5 women WWE should build their future around

Rhea Ripley hasn't had a good 2020, but it's not too late to make her the star she's meant to be.

#3 WWE took away Rhea Ripley's shine in 2020. It's time to get it back

What a difference a year makes. In late 2019 Rhea Ripley was on top of the wrestling world, winning a huge War Games match at NXT Takeover and leading her NXT team to victory against WWE's RAW and SmackDown in the span of 48 hours. The future looked bright for Ripley, who then went on to defeat Shayna Baszler in December to become the NXT Women's Champion for the first time.

It seemed like her momentum was almost unstoppable at this point and that it would only be a matter of time before Ripley would be heading to RAW or SmackDown as their next big WWE women's singles star. Then, much like what happened to Asuka, Ripley ran into Charlotte Flair.

"@RheaRipley_WWE" - @TripleH when asked which @WWENXT Superstar will be headlining @WrestleMania in a few years.#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/zfJULDhsp4

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) October 17, 2020

In one of the biggest head-scratching moments of professional wrestling in 2020, Flair went over Ripley clean at WrestleMania to become the NXT Women's Champion again, a move that halted Ripley's rise to WWE superstardom quicker than you can say "Wooo!".

Flair's reign was pointless and uninspired and when she dropped the championship to leave the brand, she didn't even take the pinfall. Who did? That's right — Ripley.

From that point, Ripley's NXT career has been in a state of flux. While she consistently talks about wanting to be the champion of the Black and Gold brand once again, she instead finds herself in pointless feuds with the Robert Stone Brand.

While Triple H's words last week about Ripley headlining a WrestleMania in a few years are encouraging, it's time for Hunter to put his money where his mouth is. If he can't make her look like a star again in NXT, how is anyone going to believe that once she gets to WWE's main roster that her character will be treated correctly?

2021 is going to absolutely crucial to Ripley with how she is booked and one can only hope that year for her is a lot more like 2019 and a lot less like 2020.