Rhea Ripley Pins Shayna Baszler; Retains Women's World Title at WWE Crown Jewel 2023

Rhea Ripley defeated Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Raquel Rodriguez and Zoey Stark in a Fatal 5-Way match at WWE Crown Jewel on Saturday to retain the Women's World Championship.

After a hard-fought encounter, Ripley delivered Riptide on all four competitors before pinning Baszler to extend her title reign.

Ripley entered Crown Jewel having been women's world champion for over 200 days, and while she has been a dominant force in the women's division, she faced her toughest challenge in Saudi Arabia.

Prior to Saturday, the Australian's most recent title defenses were a pair of matches against Rodriguez at Payback and on the ensuing episode of Raw in September.

Ripley had put both Rodriguez and her tag team partner, Liv Morgan, on the shelf with injuries, and while Raquel returned with revenge on her mind, she wasn't able to take down The Eradicator in the two singles bouts they had.

Following Ripley's second successful title defense against Rodriguez, Jax made her surprise return to WWE by attacking both Superstars, which resulted in both being written off television for a couple of weeks.

Jax, who was released by WWE in November 2021, returned as a surprise entrant in the 2023 women's Royal Rumble match, but it wasn't until recently that she made her full-time return to the company.

In the weeks that followed, Jax continued to make her presence felt in the Raw women's division, attacking multiple Superstars, including Baszler and Stark.

On a recent episode of the red brand, The Irresistible Force was confronted by Ripley, Rodriguez, Baszler and Stark, which led to a massive brawl and set the stage for the Fatal 5-Way title match at Crown Jewel.

While Ripley's reign rarely seemed in danger since she beat Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39, she found herself in a tough situation in Saudi Arabia against four of the most rough-and-tumble female Superstars in WWE.

Despite the odds being stacked against her, Ripley scored the victory at Crown Jewel and helped The Judgment Day maintain their status as the dominant force on Raw.

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