WWE WrestleMania 40 Results: Rhea Ripley Defeats Becky Lynch

Rhea Ripley has become one of WWE's biggest stars. (Credit: Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)

WWE spent months building to the dream match pitting Rhea Ripley against Becky Lynch, and at WrestleMania 40, it certainly delivered.

Ripley defeated Lynch with a pair of thunderous Riptides to retain her Women’s World Championship, picking up the biggest victory of her career in the process. As great as Ripley has been over the past year when she’s transformed into one of WWE’s biggest stars, what had always escaped her was that signature win over a legendary star.

Well, not anymore.

WWE made a bold statement with Ripley’s victory, too, essentially declaring her as the new face of the women’s division at a time when Lynch’s WWE future—as crazy as it may sound—is up in the air. At last word, Lynch has still yet to sign a new deal with WWE.

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Remember, it was only in February that Lynch was noncommittal when it came to potentially signing a new contract, and she’s just one of numerous major stars with an expiring deal. One is Drew McIntyre, who’s been booked similarly to Lynch as a former world champion and consistent main eventer but who has also been unable to reach terms on a new WWE contract.

For Lynch, her loss to Ripley suggests that there is still progress to be made in that regard, and it’s not unreasonable to assume that Lynch will be looking to land an historic deal to stay with WWE.

Whether WWE is willing to meet that request, however, is a different story. That is especially true after Mercedes Mone—formerly Sasha Banks in WWE—recently signed a deal with WWE that is believed to have made her the highest-paid women’s wrestler in pro wrestling history.

With WWE balking at Mone’s ask during contract negotiations, Mone wound up in AEW instead, and now, Lynch finds herself in a similar position. It’s not unfathomable that Lynch would leave WWE, either. Mone did it, as did numerous other high-profile stars ranging from Bryan Danielson to Jon Moxley to Chris Jericho.

Lynch’s loss to Ripley, mere months from her contract expiration date in June, puts her in an odd position. WWE, after all, didn’t commit to Lynch, who not won a main roster women’s title in two years and has found herself surrounded by other marquee women’s stars, like Ripley and Bianca Belair, that have made her more expendable.

WWE no longer feels the need to go out of its way to lure major free agents with big money deals, as evidenced by the fact that Mone, Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada all wound up in WWE. Simply put, WWE won’t break its pay scale for anyone if it means that more and more stars are going to be seeking significantly more lucrative deals when their deals are running out.

What the future holds for Lynch will be telling in regards to how WWE will handle top-level contracts, and given that Ripley emerged from WrestleMania 40 triumphant over Lynch, that may be a sign of things to come.