So, it’s apparently become my niche in 2025 to give weekly Rhiyo updates, because it’s my current favourite ongoing story in wrestling. I wanted to cap off the year summarising the story so far, especially since I didn’t start doing Tumblr recaps until after SummerSlam I think? So, if for whatever reason you follow my recaps but don’t watch WWE, you probably only know the last few months of the storyline. That won’t do. I’ll try to remember to explain any wrestling parlance I use on the assumption not everyone is familiar with it.
Full disclosure, I go all the way back with the story between these two to their first match at the Mae Young Classic 2018, and that’s a big part of why I’m so invested in it. I don’t want to write a thesis on 7 years worth of lore though lol so I won’t.
Although, one must start somewhere…
PROLOGUE: MAE YOUNG CLASSIC 2018
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
A young Rhea Ripley, then known only to WWE audiences from her brief stint in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2017, had returned a year later, debuting a totally new heel (bad guy) look and character that did not fit the classic WWE model she had forced herself to fit into before. She had no idea whether WWE, or fans, would respond positively to her new persona.
Rhea hadn’t exactly set the world alight in her early days in WWE. All of 21, on the other side of the world, far from friends and family, Rhea had been close to WWE releasing her, not seeing the potential star in her, and would have been cut but for Tegan Nox going all out to make her look good in an untelevised match that saved her career.
In the quarter finals of the MYC, Rhea was facing her aforesaid friend Tegan, who had spent roughly a year out of action after suffering a knee injury that prevented her from participating in last year’s tournament. Tegan was booked to go over (win) and advance in the tournament and face NXT’s hottest new free agent signing in the semi-final, Io Shirai. Io had been widely regarded as the best women’s wrestler in Japan for the past few years — and, if you are the best women’s wrestler in Japan, you’re probably the best in the world.
Alas, Tegan’s return soon proved cursed. Tragedy struck instantly when, in the opening sequence of the match, Tegan dove through the ropes to hit Rhea on the outside. In a freak incident, every single part of Tegan’s knee had basically just exploded upon impact. Rhea asked if she was okay, received a quick “yep” and rolled back into the ring. Showing maturity beyond her years, Rhea remained in character and heeled it up, acting apathetic to Tegan’s plight, distracting the audience and keeping them engaged so Tegan could be assessed in relative peace.
Whether she didn’t know how bad the damage was, or was in denial because she couldn’t bear the thought of suffering a second knee injury almost immediately after the last, Tegan insisted she was good and valiantly fought on for as long as she could, which sadly wasn’t long. I don’t know if the original plans have ever been revealed, but it’s entirely possible Tegan was planned to win the MYC as a feel-good story about an underdog making a triumphant comeback from her injury. But that story was over before it had even begun
The match was called off to the heartbreaking scene of Tegan on the mat, sobbing in anguish as she was forced to confront that her nightmare scenario had become a devastating reality. Holding back tears for her friend, Rhea was awarded a victory she was never supposed to have, in the worst possible circumstances.
Fuck. What now?
Well, now Rhea had to put the screams of her good friend suffering a potentially career-ending injury behind her and scramble backstage, because the show was still going. She had to find Io. They had a matter of minutes to plan a fifteen minute match. At that time, Io barely spoke any English. The MYC was her debut in WWE.
The match was never supposed to happen. Thrown together on the fly between a newcomer to WWE and a green rookie who had recently been on the cut list, who did not speak the same language. So many things could have gone wrong. On paper, it should have been a botch-riddled mess. Instead, it was exactly the opposite.
The two had instant chemistry, wrestling a match together that was so good it was hard to believe it was improvised on the spot. Io emerged the victor and went on to face another young Aussie wrestler you may have heard of, Toni Storm, before she was Timeless, who Io had wrestled a few times in Japan. The MYC final took place at WWE’s all-women’s PPV Evolution, where Toni won. If that match wasn’t meant to happen either, at least they had several weeks to prepare for it
Io and Rhea were widely praised for their professionalism in how they handled the situation, with Rhea especially impressing people backstage, having exceeded all expectations given her youth and relative lack of experience.
The match between Io Shirai — now Iyo Sky — and Rhea Ripley was never supposed to happen. But, according to Rhea, it might well have been the second time Tegan saved her career — albeit, this time, inadvertently. In her words, the fantastic match she and Iyo put on meant everybody had no choice but to view Rhea as a rising star.
As a fan watching at home, this was the moment I and many others knew Rhea Ripley was something special — a superstar in the making.
It’s funny to think that, if not for this first ever match between Iyo and Rhea that was never supposed to happen, Rhea’s career could well have played out very differently, or not at all.
PART I: BACKGROUND
So, before we can get to 2025, we need a little context. Following the MYC, Rhea and Iyo came up in the same era of NXT together, most notably alongside Bianca Belair (watch that space). They had an excellent rivalry over the NXT Women’s Championship, including a triple threat match where Iyo pinned Rhea to win the title off of the most decorated WWE women’s wrestler of all time, Charlotte Flair (watch that space too). However, since getting called up to the main roster, Rhea and Iyo basically haven’t interacted at all but for War Games 2022, where they were allies on the bad guy team. Either they’ve been on different shows, or Rhea has been out injured, or they just haven’t been in storylines together.
