My Hopes for the Women's Division at WrestleMania 42

It's that time again, fellow wrestling fans! The Elimination Chamber came and went, and now, it's the home stretch on the road to WrestleMania. As a sports fan, I can't help but compare this to home stretch periods in sports, especially in the NHL and NBA, mainly because WM will take place as both playoffs start. As always, I'm always thinking of the women's action, but before I talk about the subject at hand, I have to get this off my chest.

I am not happy that WrestleMania will be in Vegas for the second straight year. WM is like the Super Bowl, it has to be spread out from venue to venue. Even worse is how this happened. We all saw that episode of SmackDown that took place in New Orleans last year. I think it was around this time last year. We all saw The Rock make the announcement that the next WrestleMania (the one coming up) will be in New Orleans. It was announced for all of us to see and hear on cable television.

And yet, just a few months later, they reneged. What happened to "no takebacks"?

So about three or four months later, I forget how quick it was, but WWE decided that this year's WM would be in Vegas just like last year's was. They wanted to go where the money was (though, I read the sales for this year's WM are suffering). But at least NO will get this year's Money in the Bank event. Oh boy.

On to the subject at hand here. The story out now is that WWE wants a plethora of women's matches at the event. According to what I read, they want six women's matches. Six! I still remember 13 years ago, when they went from having so many rumored women's matches or WrestleMania 29, to only having one announced, to having none because the one match was cut for time. My, how things have evolved since then.

It's clear that WWE's plan is a result of the added titles for the women very recently; the main roster has five championships for the Women's Division. Of course, being a hardcore women's wrestling fan, all of this has my wheels turning. I do have ideas, but before I share them, let's talk about the announced matches:

Women's World Championship

The first announced women's match was this battle for the Women's World Championship between Stephanie Vaquer and Liv Morgan, the latter having won the Women's Royal Rumble this year. We knew she'd choose Vaquer, because it makes sense. Vaquer is holding the title that Liv had to vacate due to injury. That didn't stop WWE from really adding some drama to this angle, which centered on Vaquer crashing Liv's interview and saying (in Spanish) that Liv was handed opportunities for years while Vaquer had to scratch and claw for everything. Based on that, and how venomous Vaquer sounded, part of me hoped for a double turn, but I quickly said no to that, because knowing WWE, they would pair Vaquer with Dom. Don't want that.

Liv will win that title at WM, because again, she never lost that title. Plus, Vaquer had a very good run as World Champion; a run that began at Wrestlepalooza and lasted so many months. Good that Vaquer was not treated like a placeholder, that tells me more big things are in store for Vaquer.

WWE Women's Championship

Once upon a time, Jade Cargill turned heel with a brutal assault towards then-WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton on an episode of SmackDown. Some time later, Jade defeated Tiffany to win the title at Saturday Night's Main Event--on November 1. After that, well, a bunch of nothing. Just months of Jade talking shit and bullying people. Fans noticed. Big time. All that time as champion and no defenses, until just a few weeks ago when we saw Jade defend against Jordynne Grace, mainly to shut up those who rightfully called Jade's title run a big waste.

Recent rumors stated that we would get Jade vs Charlotte at WM, but Charlotte failing to qualify for the Elimination Chamber match kiboshed that. With Liv choosing Vaquer, that meant that the Women's Chamber would decide who Jade challenges at the event. At the Elimination Chamber event on February 28, it was Rhea Ripley who emerged victorious; outlasting Kiana James, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Raquel Rodriguez, and Tiffany Stratton. So that's the match for the WWE Women's Championship, and it's plenty heated. Rhea (and others) called out Jade for immensely toxic and bullying behavior that honestly doesn't surprise me at all.

So those are the announced matches. WWE's saying that they want six women's matches for WM, and with two of them official, I have ideas for the other four:

Women's United States Championship

I'm serious, if Kiana James doesn't turn against Giulia soon, I'm going to scream. Every time I see those two together, especially in the last couple of months, I'm just waiting for that betrayal. The business alliance between those two is amazing as hell, but come on, Kiana has to be scheming. Kiana knows how good she is. Kiana knows she's good enough to be champion. And most of all, Kiana's ruthless enough to do whatever it takes to get what she wants.

