Rhea Ripley Wants Future WWE Match With Bianca Belair To Have 'A Massive Story'

The Judgment Day's Rhea Ripley is the current "WWE SmackDown" Women's Champion. "Mami" successfully retained the gold against Natalya this past weekend at the Night of Champions premium live event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Ripley — who has WWE Hall of Famers Beth Phoenix and Lita on her list of dream opponents — revealed which main roster star she would like to feud with while speaking on the "Mark Andrews: My Love Letter to Wrestling" podcast.

"I wanna have a massive story and build with Bianca [Belair]," Ripley said. "There's something so special there that could be done, so I want something to happen with Bianca and I."

Ripley and Belair are currently on separate brands following the 2023 WWE Draft, so it's unlikely they will enter into a big feud in the immediate future. Looking back on their history in the ring, the pair first collided in a singles match on a "WWE NXT" house show in September 2017, which saw "The EST" pick up the victory. Ripley would go on to defeat the 2021 women's Royal Rumble winner on the October 23, 2019, episode of "NXT" at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. In 2020, they briefly feuded over the "NXT" Women's Championship, with Ripley retaining the gold at TakeOver: Portland. The two stars have not collided in a televised one-on-one match since then. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Mark Andrews: My Love Letter to Wrestling" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.