Both Iyo and Rhea walked into Wrestlemania 40 as heel champions on their respective brands. Rhea won. Iyo lost. Sadly, Rhea was forced to vacate a few days later due to an injury suffered in a backstage segment where she was ambushed by Liv Morgan, a former friend turned foe. The story was that Liv was seeking revenge for Rhea injuring her shoulder the previous year, an angle which was done to write Liv off TV to rehab a real injury. Ironically, Rhea’s shoulder was also injured for real, with Rhea having essentially thrown herself into a wall too hard to sell (ie make look convincing) the viciousness of the attack. Rhea vows to win back the title she never lost.
Since Mania, Iyo Sky and the heel faction she’s been in since 2022, Damage CTRL, have gradually turned face (ie become good guys) after moving to RAW, with Iyo in particular winning back the respect of Damage CTRL’s former favourite target — her old NXT pal Bianca Belair — through the power of having good, clean wrestling matches with her. Rhea Ripley has also turned face after being betrayed by the group of friends she considered her family, Judgement Day, and having her boyfriend Dominik Mysterio stab her in the back and choose Liv over her, effectively completing the Liv Morgan revenge tour by taking away every single thing Rhea Ripley held dear.
As per tradition, in November 2024, five top babyfaces team up to take on five top heels in War Games. Both Iyo and Rhea are on the good team. Rhea has a lot of tension with Bianca because they don’t like taking orders from each other, foreshadowing that we might finally be getting that Rhea v Bianca Mania match everyone has been waiting for them to do for like 5 years.
At War Games, it’s obvious that Rhea and Iyo are thrilled to be working together again. Iyo jumps into Rhea’s arms and Rhea carries Iyo around post-match. Get used to that lol. And no I’m not going to mention it every time because we’d be here six billion years. They do it every match, guys. Rhea can’t stop cracking up at Iyo’s remarks at the post show press conference, such as answering a reporter’s dumb question about whether she has anybody to watch her back by reminding him she’s a member of Damage CTRL in the same tone you’d use to explain something to a five year old. The vibes are immaculate. It’s impossible to ignore their chemistry. If you didn’t know Rhea and Iyo are mates, you do now. I assume this was when WWE noticed the potential and went 🤔 if they hadn’t already
Rhea and Iyo are also both in pursuit of Liv’s Women’s World Championship at this time. This is the same title Rhea was forced to vacate. She has a few shots at Liv after her return from injury. Liv never beats Rhea fairly, and even loses a match by DQ, but it doesn’t matter. Liv keeps retaining the title in ways that screw Rhea over, denying her the title she sees as rightfully hers. Iyo wins a #1 Contender’s Match and faces Liv for the title in December, unsuccessfully. When Rhea finally wins back the WWC in January, Iyo feels pretty firmly established as a top challenger for the title. Someone who deserves a fair shot.
So, when our story begins, Rhea and Iyo are both faces and are established allies, but also rivals since they’ve both been chasing the same title. They aren’t constantly in each other’s orbit nor do we see them regularly hanging out, especially since Iyo still has her Damage CTRL bestie Dakota Kai by her side, but whenever they do cross paths they get along. Rhea is still hurt and insecure after Judgement Day betrayed her. She’s willing to acknowledge that she likes Iyo and feels fond of her because of their time in NXT together, but is too cautious and defensive to trust anyone enough to accept them as a true friend. Even Iyo.
PART II: THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA
The first major story development in the RHIYO saga of 2025 happens in February. Rhea is champ, and a returning Charlotte Flair just won the Royal Rumble. One of WWE’s longest running traditions is that whoever wins the Royal Rumble faces the world champion of their choosing at Wrestlemania. Rhea and Charlotte are 1-1 at Wrestlemanias, but it kills Rhea inside knowing Charlotte doesn’t respect Rhea the way Rhea respects Charlotte. Rhea begs Charlotte to face her at Mania. Charlotte brushes her off and calls her an immature kid. And, yes, this matters.
Iyo and Rhea run into each other backstage. Iyo is facing Liv in a qualifying match for Elimination Chamber tonight, and as is custom the winner of the EC will face the champion Charlotte doesn’t pick at WM41. In a friendly rival sort of way, Iyo smirks and says “Maybe I’ll see you at Wrestlemania.” Rhea smirks back and says “Maybe,” as if she’d like that a lot. Moments later, Iyo gets jumped by Liv. Rhea runs Liv off but while she’s checking on Iyo Liv’s Judgement Day henchwoman Raquel attacks Rhea.
So we have Rhea’s greatest enemy squaring off against the person who, even if Rhea won’t admit it, is the closest thing Rhea has to a friend.
What happens next ends up proving Charlotte right about Rhea. Mid-match Rhea runs down to deal with Raquel, who has been interfering to help Liv. In trying to stick up for Iyo and seek revenge for the earlier attack, Rhea lashes out wildly and hits Liv in the face, inadvertently disqualifying totally innocent party Iyo Sky and awarding Liv the victory. Rhea’s hotheaded nature cost Iyo her chance at making it to Wrestlemania. Iyo is inconsolable, Rhea feels fucking horrible about it.
For context, no Japanese woman has ever won a match at Wrestlemania, and no Japanese man has won a match on the main WM card since 1998. Getting onto the Mania card isn’t just important for Iyo personally. She has basically let down her entire country, as she is the only active Japanese women’s wrestler on the main roster. Her two closest friends, Asuka and Kairi, are out injured. Rhea can understand the pressure of carrying the weight of a nation on her back. In 2025, Rhea is the sole remaining Australian woman on the WWE main roster. So she gets it.
