I suspect WWE expected the crowd in the Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair match to be a little mixed. After all, Flair is a more natural heel who has spent most of her career as an antagonist, and Rhea Ripley oozes talent and is also mixed up in the Dominik Mysterio plotline fans are so invested in. Based on crowd reaction in the lead-up to ‘Mania, it was also fairly obviously a minority of fans would support Rhea. But it wasn’t a minority. The WrestleMania 39 crowd overwhelmingly rooted for Rhea Ripley. Her win delivered one of the biggest pops of the night, and now, WWE has a huge decision to make.
It’s a story basically as old as professional wrestling. What do you do with a heel that’s so popular that the fans inherently want to cheer them? You can repackage them fully as a baby face, you can turn them into some kind of cult anti-hero or you can find ways to make them a bigger heel. Let me give an example of each one.
