Heading into the 2024 Elimination Chamber, Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch found themselves on opposite sides of the WWE contender spectrum.
After winning the then-SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 39 in a co-main event match against Charlotte Flair, Ripley has proven herself one of the top in-ring performers in the entire WWE Universe, defending her title nine times while “running” Monday Night RAW alongside the rest of Judgment Day.
And as for Lynch? Well, she's back to being a babyface, and like any good babyface Lynch run, she's looking to become champion after experiencing a series of setbacks at Money in the Bank last year and at the Royal Rumble back in January.
Discussing the prospects of having to wrestle Lynch following their respective wins at the Elimination Chamber by Byron Saxton, Ripley celebrated the prospects of a Mami vs. “The Man” showdown at WrestleMania 40, as it gives her a chance to knock a very big name off of her career checklist.
“Everyone in the Elimination Chamber did exceptionally well. They all put up such a fantastic fight,” Rhea Ripley told Byron Saxton via Fightful. “I was watching very, very closely. I think heading into WrestleMania against Becky Lynch is a real bucket list moment. I've nearly knocked off everyone in the Horsewomen, and Becky's the last one. I haven't stepped in the room with her since NXT, and by Shayna Baszler, so we've never had a finish to our match. So I think it's very fitting that it happens at Mania, and I hope that Becky is ready. Otherwise, her nightmares are gonna become a reality, and Mami's gonna end up on top just like she always d**n does.”
Asked by Saxton what it was like to wrestle in front of her home country crowd for the first time in seven years, Ripley reflected on the full-circle experience, noting that she's used to being a champion in Australia.
“It's hard to put into words exactly how special this is, to be honest. So taken back by the crowd reaction, actually seeing my family out there. To be completely honest, at the very end, when I had that extra time to myself, I let it fully soak in,” Ripley noted. “It's funny cuz I had a weird flashback over my last match here in Australia. I defended my title then, I left champion because Mami's always on top. I remember sitting in the middle of the ring and just soaking it all in and soaking up the crowd and just letting them in and letting them affect me in a way that I don't really try and let them affect me. I did the same thing tonight without even meaning to, and it just gave me that flashback. It was a real wholesome moment for me, it really was. I hate getting teary on camera.”
What, you may ask, is the match Ripley is referring to? Well, that would be a 2017 championship bout for Riot City Wrestling, where the performer then-known as Demi Bennett successfully defended her RCW Women's Title against Kellyanne. While Ripley eventually had to vacate that title to begin her run in NXT, in the end, returning to Australia with the WWE Women's World Championship has to be a surreal feeling.
Becky Lynch is ready for Rhea Ripley after a full-circle EC Win.
Speaking of full-circle moments, Becky Lynch had one of her own at the Elimination Chamber, where, in her first-ever appearance in the match type, she secured the fifth and final pin to punch her ticket to WrestleMania 40.
Discussing her feelings immediately after the match in an interview with Byron Saxton, Lynch celebrated her ability to make good on a promise, all the while boasting that she would take care of business in South Philadelphia regardless of who won the show's main event.
“Well, it makes me feel good, but not just because I won. Because for the last little while, I made a few promises to the people and to myself,” Becky Lynch told Byron Saxton via Fightful. “I said that I needed to end Nia Jax, and I didn't. Tonight, she's now the number one contender for the Women's World Championship. She could be the champion come to WrestleMania, and I told the people that I was going to win the Royal Rumble, and I didn't. So, as good as winning felt, it felt good that I kept up my promise to the people and to myself. Now, if Rhea Ripley can hold up her end of the deal, Mami and the man will collide at WrestleMania.”
While it would have been cool to see Lynch finally get her definitive win over Jax on a huge show, in the end, a one-on-one match with Ripley always felt like the end game for whoever won the Elimination Chamber, as Mami was never going to lose her strap in front of her home audience. Still, just because that match felt fated doesn't mean it'll be an easy task to complete, as Ripley is steadily climbing up the all-time longest WWE Women's Championship reign list, and it's hard to imagine Paul “Triple H” Levesque is going to let that go without a top contender taking her down.
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