Perhaps in part because her assessment of Rhea was proven prescient, Charlotte challenges Smackdown’s champion, Tiffany Stratton, meaning the Elimination Chamber winner must face RAW’s champion, currently Rhea Ripley.
Ultimately, Rhea makes it up to Iyo by challenging her to a title match on the RAW after Elimination Chamber. She does a full on “This isn’t because I like you or anything” lol. She insists she doesn’t feel sorry for Iyo. She’s challenging her because she deserves the opportunity. But, when Iyo loses, she won’t be able to complain that she never got a fair shot at making it onto the Wrestlemania card.
This is when WWE really start driving home the point that Rhea has NEVER beaten Iyo.
Friends, when I tell you, not a single person on this Earth genuinely thought Iyo Sky had a realistic chance of winning the title here. Many of us wanted her to win. Many of us hoped she would. But there’s no way. Rhea JUST won the title, and Rhea/Bianca is the match they’ve wanted to do for years. This side story with Iyo is just that, it’s been a neat angle to give Rhea a title defence where she finally breaks her duck against Iyo, who will probably go after the tag titles or some shit. Iyo doesn’t even get a full entrance. It’s so over.
But sometimes WWE surprises you.
The story they tell here is so good. We have Rhea, who is jaded and hurt after being abandoned by all her friends, facing Iyo Sky, who, having gone through a similar thing of giving up on friendship in NXT, summons the powers of all her Damage CTRL pals, most of whom are currently out injured. Iyo hits Rhea with Dakota Kai’s Kaio kick, Kairi Sane’s Insane Elbow & Asuka’s Asuka lock.
Meanwhile, Bianca Belair, who has a lot of history with both Rhea & Iyo, is watching on the outside and encouraging them both on because she won the Chamber match. She’s facing whoever wins the title tonight at Wrestlemania. But Rhea doesn’t see Bianca supporting them both. In a moment where Rhea is in the ring and Iyo is on the outside and about to get counted out, Rhea looks down and, from her perspective, it looks like Bianca is only cheering on Iyo. Of course, Bianca is encouraging Iyo to get up because she doesn’t want either of her friends to lose in such a lame fashion, but Rhea doesn’t see it that way
All that insecurity bubbles up in Rhea. Judgement Day betraying her. Past friends abandoning her. The tension between Rhea and Bianca at War Games. Charlotte Flair not respecting her back. Suddenly it seems like that dream match of Rhea v Bianca at Wrestlemania isn’t a dream Rhea and Bianca share. Rhea wanted it all along, but Bianca apparently couldn’t care less about it.
It devolves into a little pushy-shovey on the outside but Ref Jess separates them and gets the match back under control before anything happens that would force her to call for a DQ.
Rhea is so focused on this idea that Bianca chose Iyo over her that Rhea makes a fatal mistake. She overlooks Iyo, believing she has the match already won. Rhea taunts Bianca and tells her “See you at Mania”. At that exact moment, Iyo counters the Riptide, hits the moonsault, and pins Rhea. Iyo is champ. Rhea is distraught, and furious.
Backstage, Rhea cuts a great promo through her tears. She kicks herself for being stupid enough to think the friendships she thought she had with Iyo and Bianca were real. She labels the soft spot she has for Iyo that made her grant this match in the first place a moment of weakness, and blames Bianca’s betrayal for costing her the match.
Rhea is a great character because of her flaws and in the build to Mania she is plainly not justified in lashing out at Bianca and Iyo, attacking them both to try and force her way into a title shot when it was her own fault she lost the belt to Iyo, but people cheer for her even when she’s wrong because a) Rhea’s cool and b) her faults are what make her a compelling antihero. Us fans like these morally ambiguous, dynamic characters who cause chaos because they’re interesting and make the show more entertaining to watch.
We get a rematch between Rhea and Iyo to pacify Rhea, with Bianca as the special guest referee, but Bianca gets caught in the crossfire multiple times which prompts her to throw the match out and declare it a no contest. Rhea feels like she had Iyo beat in the match, having hit Riptide while Bianca was out of the ring — which she only was because Rhea kicked her in the face — thus in Rhea’s paranoid mind, Bianca stole the win from her.
The core of the story is that Bianca and Rhea are so squarely focused on painting the other as the villain that, while neither blames Iyo for anything, they both wind up constantly overlooking Iyo, to the point of literally physically pushing her aside as if she’s an afterthought. It’s not out of malice or a conscious attempt to belittle her, more that they are single-minded to the point of thoughtlessness and oblivious to how disrespectfully they’re brushing aside the woman who is actually champion. And this works because it really gets the crowd on Iyo’s side as the clear babyface of the three being unjustly treated by the other two.
The irony is that Rhea was hurt by Charlotte not taking her seriously. And, Charlotte and Rhea also did this EXACT thing to Bianca in NXT, so both Bianca and Rhea know how Iyo feels. The same night Charlotte mocked Rhea, Iyo showed Rhea respect and was excited to challenge her, and that clearly meant a lot to Rhea, but then Rhea turns around and disrespects Iyo by treating her as beneath notice. Like, Rhea says she takes Iyo seriously as an opponent, because she’s never beaten her, but her actions contradict that.
