Veteran NFL writer and Pat McAfee Show contributor Mark Kaboly lists his top 5 things to watch at the WrestleMania 41 match between Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair and Women’s World Champion IYO SKY.
THE SETUP
General Manager Nick Aldis went to the whiteboard in a memorable SmackDown segment in early March to map out how the men’s tag team division after a tumultuous prior few weeks. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce might need a bigger board if he wanted to follow suit in explaining the past three months of the happenings in pursuit of the Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania. Here’s a “CliffsNotes” version to get you up to speed: Rhea Ripley reclaimed her title from Liv Morgan on the premiere of Raw on Netflix during the first week of January. Bianca Belair won the Elimination Chamber Match to set up the title match for The Show of Shows, but Ripley lost to IYO SKY (with some interference from Belair) the following Monday. The Eradicator tried to force her way back into the title picture with chicanery, but she failed to sway Pearce’s mind to add her to the WrestleMania match until it was revealed that Mami had a rematch clause for the title. With Belair named the special guest referee, the match got out of control, and Belair called it a no-contest that forced Pearce’s hand, and a Triple Threat Match on The Grandest Stage of Them All was set. Oh yeah, all along the way, Ripley and Belair continued to disrespect/disregard SKY as a legitimate threat.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH:
1
DISRESPECT: SKY is the champion, right? Yet, she’s been pushed around and ignored by Ripley and Belair, which suggests that the two top challengers don’t think that the champ is a real champ. The Genius of the Sky closed that gap a little bit last Monday night when she gave a stiff missile dropkick to the back of Ripley that took out both her and Belair, which more than indicated that SKY has had enough. Is that enough to bring the champ back into the mix as a possibility to retain her title? The disrespect is something that will continue to be a point of contention during the WrestleMania match.
2
WHO IS THE “BAD GUY”?: Rhea forcing her way into the championship match at WrestleMania is straight out of the “bad guy” 101 playbook, yet there’s nobody more popular than Mami right now. Her crowd reaction is right on the level of big dawgs on the men’s side of CM Punk, Roman Reigns and others. Other than aligning with John Cena and The Final Boss, no matter what Ripley does will make her get a reaction from the fans, and that especially is true after watching “Stephanie’s Places” program as her personality came through as quite likable. Even if SKY tries her best, she’s nowhere close to being the “bad guy” and will be accepted, as that leads us to Belair. Bianca’s transformation from Tag Team Champion to No. 1 Contender, along with the stress associated with it, could lead to her full-fledged turn. But she’s going to have to work for that if that’s the case because she’s so well-liked.
3
STIPULATION: You can’t deny that Triple Threat Matches almost always deliver. Triple Threat pretty much always turns into a good match even though there are potential pitfalls associated with the stipulation. A Superstar’s best moments usually comes out in these matches, and that’s especially true at WrestleMania. Matches like Randy Orton, Batista and Daniel Bryan as well as Gunther, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus last year come to mind first. It bodes well for Rhea, IYO and Bianca to have one of the better matches on the card when we look back on it.
4
EXPERIENCE MATTERS: Ripley is 3-1 in WrestleMania singles matches with wins over an impressive group of Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Asuka, and has a resume stacked with big-time matches since arriving on WWE’s biggest stage. That cannot be overlooked in a match of this caliber, especially when SKY lost the only singles WrestleMania match she’s ever participated in last year. Belair is 2-0 in singles title matches at The Show of Shows, so something has to give. Ripley has won 83 percent of her PLE matches against anybody but Charlotte Flair since joining the WWE main roster. That’s something that can’t be overlooked.
5
OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE?: The door is cracked for a Superstar to stick their nose in a place where it doesn’t belong, most notably Jade Cargill or Naomi. Even though those two have their own issues separate from Belair, you can’t overlook either one of their past relationships with The EST of WWE. I wouldn’t anticipate that because, for the most part, WrestleMania is the pinnacle of a rivalry (usually), not one that starts them. Then again, would you be shocked if either Cargill or Naomi get involved? I wouldn’t. Yet, when you have three “good guys,” somebody usually turns to bad practices.
THE PREDICTION: In what might end up being the best Triple Threat Match ever at WrestleMania (and there were a few), it’s difficult to imagine that Rhea Ripley won’t leave Vegas without the gold around her waist. In a decisive conclusion, Ripley pins Belair and SKY at the same time to become a three-time Women’s World Champion.
