Rhea Ripley's success is a sign of one major flaw in WWE, says ex-writer Vince Russo (Exclusive)

Rhea Ripley is one of the biggest success stories that WWE has from NXT, and Vince Russo says that it's a sign of a systematic problem within the sports entertainment juggernaut.

On the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo, host Dr. Chris Featherstone spoke to the ex-WWE writer Vince Russo about Ricky Saints (fka Ricky Starks) and his prospects in the long run. Russo and Featherstone went into depth about the several failed NXT call-ups that have taken place in recent years.

Vince Russo first believed that the last major breakout star from NXT was Bianca Belair - who debuted on the main roster in 2020:

"I swear to god, when you really think about it, who's the last call-up that got over? I would have to say, and maybe there was somebody after, and I'm not remembering, but I'd have to say Bianca Belair." (8:06-8:29)

After being corrected that Rhea Ripley came after her, Russo pointed to the fact that no male superstars from NXT have reached her level since then - citing this as a systematic issue on WWE's developmental side:

"That's fair. I'll give you Rhea Ripley. But what about the other side? What male call-ups have come up and got over? Over to Rhea Ripley's level? Think about that for a second, not even one person? Something's wrong." (8:47-9:21)

Watch the full video below:

When Dr. Chris Featherstone pointed to LA Knight as a name who has gotten over, Russo said he doesn't consider him in this category as he was an established name in TNA and the independent scene before joining WWE. Even second-generation wrestlers don't count in this list as it's in their blood.

Rhea Ripley is set to run her feud back with Liv Morgan on The Road to WrestleMania

The Women's World Championship picture for most of 2024 revolved around just two women. Ultimately, it was The Eradicator who prevailed in the end - getting revenge on RAW's Netflix premiere and regaining the title she had to vacate. That marked the end of the most significant women's rivalry in all of wrestling in 2024. But they will run it back in less than a month.

It was announced on WWE's official German page that Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan would be wrestling four matches during the tour of Europe in March. Those matches will happen on the 15th, 16th, 29th, and 30th of March in Germany, Austria, and The Netherlands.

As they will be live event matches, they won't be televised, and fans can get a glimpse of the clips from other fans on social media and WWE's official handles on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and X (fka Twitter).

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