Rhea Ripley Wins Shocking New Challenge From AEW Mainstay

Although Rhea Ripley has not been on weekly WWE television in nearly three months due to an arm injury caused by Liv Morgan that required surgery, that hasn’t stopped many performers from across the world of professional wrestling from taking her place, from the current RAW Women’s Champion to the new Ms. Money in the bankTiffany Stratton.

And yet, potential challengers to Ripley’s spot as the best women’s wrestler in the world include not only members of the WWE Universe, but also performers who work for other companies, including Serena Deeb, one of the best technical women’s wrestlers in the world and a current member of the AEW roster.

When discussing his relationship with Ripley and his desire to step into the ring with “Eradicator” at some point in the future, Deeb highlighted his former friend Gabby AFnoting that a match together would be an absolute dream.

“Anything is possible. It’s a cool place to be in the business because for so long, it wasn’t like that, and it was very rigid, very rigid lines like, ‘No, you can’t cross that,’ and now the lines are blurred. You mentioned Jordynne (Grace), I thought her match at that NXT pay-per-view was really good. I really respect her. She’s definitely someone, yeah, I would love to go with Jordynne at some point. But I would say the number one is definitely Rhea Ripley. When we were together at the Performance Center, we had a really cool bond. I felt really close to her. I think all the coaches, me and Scotty 2 Hotty, we were kind of her closest. I always supported her, I always tried to motivate her and encourage her,” Serena Deeb said. Gabby AF via 411 Mania.

“I know, and I’m not saying, ‘Oh, I knew it,’ but I knew it. I thought, ‘This girl is a star. Once she figures out what to do, forget it, she’s going to rise so fast, which she did.’ I actually saw her at Double or Nothing. I couldn’t believe it when I saw her. I was completely shocked. We hugged, I gave her the biggest hug, and we seriously didn’t let go of each other for about ten minutes. We just stood there with our arms around each other. I cried a couple of times. I told her, ‘I’m so proud of you, I knew it. You’ve persevered through so much.’ I love watching her. I think she’s the biggest star in women’s wrestling. I think her in-ring work is incredible, on top of all her character work. She’s number one. I told her that. In my opinion, she just operates at a level where there are a lot of great women, but she’s up there in my opinion. When I saw her, I was like, ‘I want to fight you so bad.’ I think for both of us, it’s a dream match, for sure.”

After spending the 2017-20 period as a member of the WWE Universe, Deeb has been working in AEW since September 2020, wrestling up and down the card in between an extended absence due to epileptic seizures. While the chances of the duo working a match together in the near future seem rather unlikely, who knows; in today’s pro wrestling landscape, stranger things have happened.

Tiffany Stratton also has her signs on Rhea Ripley

Speaking of wrestlers wanting to take on Rhea Ripley, Ms. Money in the bankTiffany Stratton, recently stopped by the Binge Fight podcast and named some of the artists she’d like to mix with in the squared circle.

“I want to fight Rhea Ripley. Rhea Ripley is, I would say, my number two. When she comes back and when she’s healthy, and Liv Morgan,” Tiffany Stratton explained via WrestleZone. “I feel like you do what you want, you do what you want. But if I was on RAW, I would definitely be fighting for that title right now.”

Expand your dreams a little further off the beaten track Money in the bank contract stipulations, this time on the Babyface podcast, Stratton named a few other WWE Superstars she would like to wrestle at some point in the future, including a few familiar faces from Smack down with whom she works every week.

“Some of my dream matches… I would love to have a match against Charlotte Flair when she comes back,” Stratton noted. “I would love to have a rematch against Bianca. I think Bianca is incredible in the ring. Unfortunately, I didn’t get her this time, but I think a rematch is definitely in my future, and I would love to face Jade. Obviously, she’s kind of the poster child for what a WWE Superstar is. She’s beautiful, she’s strong. I think we would get along really well in the ring.”

With the Women’s Money in the Bank contract currently having a perfect 100% success rate on cash-in attempts, it’s safe to say that Stratton will almost certainly be a champion in the not too distant future on either. RAW Or Smack down. However, it is the opponents she should bet on and the future matches that could result from them that will define the women’s division going forward.