For what it’s worth, Iyo is unbothered about adding Rhea into the Mania match in a “fuck it, I’ll fight both you bitches” kind of way. Bianca gets booed for having reservations about that since Rhea hasn’t earned this and is just strongarming her way into a triple threat with violence. Bianca is right but the crowd don’t care because they want to see Rhea fight. Opposing what the crowd wants to see makes you the default heel lol
Iyo, Rhea & Bianca proceed to have one of the best matches of the year at Wrestlemania. The story they tell in this match essentially aligns with the build. Rhea & Bianca want to focus on each other and want to be able to disregard Iyo and toss her aside, but they can’t, and it’s the one who was overlooked and written off who stands tall.
Iyo winning was 100% the right call. Iyo was already growing in popularity but this win catapulted her from being a B+ player — you know, someone everybody likes and roots for, but not a main character — to being an A+ or S tier superstar fans intuitively see as being on the same or equivalent level to your Rheas and Biancas. Oh and yes as stated earlier this is indeed the first ever win by a Japanese woman at Wrestlemania.
Unfortunately Bianca suffered a freak finger injury in this match which means she no longer factors into the story but there is certainly plenty to revisit here when she returns. In storyline, she has every reason to resent Rhea in particular for inserting herself into a match she had no right to be in, which ultimately resulted in Bianca missing out on essentially a year of her career.
PART III: POST-WRESTLEMANIA
With Iyo now definitively the world champion and there being no excuses that can be made that her win over Rhea was just a fluke or luck, her reign continues with an exhibition match against a rising hot star — NXT Champion Stephanie Vaquer. Watch this space. Their excellent match is interrupted by NXT call-ups Roxanne Perez and Giulia, who independently had the same idea to show up to RAW to jump their biggest opp, Stephanie. Making their mark on WWE by taking out the champion, Iyo, is an added bonus
But then Rhea’s music hits. She comes out to make the save, saying, “No one hurts Iyo but me.” There’s a lot of tension between them as Iyo doesn’t really know what to make of Rhea right now. Rhea has spent most of the last few weeks attacking her in pursuit of the title. But Rhea picks up the title and hands it to Iyo, signalling that this belongs to her, she is the rightful champion. BUT, before Rhea lets the title go, she says very clearly “I’m coming for this.” Iyo gives a little, hesitant smirk. It’s not quite an apology for the way Rhea treated her lately, but it sure feels like one.
Next week, Iyo repays the favour, saving Rhea’s ass when Giulia and Roxanne double team her during/following a match. Backstage Rhea tells Iyo she shouldn’t have done that because Rhea didn’t need her help. Iyo says it sure looked like you did lol. Rhea’s like fine whatever we’re even.
That was the night I made a post about how the dynamic between Rhea and Iyo is peak and they could make a year long storyline about the two of them navigating this weird space where they’re friends, or want to be friends, but are also rivals.
So yeah they have a really fun dynamic for a few weeks here where Rhea basically refuses to admit she’s protective of Iyo not because she’s her rival and she wants to win the title off her but because she cares about her and feels bad about ruining their friendship, and Iyo isn’t pushy about it but given her own history with being in a similar “REJECT ALL FRIENDSHIP” place in NXT and knowing Rhea as well as she does, she’s down for forgiving all past transgressions. Also, she wants the two of them to tag together. Rhea agrees after Iyo is attacked while Rhea is in Australia doing media, meaning she can’t be there to help Iyo.
We get our first Rhiyo team up, but they aren’t Rhiyo yet. They’re very firmly two rivals (albeit not enemies) putting their differences aside for a one off match, although Iyo is very much in the camp of yeah sure you tell yourself that’s all this is, but we are 100% friends. Rhea starts off being very tsundere about the whole thing, meanwhile Iyo has the biggest grin on her face whenever she looks at Rhea lol. During the match she goes to give Rhea a high five and Rhea reluctantly reciprocates. Rhea finally concedes she’s having fun with Iyo by doing her 👉😆👈 emote, albeit more like this 👉😤👈. Note, Rhea blind tags herself in to get the pin, even though Giulia and Roxanne have been Iyo’s opps more than they’ve been hers. Remember this for later.
After the match, Rhea eyes Iyo’s world title. Iyo is hesitant but the thing is Iyo is basically Goku. There’s nothing Iyo loves more than fighting her strongest rivals. And Rhea’s at the top of that list. She gestures between them like you and me? Should we fight over this? Rhea gives her a little pat on the butt as she leaves. Yes, they will fight someday. They’re cool with each other and they’re roughly back to where they were before the Mania stuff happened, but it feels like Rhea’s ongoing obsession with Iyo’s title is an obstacle that limits how close their friendship can ever really get.
PART IV: EVOLUTION
At this time, Iyo’s Damage CTRL pals Asuka and Kairi Sane both return from injury. Iyo has a long history with both of them IRL that predates WWE. Unfortunately, Dakota Kai was released from WWE in May, so Damage CTRL is considered defunct since Iyo is the only original member left.
We get our first hint that Asuka doesn’t exactly have Iyo’s best interests at heart when she tells Iyo Damage CTRL is kaput and she’s going to win Queen of the Ring and challenge Iyo for the WWC at SummerSlam. Iyo is initially taken aback, but again, remember she’s basically Goku. So Iyo’s like yeah awesome I hope you do win because of course I’d love to fight you, Asuka. You’re my mentor. But Asuka loses in the QOTR finals.
For some more interim context, Rhea goes off on a sidequest where she feuds with Raquel and we get a segment setting up a title feud between Liv and Iyo which sadly never transpires since Liv suffers a freak shoulder dislocation in a match with Kairi. Nobody’s at fault. Even the “safe” things in wrestling can cause injuries. But point being Rhea and Iyo are both beefing with Judgement Day, but with different people in it.
WWE announces they are bringing back the all women’s PPV Evolution for the first time in 7 years. Iyo and Rhea were on the first Evolution, although Rhea’s match with Dakota wasn’t televised. Iyo confronts Rhea in the ring. She points out how Rhea always says she’s on top, but she isn’t on top as long as Iyo holds the title. As champion, Iyo has been given the privilege of choosing her opponent for Evolution. She wants to defend against the best, and that means Rhea Ripley. This of course is a karmic callback to Rhea giving Iyo the title shot after Elimination Chamber. See, Rhea? Doing the right thing does pay off
Rhea asks Iyo if she’s sure about what she’s asking. Rhea has essentially kept her distance from Iyo and not pursued the title yet for the sake of their friendship, given how she nearly destroyed it before. Iyo knows what Rhea is like. Rhea will stop at NOTHING to get her title back. If Rhea accepts this challenge, she doesn’t want Iyo to turn around later and feel hurt, aggrieved or betrayed by what Rhea does to her in that ring because, remember, you asked for this.
In plain, Rhea accepts the challenge but, in doing so, acknowledges that this is the ultimate test of their friendship. Can they be both friends and rivals, or will going all out to fight for the title destroy the bond they’ve managed to rebuild?
Iyo and Rhea proceed to have one of the best matches of the year. Again. They tell a story where Rhea is a bit arrogant to start the match, since she’s able to muscle Iyo around. She even steals Iyo’s 👉😆👈 and does it as a taunt, and Rhea actually gets some boos for that for the first time in years lol. But Rhea’s arrogance is soon silenced once they both agree to stop holding back.
Everything Rhea throws at Iyo, Iyo has a counter for, or it isn’t enough to put her away. But we all know Rhea is CAPABLE of beating Iyo. We know she’s bigger than her. Stronger than her. For some reason, she just CAN’T. And that gets proven again when Iyo accidentally dropkicks Ref Jess out of the ring, Rhea hits Riptide, she pins Iyo, but there is no referee to count the pin! Just like when Bianca was the special guest ref, when Rhea has the match won and she’s finally about to get that elusive win over Iyo, fate conspires against her
Rhea snaps. That dark side of her she warned Iyo about that ruined their friendship before comes out. She batters Iyo, brawling with her outside the ring, tossing her into the crowd, and sets up to powerbomb her off of some big ass crates onto the concrete floor. Iyo counters and, like the chaos gremlin she is, climbs up even higher to dive onto Rhea. We get one of the best false finishes of the year when Ref Jess wakes up just in time for Iyo to hit over the moonsault and Rhea somehow kicks out. Iyo hits a Spanish Fly. Both women are down.
Naomi’s music hits.
Okay, context, Naomi is a Smackdown wrestler who turned heel in another great storyline, having grown jealous of Jade Cargill and her growing importance in Bianca Belair’s life and throwing her through a car windshield so she and Bianca could be besties again. Bianca was dealing with all this during the Wrestlemania arc with Rhea and Iyo which is part of why her tolerance for Rhea’s bullshit + emotional instability was so low.
Naomi won Money In The Bank earlier this year, which gives a superstar the right to ‘cash in’ on any champion of their choosing at any time. So long as the holder takes advantage of the element of surprise, it’s essentially a guaranteed title win. Naomi tricked everyone (both in universe and IRL) into thinking she was going to cash in on Smackdown’s champion Tiffany Stratton. Not at all. Cashing in on this match between Rhea and Iyo was her plan all along, knowing they would push each other to their limits and be defenceless. Naomi hits Iyo with the briefcase, chucks Rhea out of the ring, hits her finish and pins Iyo.
As the aftermath settles over both of them, Rhea and Iyo realise what happened. Neither of them won, neither of them are champion. It all sinks in. Rhea went to that dark place again. Iyo endured her at her worst, again. And for nothing.
Did their friendship survive the ultimate test? Yes it did. Iyo can barely stand but Rhea helps her to her feet, embraces her, and kisses her on the top of the head. The two walk arm in arm to the back and hug one final time. Rhea says, “We did it. We main evented Evolution.”
PART V: SUMMERSLAM & WRESTLEPALOOZA
So Iyo and Rhea have weathered the greatest test and their friendship has emerged stronger for it. But this isn’t over. Not only do they both still want that title, but they’re also double pissed off at Naomi for interrupting that great match they were having and not letting them answer the question of who is better between them.
Iyo and Rhea both feel like they have a better claim to a title shot than the other, as Iyo is the most recent champion and Rhea wasn’t pinned. The situation is resolved with a triple threat.
The story of the triple threat is that Rhea & Iyo are basically on the same side in not wanting Naomi to be part of the match at all. When they work together to fight Naomi, it’s not solely because Iyo & Rhea are friends, it’s because they’d rather be fighting each other one-on-one. They don’t just want to win the title. They want to win it by beating each other. It winds up costing them because Rhea is so consumed with FINALLY getting that elusive victory over Iyo that Naomi surprise rolls Rhea up when Rhea has Iyo pinned, and Naomi pins Rhea to retain. As is their wont, Rhea carries Iyo to the back after the match.
However, shortly after SummerSlam, Naomi announces she’s pregnant and has to vacate the WWC. She vows to win it back when she returns.
It’s decided that Stephanie Vaquer will face Iyo Sky at Wrestlepalooza (dear god wrestling is a parody of itself sometimes) for the vacant WWC as both women were due to have singles matches for the title prior to Naomi’s announcement. Iyo was granted a one-on-one rematch for the title due to the fact that she wasn’t pinned at SummerSlam and Stephanie Vaquer won a #1 Contender’s Battle Royal at Evolution. Rather than be upset that she no longer factors into the picture, Rhea shows massive growth here and is perfectly content to let Iyo have her one-on-one shot. She looks forward to fighting the winner.
Stephanie facing Iyo also makes a tonne of sense narratively because a match between them has basically been built up all year. They’ve fought twice but their matches always get interrupted by their opps before we can find out who the winner is, and Stephanie has consistently been positioned as a friendly rival to both Rhea and Iyo.
Stephanie and Iyo have one of the best matches of the year, and the only good match at Wrestlepalooza, with Stephanie emerging victorious. Iyo gives Stephanie a great show of respect at the end, putting her over as the next top babyface, and also signalling to the audience that Rhea and Iyo are ‘bowing out’ of the title picture for a while to focus on other stories.
PART VI: THE KABUKI WARRIORS
Okay, this is the part where this storyline becomes a full on gay soap opera, and it’s awesome.
Alongside the build to Iyo v Stephanie, we’ve had this excellent story building in the background involving Rhea, Iyo, Asuka and Kairi. Basically every episode of RAW for the next few months features a minimum of three segments advancing this storyline. This is when I started recapping.
So, ever since Iyo lost the title, Asuka has really ramped up her controlling behaviour towards Iyo and Kairi. She refuses to let Iyo hang out with anybody else, repeatedly telling other women like Stephanie and Rhea to stay away from her, and constantly yelling at Kairi, essentially not allowing Kairi out of her sight for even five seconds.
Rhea senses the bad vibes from Asuka almost instantly, getting suspicious of the manipulative way Asuka acts towards Iyo, and how Asuka doesn’t listen to Iyo and will come out to interfere in her matches when Iyo explicitly told her not to. When she warns Iyo about Asuka, Iyo doesn’t take kindly to it. Asuka and Kairi are like family to her and people don’t tend to react positively when outsiders criticise their family dynamic.
A lot of the way Asuka is acting here is based on her real life experience of the bullying culture that was the norm in the Japanese women’s wrestling scene when Asuka started out wrestling. Asuka basically got blacklisted from the industry and had to forge her own path as an independent wrestler because she dared to speak out against abusive practices. This factors into the story because the Asuka character is able to hold it over both Iyo and Kairi’s heads that they owe their entire careers to her, as she paved the way not only for their careers in Japan but in WWE as well.
Rhea saves Iyo from a post-match Judgement Day attack, and Asuka twists the situation to make Iyo feel guilty for having double standards where Rhea is allowed to help her but her own family isn’t. Even though Iyo doesn’t want to stop seeing Rhea she suggests it’s best for them to keep their distance for a while in order for her to keep the peace with Asuka. Rhea isn’t super happy about it but she doesn’t want all this drama to be a distraction when Iyo faces Stephanie. They hug, and the Kabuki Warriors see them embrace.
Less than an hour after telling Rhea they needed to stop seeing each other for a while, Iyo runs out to save Rhea from a post-match Judgement Day attack. Rhea jokes “so much for keeping your distance.” Even though Iyo is placating Asuka, it’s clear she hasn’t chosen the Kabuki Warriors over Rhea. That helps Rhea swallow the difficult pill that Iyo can’t really be around her right now.
After Wrestlepalooza, Rhea is sick and tired of holding her tongue. Now that Iyo doesn’t have to focus on Stephanie, Rhea and Asuka challenge each other to a match. Iyo tries to talk them both out of it, not wanting them to fight. Rhea says she isn’t doing this to hurt Iyo, but rather because she hopes she and Asuka will come out with mutual respect after they fight, kind of like herself with Iyo, or like happened with Iyo and Bianca.
Rhea points out that she knows what it’s like to not be able to trust the people you consider family. Iyo does not like her relationship with Asuka and Kairi being called into question. As far as she is concerned, she has more doubts about how much she can trust Rhea than how much she can trust Asuka and Kairi. And this is really the theme of this point in the Rhiyo saga. We know they care about each other and always have each other’s backs, but how much are two rivals truly willing to trust each other?
Rhea wins but Asuka sprays Rhea with poison mist post match (uh, yeah, if you don’t watch wrestling, that’s a thing) and orders Kairi to join in on the beatdown. Iyo comes out and stands between them, begging Asuka to stop. Asuka fake cries and hugs Iyo only to hit her with a spinning backfist, ordering Kairi to bash her up too. Kairi does but is horrified at what she’s done. Blinded, Rhea screams out Iyo’s name, caring nothing for her own pain when she knows Iyo has been hurt.
Next week, Rhea pleads with Iyo to see that she can’t go back to the Kabukis after they attacked her, but Asuka and Kairi appear on the tron saying they will take Iyo back and be a family again, all Iyo has to do is apologise for disobeying Asuka. Iyo is conflicted. Rhea is right, but she still loves Asuka and Kairi. She can’t make a decision on the spot like this. She needs time. Iyo leaves.
Before she makes it too far, Asuka and Kairi attack Rhea from behind. Iyo doubles back to save her. Again, she doesn’t attack Asuka or Kairi, she just gets in the way. While Kairi pleads with Iyo, Asuka uses the distraction to blind Iyo with poison mist.
Kairi approaches Iyo backstage and begs Iyo to apologise so they can be a family again. Iyo yells at Kairi to leave her alone. Kairi reluctantly walks off, giving Iyo an old photo of Iyo, Asuka and Kairi.
Later, Rhea checks on Iyo. Iyo says Rhea was right and she’s asked for a tag match between Rhea & Iyo and the Kabukis in Perth. Rhea isn’t so sure about it. She saw Iyo and Kairi backstage earlier. When Iyo is standing across from the two of them in the ring, can Rhea actually trust that a) Iyo will be able to fight them and b) that Iyo won’t go back to them? Iyo says Rhea can trust her.
The Rhiyo team up is now official.
Kairi is still reluctant to face Iyo, but Asuka physically slaps Kairi when she insists on wanting to talk things through with Iyo. The physical abuse keeps Kairi in line. Even though she doesn’t want to fight Iyo, she will do so, because Asuka will hurt her if she doesn’t. This is proven when Kairi fights Iyo on RAW a week before Perth and brutally Alabama slams Iyo’s neck onto the ring apron.
Come Perth, the question of whether Rhea & Iyo can trust each other is raised in an interview before their match, but the two of them are firm that they can trust each other. The crowd agrees.
I was personally there for this match holding my RHIYO sign in the audience lol. A big theme of this match is the power imbalance between the two teams. Rhea & Iyo are partners whereas Kairi & Asuka have a totally unequal relationship. The match ends when Kairi pushes Asuka to safety and takes a hit from Rhea herself. In contrast to the first time they teamed up, even though this match is in Rhea’s home country, on Rhea’s birthday, Rhea knows this is Iyo’s story. She holds out her hand and tags Iyo in to give her the win.
Their celebrations are short-lived however because on RAW two days later both Rhea and Iyo are viciously attacked by the Kabukis after a match and written off the show for about a month with kayfabe (fake) injuries. Coincidentally, Rhea was injured for real a few days later in an untelevised match in Japan, but in the fiction of WWE it’s this post-match assault that caused it
PART VII: WAR GAMES
Despite Rhea and Iyo being temporarily written off TV, the story does not stop there. Asuka praises the viciousness Kairi showed in taking out Rhea and Iyo, and the Kabukis turn their sights to winning the tag team titles.
You see, concurrently with this Rhea & Iyo storyline, another great women’s tag team story arc has been playing out over on Smackdown. Ever since returning from injury, Charlotte Flair has been in something of a rut. She doesn’t understand why things aren’t going her way and why everybody hates her for no reason.
Seeing her at her lowest, Alexa Bliss somewhat reluctantly extends her an offer of friendship and support, which Charlotte has no interest in taking. She doesn’t really do “friends”. But Alexa points out that, ten years ago, when she was miserable in NXT because nobody would talk to her, Charlotte, for whatever reason, was the only one who was nice to her, so Alexa knows there’s a decent person in there who deserves her sympathy.
The two reluctant allies (don’t call them friends) go through a fun arc where they win the tag titles, and this new, fun version of the Charlotte character whose deal is basically that she’s so successful at everything that she forgot how to have social skills is embraced by the audience.
The Kabukis go after Charlexa and win the tag titles from them, with a little assist from Nia Jax, a villain who has a tonne of history with both Charlotte and Alexa, including one infamous match with Charlotte that broke down into the two of them fighting each other for real.
Just when it seems like the Kabukis are on top of the world, Rhiyo return. With the Kabukis as their common enemy, Rhea leads the charge that Rhiyo and Charlexa should team up and take them on in War Games. Alexa is all for the idea, but Charlotte is not. See, all those things she said about Rhea before Wrestlemania, all their tension that dates back to when Rhea & Iyo were still in NXT, that hasn’t gone away. Charlotte doesn’t like Rhea. Rhea’s hurt that Charlotte thinks so little of her that she can’t put it aside even for one match.
Alexa strongarms Charlotte into having a meeting with Rhea where the two of them can hash out their issues. Rhea again reiterates that she respects Charlotte and, as much as she’s aware the two of them will probably go back to being enemies sooner rather than later, that doesn’t mean she can’t acknowledge Charlotte is exactly the type of person she’d want to have her back. For Alexa’s sake, Charlotte agrees to trust Rhea.
Their decision to put their history aside is ultimately what wins them the match as Charlotte saves Rhea from getting misted by Asuka, causing the mist to hit Lash, Asuka’s teammate, by accident. Iyo does her traditional trash can and inshallah spot from the top of the cage. Good guys win. Celebrations ensue.
PART VIII: EVERYTHING IS TAG TEAMS
We are here.
Post-War Games, Rhiyo aren’t done with the Kabuki Warriors. You don’t break Iyo’s heart and get away with it. Rhea and Iyo issue a challenge to the Kabuki Warriors for the tag titles.
Charlexa interrupt.
Yeah that whole friendly War Games team up didn’t last long. They both want the tag titles. Charlexa feel entitled to a rematch since they were the most recent champs before the Kabukis. Rhiyo’s position is well you lost and we’re the last team who beat them, so get back in line.
Charlexa and Rhiyo have an impromptu #1 contender’s match, but it ends in chaos as the Kabuki Warriors attack, Bayley & Lyra run down to make the save, only for Judgement Day (avec Liv Morgan, who just returned from injury) to capitalise on the carnage and beat up everybody.
