Rhea Ripley Defeats Nia Jax, Retains Women's World Title In WWE SNME Opener

Lillian Garcia did not have the opportunity to finish announcing Rhea Ripley's name before Nia Jax headbutted her to start Saturday Night's Main Event. Despite Jax's early ambush, both champion and challenger clashed fiercely for the WWE Women's World Championship, and by the time the smoke settled in San Antonio, Ripley stood tall, still the WWE Women's World Champion.

Jax continued to push Ripley in the beginnings of the match as she landed a devastating Samoan Drop onto Ripley. Ripley managed to turn a countered Hurricanrana into a Code Red, but the challenger kicked out to the champion's shock. After reversing a Riptide attempt into a Samoan Drop, Jax flattened Ripley with a leg drop from the second rope, to which the challenger barely managed to kick out of.

Ripley was forced to dig deep as she performed a crossbody to the outside, but Jax reversed the subsequent Riptide attempt into a crossbody of her own. Jax landed an A-Nia-Lator, and nearly had the champion down for three before attempting another A-Nia-Later. A barely-recovered Ripley took the opportunity to send Jax crashing into the mat before ending the match with a successful Riptide for the three count. As Jax threw a post-match tantrum near the announce desk, Ripley celebrated her victory with an aching body and grimaced teeth.

Ripley is set to continue her second reign with the WWE Women's World Championship, having taken the title off of arch nemesis Liv Morgan on the January 6 Netflix debut of "WWE Raw." As of writing, no new challengers have come to stake their claim on Ripley's title, and the champion's Royal Rumble plans remain undisclosed. Jax does not have much time to mourn her championship match loss, as she is expected to participate in the Women's Royal Rumble match in a week's time.