5 reasons why Rhea Ripley defeated Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women's Championship

#1 To free Shayna Baszler for a rivalry with Becky Lynch

A WrestleMania moment in the making?

The seeds were planted leading up to Survivor Series, and fans were more interested in watching Shayna Baszler go head-to-head with RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch rather than also having SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley in the mix.

The match at the pay-per-view saw all three women give their best, but Baszler walked out victorious after taking down Bayley. However, Lynch did not permit The Queen of Spades an easy exit from the pay-per-view.

Now that we know that WWE is planning a rivalry between Baszler and Lynch, they could start working on it in the new year with Baszler freed up from her NXT Championship duties.

Royal Rumble is on the horizon, and we could watch The Queen of Spades walk into the event as one of the 30 contenders and leave as the #1 contender. This could be a great story, given the fact that Lynch’s rise to the Championship also came after winning the Rumble.

With so many stories waiting to be written on the main roster for Baszler, fans could see her get called up sooner than later and compete with some of the best women in RAW and SmackDown today, while Rhea Ripley further builds NXT.