NXT

Charlotte Flair beat Rhea Ripley on Night 2 of WrestleMania 36 on Sunday to win the NXT Women's Championship for the second time in her career.

Flair worked on The Nightmare's left leg throughout the match to soften up her knee for the figure-eight leglock.

The strategy paid off when The Queen finally locked Ripley in the submission. The champion did everything she could to break the hold but was forced to tap when Flair bridged up to ratchet up the pressure on her weakened knee.

After winning the women's Royal Rumble match in January, The Queen weighed her options for WrestleMania, and most figured she would challenge either Raw women's champion Becky Lynch or SmackDown women's champion Bayley.

Ripley threw conventional wisdom to the wind, however, when she showed up on Raw and challenged Flair. Not only is the Royal Rumble winner the one who usually lays down the challenge, but also an NXT title had never been defended on The Grandest Stage of Them All before.

Flair didn't immediately commit to the match, but she did show up at NXT to address the challenge. She was instead interrupted by Bianca Belair, who had an NXT Women's Championship match on tap against Ripley at NXT TakeOver: Portland.

Ripley successfully defended the title against Belair, and Flair appeared after the match and attacked both women, thus signaling her acceptance of the Australian's challenge.

The Queen subsequently beat Belair in a match on NXT TV, which gave her some momentum ahead of her WrestleMania match against Ripley.

During a recent episode of Raw, The Nightmare interrupted Flair and punched her in the face after The Queen said some disrespectful things. An incensed Flair showed up at the next episode of NXT and brutally attacked Ripley, including putting her in a figure-four leglock around the ring post.

Ripley vs. Flair was essentially a story of an up-and-coming Superstar looking to prove herself by beating an all-time great and a future Hall of Famer attempting to show she is still better than the best NXT has to offer.

The Queen is a big reason why NXT has become such a success, and she along with Lynch, Sasha Banks and Bayley helped change the way fans view women's wrestling.

If not for Flair and the rest of the Four Horsewomen, it is possible Ripley never would have made it to WWE and become such a big star in a short period of time.

Losing to The Queen is a setback for now, but at just 23 years of age, the Aussie has many years of dominance left in her.

Also, with Flair winning the NXT Women's Championship, it creates an intriguing scenario that will likely see her go back to the black-and-yellow brand five years after getting called up to the main roster.

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Triple H set up a match between bitter NXT rivals Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa to close WWE NXT on Wednesday, but the show closed on a mysterious ending when Killer Kross' video hit as the night faded to black.

Before then, Triple H set out his intention to have Gargano and Ciampa settle their bitter, violent feud once and for all in a match in an empty building. Triple H said that he would find the building, message the location and then hold the fight.

Afterward, the feud would end. If not, then both men would be kicked out of NXT.

Gargano agreed to the fight on the condition that it took place in two weeks to give him time to heal after Ciampa put him through a table.

The WWE Executive Vice President kicked off the segment by entering the ring to discuss the ongoing bitter rivalry between Gargano and Ciampa, but Ciampa soon interrupted him.

Ciampa immediately implored Triple H to call Gargano out from the back to finish old business. Triple H agreed on the condition that there would be no physicality in the ring. Ciampa complied, and Gargano emerged from the back.

The two then had a war of words, trying Triple H's patience. He noted that if it was up to NXT general manager William Regal, the two would be fired given the rampages they have been on of late, most notably "tearing up buildings," as Triple H said.

However, Triple H expressed his desire to have them settle their score in the ring, leading to the match setup.

From a quality standpoint, NXT has been WWE's best product for at least the last half-decade. The company's faith in the product was evidenced by its move off WWE Network and onto USA last year.

So for those who still want to call NXT the "developmental" brand? Johnny Gargano has a message: Knock it off.

"That's BS. That's complete garbage, and it's something that me and a lot of guys have worked to dispel for a very long time," Gargano told TMZ Sports. "Anybody out there that uses the words 'main roster' when talking about Raw and SmackDown, how about you watch the show on Wednesday night? You'll see the real main roster. You'll see the best wrestling show on the planet. You will see the best locker room on the planet led by me. 

"That's what you will see on Wednesday night. So 'main roster,' 'developmental?' You're stupid if you use those words. You're stupid. Quit it."

It's worth noting Gargano was making the appearance in kayfabe, so he wasn't actually calling people idiots, even if his sentiment is likely felt by many in the NXT locker room. The product has been leaps and bounds ahead of Raw and SmackDown from a quality standpoint almost from the second NXT transitioned from game show to weekly episodic program.

Gargano's point about NXT no longer being "developmental" is even more prescient since the USA Network debut. NXT was part of Survivor Series for the first time, and Charlotte Flair chose to challenge for the NXT—not the Raw or SmackDown—championship at WrestleMania.

While WWE undoubtedly still views Raw and SmackDown as its tentpole brands and has to from a financial perspective, Gargano's right to take issue with anyone who downplays the impact or importance of NXT.