During Monday’s post-Money in the Bank edition of WWE RAW, WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley retained her championship over Natalya. The back-and-forth match lasted about 13 minutes and was far superior to Ripley’s 1 minute squash triumph over Natalya at WWE Night of Champions in late May. Fans hailed the match online, with many, including Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, proclaiming it the finest women’s TV match of the year from any brand.
In an update, Fightful Select reports that Natalya vs. Ripley not only thrilled fans online, but individuals backstage were also complimenting the match, and members of management in attendance were pleased. WWE executives were particularly pleased with the match’s rough nature.
Both Superstars took a hammering during the bout, and several strikes were thrown at the pair, but they both ended up quite delighted with the match, the reaction backstage, and the online feedback. Ripley’s mouth was busted open during the action, but both women informed others backstage how much fun they had.
As PWMania.com previously reported, after the match, Natalya posted on Twitter, “Tonight was personal. It was an apology to myself for putting up with what I didn’t deserve. Thank you so much to everyone who still believes in me, even when I didn’t always believe in myself. It truly means the world to me.”
Natalya also wrote, “Sometimes people forget, until I get the chance to remind them. I was made in The Dungeon. I can take anyone to their limit on any night, because that’s what top level competitors do. Now line up the rest and let me loose on them too.”
Ripley captioned a picture of her busted lip, “RIP figuratively and literally to my smiley piercing… You had a good run. [blood drop emoji]”
Below is the match video, as well as the aforementioned tweets:
Tonight was personal. It was an apology to myself for putting up with what I didn’t deserve. Thank you so much to everyone who still believes in me, even when I didn’t always believe in myself. It truly means the world to me.
— Nattie (@NatbyNature) July 4, 2023
Sometimes people forget, until I get the chance to remind them. I was made in The Dungeon. I can take anyone to their limit on any night, because that’s what top level competitors do. Now line up the rest and let me loose on them too. pic.twitter.com/ko3if7lkkM
— Nattie (@NatbyNature) July 4, 2023
RIP figuratively and literally to my smiley piercing… You had a good run. ?
— RheaRipley_WWE (@RheaRipley_WWE) July 4, 2023
1 like = 1 respect for the smiley piercing ??? pic.twitter.com/V6YpbbPQAs
— RheaRipley_WWE (@RheaRipley_WWE) July 4, 2023
