The two rivals make for fun visual contracts, with Rhea Ripley sporting even more sinister makeup than usual and Charlotte Flair playing up her diamond motif.
Ripley shakes off a shoulder charge for one of her own, punctuating it with a crotch chop before the SmackDown Women’s Champion takes her down and then to the floor. Rhea takes a pause as Charlotte poses.
After some shoving, Flair hits a chop before getting backed into the corner. She fights out with several big right hands, then takes her father’s corner turnbuckle spot but fires right back with a cross body.
Ripley is able to propel Flair face first onto the top turnbuckle, and she hammers Charlotte’s back before tossing her into the corner again. She pulls Flair out and covers her for only one.
Rhea follows up by placing Charlotte in a body scissors, yelling as she grabs Flair’s hair as well. Flair tries to power out with some punches and a big boot. covering for a quick near fall.
Three shots to the back have Flair on her knees, but a fourth proves too many, so she switches to a release German suplex for a two count. Ripley pulls Flair to her feet just to knock her down twice, though the champ is able to battle back and bounce her foe off the turnbuckles.
Charlotte smells blood now, running over Rhea and switching back to chops. The crowd woooos as she crashes home even more chops, and she lands hard on Ripley’s leg as well, thinking ahead toward a finish.
A big right hand sets up another tunbuckle smash, and Flair has thoughts of going up top. A high cross body connects but Ripley rolls through and lifts Flair. Rhea wants Riptide but gets countered into a nasty DDT for a two count.
Flair tries for a Figure Four but eats a kick to the face, and Ripley uses an inside cradle for two. A collision from simultaneous big boots leaves both women on the mat looking at the lights.
They fight to their knees exchanging strikes, and Ripley fires off a series of moves before Flair suplexes her to leave them both down again. Yet Charlotte kips up, turning to glance at her challenger who is still down.
Charlotte has a moonsault on her mind, yet Ripley rushes up for a big superplex leading to a very narrow two count. Rhea shows just a tiny bit of doubt on her face, and Flair takes advantage with a blockbuster, forcing Ripley to roll out to the floor to recompose herself.
Flair rushes in too quickly and goes hard into the steps, then gets slammed back in the ring and has to kick out at two again. Ripley’s Riptide is once again countered into a German suplex, and Rhea can’t hold on in the corner to prevent a second.
Will there be a third? Nope, as Ripley delivers her own, except Charlotte is flipped all the way over and lands on her face. Flair bounces back for a big front kick to the face, covering and earning another near fall.
A running big boot smacks Ripley off the apron to the outside. Flair climbs again and hits a moonsault to the floor, quickly returning her challenger to the ring.
Flair can’t get the Figure Four and also misses a spear, barely avoiding crashing into the ref. Rhea connects on Riptide, and is absolutely beside herself when Charlotte kicks out.
Flair tries for a small package to win, but Ripley hoists her into a standing submission putting all kinds of pressure on the champ’s legs. Charlotte reaches forward little by little, reaching the ropes, and hits a spear that nearly but doesn’t win it.
Now it’s Flair who wears a look of disbelief, but she trades with Ripley as they both rise slowly. A Ripley head kick is answered by an even bigger one from the champ, but Rhea quickly grabs a rope when placed in the Figure Four.
Charlotte appears to be bleeding from the bridge of the nose as she heads to the corner and brings her challenger up top one more time. Rhea pulls the champ face first into the post, ascending herself to deliver the Avalanche Riptide and become the new WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion.