Ranking the top 10 NXT Women’s Championship reigns

#8 Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley celebrates her NXT Women's championship win

Rhea Ripley’s title win was a huge one for the NXT women’s division. The Nightmare was the inaugural NXT UK Women’s Champion back in 2018, becoming the first-ever female Australian WWE singles champion. She remained on top until 2019 when she lost to Toni Storm and made a return to the Black and Gold Brand later that year.

When Rhea Ripley moved back to NXT, a rivalry between herself and then-champion Shayna Baszler was quickly established. Ripley emerged as a distinct fan favourite at this time. During this conflict, Ripley also made appearances on both RAW and SmackDown in the build-up to Survivor Series, becoming an even more prominent face in WWE.

Also during this time, Ripley’s team went head-to-head with Team Baszler at NXT TakeOver: War Games in the first-ever Women’s War Games match. During this clash, Ripley won for her team by pinning Baszler, adding further fire to their feud.

Further down the line, Baszler risked her championship against Ripley, who managed to battle through interferences from Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir to come out on top as the new NXT Women’s Champion, ending Baszler’s monster reign. When Ripley won she became the first-ever performer to become both the NXT Women’s Champion and NXT UK Women’s Champion.

Ripley protected the gold against Toni Storm at Worlds Collide, retaining before she made a surprise appearance on RAW to confront 2020 Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair. Leading up to the WrestleMania title match with Flair, Ripley had to contend with Bianca Belair, who squared off against her for the title at NXT TakeOver: Portland.

The match was interrupted by Flair, who confirmed that she wanted to fight for the NXT Women’s title, establishing a three-way rivalry.

After an intense contest at WrestleMania 36, Flair managed to overthrow Ripley to emerge victorious with the NXT Women’s title. Ripley’s reign wasn’t the longest or the most memorable, but there were some strong moments and title matches that she was involved in, and the road to her defeating Shayna Baszler was incredibly entertaining.