WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley took to his Facebook page earlier this week and wrote a lengthy post arguing in favor of NXT’s Rhea Ripley winning the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble this Sunday. Foley’s post began with, “Momentum is everything in #WWE and the ability for those rare Superstars to transcend the world of professional wrestling, and appeal to a larger audience, is based in large part on maintaining and increasing that momentum. I really felt that when Ripley was crowned WWE NXT champion that she had the capacity to do what few before her had been able to accomplish - bring in new fans to see a very different face of WWE. In retrospect, Ripley may have been a casualty of the Wednesday night war. Going head-to-head with the high-quality AEW on TNT product on a weekly basis meant recruiting proven draws to the brand - which 10-time champion Charlotte Flair certainly is. There is no question that Charlotte delivered as a rating draw - a study of 2020 #NXT viewership bears that out - but when the time seemed right to place the crown on a new and very different queen, WWE dropped the ball.
