Charlotte Flair won the WWE women’s Royal Rumble match this past Sunday, which means she will go on to WrestleMania 36 to challenge any eligible Champion of her choosing. While all the signs point towards her taking on Becky Lynch, given that both superstars compete on the Monday Night Raw brand, it is being reported that she’ll face an opponent she hasn’t wrestled before.
PWInsider ‘s Mike Johnson revealed that “The Queen” will appear on this Wednesday’s episode of NXT to challenge Rhea Ripley, the black and gold brand’s current Women’s Champion. At the time of this writing, Flair has made it clear that she will challenge for “a championship” — as she stated on last night’s Monday Night Raw — so the NXT title isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Of course, if she does challenge Ripley, it will come as a shock to fans. NXT is still regarded as a development brand in the eyes of WWE followers, and Flair is arguably the most successful female superstar in the company’s history. However, since moving to the USA Network, the company has made efforts to present NXT as a brand of a similar caliber to Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown .
Flair challenging for the Women’s Championship will undoubtedly bring more eyes to the product and help establish the brand as an equal entity in the eyes of the WWE Universe. Furthermore, it gives her a prominent storyline after she recently opened up about her feelings about not being in the main event scene.
This is fun. ?? pic.twitter.com/hedfWb6AWx
— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) January 28, 2020
A match against Ripley will also be refreshing, as “The Queen” has faced Bayley and Lynch several times in the past. However, the decision to make Flair the Royal Rumble winner has proven to be an unpopular one among the fans. She has already enjoyed 10 Championship runs and many fans believe that she’s been overexposed to the title as a result.
Flair winning the Royal Rumble has also earned her a Championship match at WrestleMania for the fifth year in a row. In 2016, she defeated Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. The following year, she took part in a Raw Women’s Championship match against Bayley, Banks, and Nia Jax.
Flair also ended Asuka’s 914-day undefeated streak by retaining the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 34 . Last year, on the other hand, she made history by facing Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch in the first ever all-women’s main event, in which the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships were on the line.
