Rhea Ripley: Charlotte Flair ‘always has her way... she’ll probably end up in’ Raw Women’s title match at WrestleMania 37

Last Monday (Mar. 22) Rhea Ripley made her official Raw debut. Shortly thereafter, she was booked in a match for the brand’s title at WrestleMania 37.

It was a pivot away from WWE’s plans to have Asuka defend her championship against Charlotte Flair, who earlier in the day revealed she’d been quarantining after testing positive for COVID-19.

But, fueled in part by a tweet from Flair’s fiancé Andrade, there’s been a lot of speculation that The Queen would find her way back onto the ‘Mania card - possibly even by making the Raw Women’s championship match a Triple Threat.

Ripley, who lost the NXT title to Charlotte at WrestleMania 36 last April, seems resigned to the possibility Flair will end up in her match again this year. But she hopes she doesn’t.

As she told The New York Post:

“I’d be down for the match if she [Flair] got added, but also in a selfish way I really want to have a one-on-one match with Asuka. It’s something that I’ve wanted for a long, long time. I’ve always wanted to step in the ring with Asuka and we haven’t had a one-on-one match ever. So I think there is that it factor that everyone is really excited about. If Charlotte gets added to the match, I’m still not going to complain. It’s still going to be a fantastic match and it’s going to be a fantastic story. So I guess we will just see what happens. She always has her way, like you said, she’ll probably end up in it but that’s not my call to make. So I’ll be happy either way. I’m just happy to have a match at WrestleMania and I think it’s still gonna be great whether it has Charlotte in it or not.”

Overall, she’s got the right attitude. It’s not her call to make, so can’t spend too much time worrying about it.

But after her 2020 storyline with Flair ended with The Queen involved in Ripley’s NXT feud with Io Shirai - and without Charlotte ever being pinned or submitted - it’s understandable if her dream of a singles match with Asuka isn’t the only reason Rhea hopes Flair doesn’t get added.

Check out the rest of The Nightmare’s chat with Joseph Staszewski of The Post, where she talks finding out about ‘Mania match last Monday at 4 p.m., how she’s hoping to bring some edge back to her character on the main roster, and more - here.