Meanwhile, over on Smackdown, Lash and Nia also want to go after the tag titles. They blame the Kabuki Warriors for misting Lash and being the reason they lost War Games so they feel no affinity whatsoever for their former allies.
Because of their win over the Kabukis at Crown Jewel, Rhiyo are granted a tag title match against the Kabukis on the January 5th edition of RAW. Rhea and Iyo go to the ring to call out the Kabukis ahead of this bout, but the Kabukis ambush them and blind Rhea with mist. Asuka holds Rhea in position for Kairi to hit her with the elbow, and Iyo throws herself on top of Rhea to protect her, taking the full force of Kairi’s finishing move directly to the spine. After the show, Rhea is distraught, not knowing if Iyo is okay, as she’s still in medical. It’s framed like Iyo may not be 100% cleared to compete by January 5th. Rhea challenges Asuka to a match to seek revenge.
On tonight’s RAW, despite her injury and despite Rhea urging her not to put herself in harm’s way, Iyo ran to the ring to deal with Kairi and stop her interfering in Rhea’s match with Asuka. Iyo gets her legs swept out from under her and falls on the ring apron (the hardest part of the ring) in a way that aggravates her back injury. Distracted by Iyo’s pain, Rhea gets rolled up by Asuka. This is the first time in WWE that Asuka has beaten Rhea. But Rhea doesn’t care about that. She couldn’t care less that her undefeated streak over Asuka has ended. All she cares about is Iyo. Yeah this injury is definitely going to factor into the match.
Even if Rhiyo win the titles, they have a queue of star studded tag teams lining up behind them. Among those potential opps, we have Rhea’s greatest enemy, Liv Morgan, and we have Bayley, who has unresolved animosity with Iyo, the two having never made amends after Iyo ousted Bayley from Damage CTRL. For the past few weeks, Asuka has been not-so-subtly trying to turn Bayley heel again too, so that’s a factor as well. Not to mention the Charlotte-Rhea tension.
PART IX: REFLECTING ON THE STORY SO FAR
Having gone back to revisit this story from the beginning, it really highlights how much growth and change we’ve seen Rhea and Iyo undergo — where they were at the start of the year vs where they are now. And noticing clever callbacks to story beats that happened months earlier shows that this storyline is not as effective as it is by accident. At the very least, someone is putting effort into these tiny details and ensuring there’s a consistent, coherent narrative that is well-paced and well-structured, even taking into account that plans have had to be altered here and there at various stages to account for injuries etc.
It’s essentially been a story about Rhea Ripley learning to trust again, and opening up to the vulnerability that comes with caring about someone else more than she cares about herself.
At the beginning of the year, Rhea’s soft spot towards Iyo was a weakness. That it cost Rhea the title made her decide it wasn’t worth it — that friendships weren’t real. And maybe Iyo still is Rhea’s weakness. But there doesn’t seem to be any doubt in Rhea’s mind that the relationship she has with Iyo is not only real but is worth the cost of being a little more vulnerable because of it
On Iyo’s end, she started the year beating Rhea using the power of friendship, summoning the combined powers of all her Damage CTRL pals. In the intervening year, she’s lost all those people, but gained a relationship with Rhea instead.
Iyo has made Rhea a better person. Or, perhaps more accurately, Rhea has made herself a better person because Iyo is worth becoming a better person for. She’s gone from being an antihero to just straight up being a hero, like Iyo is. Similarly, Rhea has made Iyo a stronger and more independent person. Or, perhaps more accurately, Rhea’s friendship gave Iyo the permission she needed to fully embrace the strength and independence she had already developed on her own while Asuka and Kairi were out injured.
At this point in their relationship, it’s fair to say it’s the strongest it’s ever been. They love and trust each other unreservedly, caring about each other more than they care about themselves. They aren’t Rhea & Iyo anymore. They’re RHIYO. They’re a unit. As of right now, they have well and truly chosen their friendship with each other over their rivalry or pursuing the WWC. They aren’t even thinking about singles accolades anymore.
Will it stay that way? Probably not. Because this is wrestling. And wrestling is a soap opera where the ultimate goal of all storylines is to end in some form of violence. But we’re not there yet.
All I know is when things inevitably go wrong between them I will never emotionally recover from it. But let’s enjoy RHIYO while it lasts, hey?
The dynamic between Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky is absolutely peak wrestling
You have Rhea Ripley being like “that is my biggest rival, she has my title, I have never beaten Iyo, I NEED to defeat her, but also she is one of my oldest friends, nobody else is allowed to hurt Iyo but me, if people are attacking her it’s on sight, she needs me to protect her”
And then you have Iyo being like what, Rhea’s in trouble? That’s my old friend. We’re in a weird place since I won the title from her, she keeps brushing me aside and disrespecting me, but right now she has my back. You’re damn right I’m going to run down there and help her.
And then Rhea’s like yo what the fuck? I can’t believe my biggest rival Iyo Sky ran down to help me, as if she thinks she needs to protect me? That’s not how this works! I protect her, she doesn’t protect me! Does she think I’m weak?!?
And then Iyo’s like shut the fuck up and let me love you you weird grumpy Australian
I really wouldn’t be mad if they dragged out this dynamic between them for a whole year where they’re rivals but they’re also friends but they don’t want to admit they’re friends and the title keeps getting in the way of them being friends and also Rhea has still never beaten Iyo and she keeps thinking she’s taking Iyo seriously and treating her with respect but she still keeps seeing Iyo as someone who needs Rhea to protect her while feeling insulted when Iyo returns the favour
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