Rhea Ripley Beats Jade Cargill for WWE Women's Title at WrestleMania 42 in 1st-Ever Match
Rhea Ripley defeated Jade Cargill on Night 2 of WrestleMania 42 on Sunday to win the WWE Women's Championship.
WrestleMania marked the first-ever meeting between Cargill and Ripley in a one-on-one match, and there was a great deal of anticipation leading up to it thanks to their status as two of the most powerful women in WWE.
When women's Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan chose to challenge Stephanie Vaquer for the Women's World Championship, that meant the women's Elimination Chamber winner would be Cargill's opponent at The Showcase of the Immortals.
Ripley outlasted five of the top Superstars that WWE has to offer inside the Chamber, last pinning former WWE women's champion Tiffany Stratton to win the match.
While Ripley and Cargill had never had many on-screen interactions previously, it didn't take long for their rivalry to get off and running once Ripley became No. 1 contender.
Before their first promo together, Rhea and Jade traded barbs on social media. Cargill seemingly accused Ripley of currying favor with the creative team in order to ascend to a top spot, and the Australian star didn't take kindly to the claim.
When Rhea and Jade finally interacted with each other in the ring on the ensuing episode of SmackDown, their conversation was much different than what occurred on X.
Cargill noted that while she was impressed with Ripley's physique, it didn't measure up to her own. While Ripley agreed, she pointed out that she was perfectly tailored to excelling in the ring and would use that to her advantage at WrestleMania.
Jade tried to tip the scales in her favor by recruiting Michin and B-Fab as allies, but Ripley had backup leading up to WrestleMania in the form of her friend and tag team partner Iyo Sky.
Although Cargill has been dominant since wrestling her first match with WWE in 2024, Ripley has essentially been the face of the women's division for the past few years, and she has plenty of accolades to prove it.
At WrestleMania 42, Ripley's experience edge helped her get the win over Cargill, making her women's champ for the fourth time in her WWE career.
