Triple H Believes Losing To Charlotte Flair Helped Rhea Ripley’s Character

When Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 36, she became Charlotte 2 Brands, beginning to appear on both Raw and NXT as the NXT Women’s Champion.

The move was questioned by some as Ripley was one of the hottest stars on the gold brand but praised by others who saw Charlotte as one of the top stars in the entire company.

Speaking to Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT, Triple H explained the decision to put the NXT Women’s Title on Charlotte.

“For me, I’ve been thrilled with this whole thing and I think this speaks to Charlotte as a performer. I know sometimes she’s bashed because of her dad and her name and everything else,” Triple H said. “No matter what she does sometimes, it’s criticized. But, to me, it just speaks to her as a performer that she would want to do this. That she would work across all the brands if she could, that she would want to carry that torch when it was put in front of her and to do this, and really, the long term on this is to build up other talent and as spectacular as a moment as Rhea Ripley had and then going into WrestleMania, I wish they could have had that in the stadium. I wish they could have had that in front of fans. I wish for both of them – for everybody [of course] – for Rhea to have that moment and to have it with Charlotte in that stadium would have been a making moment for her.”

He continued, “For me, that loss almost helps her as a character get to where she needs to be for the longterm arc of who she is. You know, the burn out factor in stuff is quick and intense with short attention spans and everything else, so, to me, this is phenomenal. Charlotte carries with her the aura of – whether perceived by her work or a behind the scenes standpoint – somebody that is unbeatable or is this champion that carries herself in a different light. You feel it; at least I do when I see her on TV. She carries herself in a different way.”

Triple H went on to say that Charlotte becomes motivated when she feels as if people believe she’s been handed something. He also thinks that the NXT Women’s Title triple threat between Charlotte, Rhea, and Io Shirai will be “off the charts.”

Fightful will have live coverage of NXT TakeOver: In Your House beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday. You can view the current lineup by clicking here.