Night One of WrestleMania 39 featured "one of the greatest WrestleMania matches ever."
At least thats what Monday Night Raw commentator and After The Bell host Corey Graves believes.
During the latest recording of his own podcast, Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick discussed the Smackdown Women's Championship battle between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley.
Check out the comments from Graves below (h/t 411Mania).
On Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
“What it felt like to me, knowing Rhea and Charlotte very well — Charlotte better than Rhea, I’ve been friends with Charlotte for many years — was those two women walked the aisle, got in the ring and very, very loudly and angrily declared, ‘Follow this.’ Because they went out there with a vengeance, on a mission, and delivered one of — prepare yourself, you can’t take this out of context. You can, and it’ll still mean exactly what I wanted it to say. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley for the Smackdown Women’s Championship on Saturday was one of the greatest WrestleMania matches ever. Period. I’m not qualifying it with title matches, women’s matches, matches that happened after 4 PM Eastern, no qualifier. That match was magic. I had all the respect in the world for both to begin with, and somehow they took it all to the next level. And this one? This is a hill I’ll do on.”
On why he enjoyed the match so much:
“All of the above [the moves & story of the match]. It wasn’t the lead-up. It wasn’t the development of the story between the two. This to me, it was simple. It was two alpha females, the Queen and Rhea Ripley who has been steadily inching toward the top of the mountain. This was champion vs. challenger. This was beautiful in its simplicity. Two ridiculous athletes, two superstars in every sense of the word. It was a perfect storm. And then you put the stakes on it, like the Smackdown Women’s Championship. You’ve got Charlotte Flair for all that she’s done and accomplished in her career. Charlotte Flair does the Lord’s work at WrestleMania, man. I mean, that’s where Charlotte Flair should exist. And here comes Rhea, this upstart, she’s gonna change things. She is the change that a lot of people want to see, and she did it.”
2023 Women's Royal Rumble match winner, Judgment Day member, and new Smackdown Women's Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania.
