Rhea Ripley becomes first Australian to win Royal Rumble match after entering at number one

Rhea Ripley made history over the weekend by becoming the first Australian to win WWE’s most memorable match - the Royal Rumble.

The 26-year-old has been on an upward trajectory for years now, but if there’s ever an indication that she is set to be a bonafide wrestling star, then this is it.

Not only did she win the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble, but she also did so after entering all the way at number one and outlasting 29 other superstars.

She becomes just the fourth wrestler to enter the ring first for the Royal Rumble match and win the whole thing.

Doing Australia proud, Rhea.

It means she’ll challenge for one of the two women’s championships at Wrestlemania in Los Angeles.

It won’t be the first time she’s challenged for the title at Wrestlemania either.

At Wrestlemania 37 she successfully challenged Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship just two weeks after her debut on the main roster.

At the time she became just the second-ever Australian-born WWE champion in history, and the first female Aussie to secure the Raw Women’s Championship.

She’s been making history for years now.

While she’s been trailblazing for the past few years, she’s really come into her own over the last nine months after joining one of the most entertaining groups in WWE - The Judgement Day.

She spoke to SPORTbible Australia back in September where she outlined how the change in her character direction has really helped her flourish.

She said: “I feel like the evolution of Rhea Ripley has been all my different personalities that have been turned up to 100.

“I feel like this is a different side of me compared to the Rhea Ripley from a year ago, it’s just different personas and emotions inside of me that get to come out.

“I’m being very cheeky on TV these days and getting my hands dirty and it’s been a lot of fun.”

It seems as though the WWE sees her as a star alongside Finn Balor, Damien Priest, and Dominik Mysterio.

Australians continue to make waves in the WWE, with Emma and Indi Hartwell also competing in the Royal Rumble match.

While the likes of Grayson Waller will be challenging for the NXT Championship in the coming weeks.

On the men’s side of the Royal Rumble, Cody Rhod