WrestleMania 37: Five finishes for Rhea Ripley vs Asuka

By Levi Grayshon
Modified Apr 11, 2021 20:24 IST
There are many possibilities for the RAW Women's Championship at WrestleMania 37
There are many possibilities for the RAW Women's Championship at WrestleMania 37

WrestleMania 37 opened on April 10th, with a set of fantastic matches that ended with Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair making history in the main event. There is still another night of action set to take place at Ramond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

There are five titles at stake on the card for Sunday, April 10th. One of these is the RAW Women's Championship. A few weeks ago on RAW, Rhea Ripley made her much-anticipated debut on WWE's Red Brand, and laid out a WrestleMania challenge for Asuka.

Asuka accepted and the match between the two was made. The build between this match wasn't without its stumbles, but both women are huge talents who could deliver something great this weekend at WrestleMania 37.

Here are five potential finishes for Asuka and Rhea Ripley's RAW Women's Championship match on Night Two of WrestleMania 37.

#5 Asuka retains her championship in a clean finish at WrestleMania 37

Despite being one of the most decorated stars of WWE's women's division, Asuka has never won any of her WrestleMania matches. Her undefeated streak ended at WrestleMania 34 against Charlotte Flair. Following Bianca Belair's monumental win on Night One, this makes Asuka the only female Royal Rumble winner to lose her title match at the Show of Shows.

Asuka was also defeated in the women's battle royal in 2019, and lost the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships in the opening match last year.

Because of this, the stakes feel high for Asuka. Since her recent reign with the RAW Women's Championship has felt lackluster due to WWE's booking of her, retaining the title would be great for Asuka. It could be an opportunity for The Empress of Tomorrow to reset her reign as a dominant champion in WWE.

A win at WrestleMania would be a welcome reset for Asuka, and could build her back up to her previous position as a powerful member of the women's division.

#4 Rhea Ripley defeats Asuka clean to become the new RAW Women's Champion at WrestleMania 37

WrestleMania 37 is not the first time that Rhea Ripley has competed on the Grandest Stage of Them All. She made her debut at the event last year, where she defended the NXT Women's Championship against 2020 Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair.

Rhea Ripley has already shown that she is a powerhouse in the women's division. She moved to RAW following a stellar run in NXT, as well as a breakout performance in the 2021 Royal Rumble, where she finished as the runner-up to eventual winner Bianca Belair. The intense final showdown between the two women was a huge talking point amongst viewers that night.

A clean win to win the RAW Women's Championship would be a great moment for Rhea Ripley. She is already showing signs that she is one of the huge future stars of the WWE women's division, and this would cement it further.

Rhea Ripley winning clean over Asuka would show that WWE are ready to usher in the next phase of the women's division. The division has suffered from a lack of great storytelling and television time recently. Rhea Ripley leaving WrestleMania as RAW Women's Champion could work as a reset for both the title scene and the division as a whole.

#3 There is a last-minute addition to the RAW Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 37

The build up to the RAW Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 37 has been a strange one. The plan seemed to change multiple times before Rhea Ripley was settled on as the opponent for Asuka.

Before Rhea Ripley was involved with Asuka, it appeared that WWE was going to go down the route of Charlotte Flair being the challenger. Before any of this, it was reported that Lacey Evans was planned to be the champion going into WrestleMania 37, and Flair would be her challenger.

Charlotte Flair has been removed from WWE promotional materials, despite being one of the biggest names in the company. Fans had previously expected Flair to be added to the title match, due to both Asuka and Rhea Ripley having unfinished business and history with the multiple-time champion.

Adding Charlotte Flair to the match, making it a last minute Triple Threat, would be a good surprise, and would also add more tension to the match between the women. It could also easily set up the next championship feud coming out of WrestleMania.

#2 Kairi Sane returns to help Asuka retain the RAW Women's Championship at WrestleMania 37

In the opening match of WrestleMania 36, Kairi Sane and Asuka, The Kabuki Warriors, lost the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships to Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.

A few months later, Kairi Sane departed from WWE television in the United States to return to her native Japan. However, Sane now works as an ambassador for the company.

Online, Kairi Sane recently teased a WrestleMania 37 comeback for herself. Replying to a tweet from former rival Bayley, Sane posted a video clip which saw her face pasted onto the body of Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. In the clip, Sane arrived with a sign for Tampa, Florida - the location of WrestleMania 37.

She may just be teasing in a similar way to Becky Lynch, but many fans are expecting the former NXT Champion to return in some capacity.

If Kairi Sane was to come back at WrestleMania 37, it would be a fantastic moment for fans of The Kabuki Warriors, even if it is just a one-off.

#1 Rhea Ripley could cheat to win at WrestleMania 37

In the build up to WrestleMania 37, WWE seems to have been pushing Rhea Ripley as a heel character in the feud with Asuka. Ripley has previously worked as a heel in NXT UK, and was excellent in the role. Her look and in-ring style seemed to fit perfectly with her being a heel.

When Ripley left NXT UK behind for the United States, she appeared to be more of a babyface character. She did just as well in this role, but some fans missed the edge that she displayed as a heel.

Ripley has been slowly reverting back to her initial character since her RAW debut. She has already flipped a table on Asuka, before beating her down during their tag team match against Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax on the go-home edition of RAW.

In her current persona, it wouldn't be out of character for Rhea Ripley to resort to underhanded tactics to dethrone Asuka as the RAW Women's Champion at WrestleMania 37. This could also be used to continue the rivalry between Asuka and Rhea Ripley beyond the event.

What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.