NXT TakeOver: Portland - 5 Potential finishes to Rhea Ripley vs Bianca Belair (NXT Women's Championship)

The Women's Division in NXT is absolutely loaded with talent, so it's no small feat that Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair have elevated themselves above the rest of the roster over the last few weeks.

Ripley was on an absolute tear toward the end of 2019. The Nightmare reigned supreme at NXT WarGames and Survivor Series before defeating Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women's Championship. An absolutely devastating Riptide off the ropes put an end to the Queen of Spades' 416-day reign and ushered in the era of The Nightmare Rhea Ripley.

2020 has brought no shortage of challengers, including the most decorated women's wrestler in WWE history. After winning this year's Royal Rumble, Charlotte Flair has the right to choose any Champion she wants to face at WrestleMania 36.

The storylines in recent weeks are pointing to The Queen choosing Ripley, although the 10-time Women's Champion has yet to formally announce her decision. Maybe she's waiting to see if Ripley will still be holding the NXT Title come WrestleMania, because she has a major roadblock in her way in the form of Bianca Belair.

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Belair is riding a wave of momentum herself following an impressive, and record-breaking, performance in the Royal Rumble. The E.S.T. of NXT dominated the first half of the match before eventually being tossed out by Charlotte.

Belair is anything but a bump along the road to WrestleMania for Rhea Ripley. She's a threat to win the Title, but will she? Will WWE pull the rug on a dream match-up? Will it be The Queen vs. The Nightmare? Or will they choose to go in an entirely different direction?

It's all going to come down to NXT TakeOver: Portland. There are a few ways this Championship match could go down. Let's take a look and see if we can figure out what the NXT Women's Title match at WrestleMania is going to look like.

#1 Bianca Belair's worst Nightmare comes true

Make no mistake about it, there's more than just a Title on the line this Sunday. Bianca Belair is going after more than a Championship in Portland. She's going out there trying to earn some respect from those who doubt her as real competition.

In particular, she's out there to prove to Charlotte Flair that the E.S.T. of NXT is just as worthy to face at WrestleMania as the current Champion Rhea Ripley. She's also going out there to show Ripley this match up isn't going to be a walk in the park.

Triple H and everyone else in charge of the Black and Gold Brand have done a fantastic job of building up Belair as a credible threat to Ripley over the last few weeks. At times, Ripley has even shown Bianca the respect that she deserves.

The question is, has the build up been for Belair's benefit or for Ripley's? A dominating win for The Nightmare would only further solidify her as the top dog of the NXT Women's Division and make her that much more of an attractive WrestleMania opponent for Charlotte.

Ripley says she's going to go right through Belair this Sunday. With the amount of build that's been going on between Rhea and Charlotte, it's certainly a possibility. If it does happen, what would happen N.E.X.T for the E.S.T?

#2 The E.S.T. becomes the NXT Champion!

The recent rivalry between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley has made The Nightmare's opponent this Sunday a bit of an afterthought.

Fans are already looking ahead to WrestleMania 36 and a match between Flair and Ripley hasn't even been made official yet. Much to her credit, Belair has been playing this up perfectly in the build up to TakeOver Portland.

Looking at it from outside the world of Kayfabe, the deck is stacked against Belair walking away with the Championship. The build up to Ripley vs. Charlotte at 'Mania has already begun and as I mentioned before, Rhea is on a meteoric rise. Would the company really stop her momentum cold after just two months with the Title? Well, stranger things have happened.

Everything the company has been doing in recent weeks suggests that Rhea Ripley will have a significant role at WrestleMania 36. So if Belair were to shock the world Sunday, it would likely set up a rematch in Tampa Bay or another Championship Triple Threat Match involving Charlotte Flair.

Another Triple Threat at WrestleMania may not be the best idea for fans who are still upset that it wasn't a one-on-one match between Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey last year.

However, this year, from a storyline standpoint,Charlotte earned her way in by winning the Royal Rumble. Looking at it from the outside, it's all about who earns their way onto the card. If the company feels Belair belongs there, she'll be there. But that doesn't necessarily mean she has to win the Championship at TakeOver.

#3 The Queen causes a No Contest

Does anyone really expect The Queen to sit this one out? Are we really to think Charlotte is just going to sit idly by and watch this match go down, especially after that little double team on NXT a couple Wednesdays ago? I'd say the odds of Charlotte being in Portland this weekend are a little better than her not being there.

Charlotte getting involved makes sense not only for storyline purposes, but it also keeps NXT management from having to make a difficult decision.

How does this match end without hurting Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair's stock heading into WrestleMania season? A clean finish, regardless of how it goes down, is going to derail the momentum of one of these Superstars. There's no getting around that, unless there isn't a clean finish.

If The Queen does decide to get involved and forces the match to end in a no contest, you can most likely bet on a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania for the NXT Women's Championship.

That could set up a number of interesting scenarios over the next few weeks. One thing is for sure, it would only help elevate both Ripley and Belair by working a program with the 10-time Women's Champion on the road to the Show of Shows.

#4 Charlotte makes her decision by helping the winner

It's possible that Charlotte makes her decision on who she wants to face during the match at TakeOver Portland. If the Queen wants to face either Rhea or Belair she could simply wait for the opportune moment and strike.

This would ensure that the loser doesn't look bad in defeat, but it would in no way be the end of their push for the Championship, especially if Ripley is the one who ends up losing her Title. There's no way Charlotte costs her the match and she just sits by while Bianca Belair takes her spot at WrestleMania.

Any outside interference, whether the match ends with a winner or not, will more than likely lead to a Triple Threat in Tampa. If the Queen doesn't want that, it's best for her to play the waiting game.

#5 Ripley retains clean in a good back and forth match

To be honest, this seems the least likely of all the options to me but maybe this is just a one-off match between the two. Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair both have the talent to put on an incredible match that can keep the audience invested until the finish. The right booking could make both Superstars look better post-match than they did going in.

The question becomes, what's next for Belair? Does she fall onto the back burner for a bit, while a main roster Superstar competes for the NXT Championship?

Or does she maybe make the move up to the "main roster"? I could see a scenario where she finds a tag partner (maybe Naomi) and they go after the Women's Tag Team Titles.

First things first though. We all have to wait and see what happens this Sunday.

Edited by Arvind Sriram