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#4 Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm
Like many of Toni Storm's matches, I was somewhat underwhelmed by this. It was a fine match, but something about it just didn't quite connect to make it into a classic. It went to the well of a couple of finisher kickouts from both parties. Your mileage may vary, but I generally dislike matches that need to rely on those to build suspense.
The strongest aspect of the match was Ripley's character work. She bullied Storm for most of the match, using her size and power to advantage, but she isn't the finished item yet. As a result, the beatdown didn't get quite to the level that it could have. It was an inferior encounter compared to Ripley's match with Io Shirai in the Mae Young Classic semi-final.
Still, it was a solid contest, with a result that most of you would probably have predicted.
