Defeats Zelina Vega, Retains SmackDown Women's Title at WWE Backlash 2023

In her first title defense since beating Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39, Rhea Ripley defeated Zelina Vega at WWE Backlash in Puerto Rico on Saturday to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship.

Opening the match by initially toying with her undersized opponent, Ripley looked like she was going to be in complete control.

Vega gave the partisan Puerto Rico crowd hope when she turned the Australian's attempt at the Riptide into a tornado DDT. She followed that up by paying tribute to Rey Mysterio by delivering a 619 and Eddie Guerrero with a shimmy on the ropes before taking the titleholder down with a double-knee stomp.

After Ripley kicked out of a near-fall, she regained control and put the valiant challenger away by hitting Riptide for the three-count.

Despite the disappointing finish to the match, Vega still came out far ahead on the night. She was clearly overwhelmed by the reception from the fans, which included her family at ringside.

The issues between Ripley and Vega began before The Eradicator even won the belt, as their factions were at odds during the build toward WrestleMania.

The Judgment Day's Dominik Mysterio was feuding with his father, Rey Mysterio, which resulted in the WWE Hall of Famer gathering backup in the form of the newly minted Latino World Order.

Rey bestowed the LWO name on Vega, Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro of Legado del Fantasma, giving him the power needed to combat Dominik, Rhea, Finn Bálor and Damian Priest.

The issues between the groups continued during the aftermath of The Show of Shows, which saw Ripley beat Flair for the title and Rey beat Dominik due in part to interference from musician Bad Bunny.

With the stables continuing to battle, Vega lobbied WWE official Adam Pearce for the opportunity to be The Eradicator's first challenger at Backlash.

Not only did the match make sense based on the feud between the factions, but it was also the perfect time to put Vega in, arguably, the biggest match of her career.

The 32-year-old is of Puerto Rican descent, so there was little doubt she would receive a huge babyface reaction in San Juan, which is precisely the the dynamic WWE would have wanted against the villainous Ripley.

While Vega did win the first-ever Queen's Crown tournament, much of her work in WWE has been as a manager. She has dazzled when given in-ring chances, though, and she made the most of her opportunity Saturday.

Even though Ripley retained as expected, Vega turned in a spectacular performance and proved once again that she belongs in the mix near the top of the WWE women's division.

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