Giulia has been amazing since being called up. Not one, but two runs as Women's United States Champion, both under Kiana's management. As I said before, Kiana has to be biding her time, and after showing out in the Rumble match and in the Chamber, she has to be plotting against Giulia. It's perfect; it will further cement Kiana as a big time player, it will turn Giulia babyface (and she has proven to be golden as a heroine), and it will put the Women's US Title in the WM spotlight for the first time.

Women's Intercontinental Championship

Elimination Chamber also saw AJ Lee capture the Women's Intercontinental Championship from Becky Lynch; AJ's first title in a decade. The Women's IC title does need the WM spotlight as well, but in my vision, AJ needs a new challenger. Or should I say "challengers"? We saw three potential ones on Raw. We did see Lyra Valkyria and Bayley backstage, they were wondering about their chances of appearing at WrestleMania, and after hearing AJ's open challenge, Lyra suggested that Bayley step up and make the challenge. All the while, Bayley said that Lyra could get in the picture as well. After all, Lyra is the first ever champion. Both of them went to GM Adam Pearce's office, only to see Iyo Sky emerge.

So AJ has three challengers gunning for her, and honestly, I think it should be all three of them. A Fatal Four Way for the Women's IC Title would be an amazing way to put that title on the WrestleMania spotlight. It would also give AJ Lee a real proper WrestleMania match and moment; something she never really had in her WWE run.

Women's Tag Team Championship

Remember when the Bellas appeared together on Raw and said that they want to finally become tag champs? That was a month ago and we haven't seen hide nor fabulous hair of them since then. I was really excited about this. Many fans were. From the moment the Women's Tag Team Championship debuted in WWE, a lot of fans who watched the Diva days wished for the Bellas to return and take those belts. Now they said they want them, but WWE has been silent about the tag title picture.

Nia Jax and Lash Legend are the current tag champs, dethroning Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky. Similar to my IC title plan, I can see this being a four team match here. The Bellas will definitely be one team for sure. Another team: Charlotte and Alexa Bliss. Charlotte is in a very rare situation: WrestleMania is a month away and there's nothing for her at the moment. This could put her in the WM spotlight yet again. As for the third team of challengers, that's easy: Michin and B-Fab. WWE has done next to nothing with Michin and B-Fab other than put them together and have them crow at Jade. They need something. Neither one has had a main roster title yet. Honestly, if my ideal match gets made, Michin and B-Fab should win it.

Asuka vs Kairi Sane

This really needs to happen. Months have passed since Kairi Sane eventually made her choice to turn against Iyo Sky in favor of Asuka, and with every moment that passes when Asuka screams, "KAIRI!" in such controlling fashion, the regret that Kairi is secretly carrying could fill up an entire arena. Asuka claims that she should be respected, but it's clear her rule doesn't apply to Kairi. This "kinship" is absolutely one-sided; Kairi has spent months being ordered around and browbeaten by Asuka, and one has to believe that Kairi has had enough.

The way I see it, Kairi has just a few weeks to really go apeshit on Asuka, and we would get such a golden match between these two at WM if they do this right. Asuka vs Kairi is so golden and epic that all it needs is those two and their passionate fury, that's all.

I said I had four additional matches in mind for WrestleMania. Well, actually, I have five:

Becky Lynch vs Jessika Carr

We need to see this... badly! As a sports fan, I see this a lot; teams who make all sorts of faulty excuses when they lose. I've seen the Vegas Golden Knights actually blame the refs even though the zebras have been holding their hands for years. Buffalo Bills fans blame everything and everybody for their recent woes except for the one person they should blame: Josh Allen. Toronto Blue Jays fans actually had the nerve to claim that the Dodgers' "bought" their 2025 championship, ignoring the fact that the Blue Jays are fourth in MLB when it comes to payroll (only the Dodgers and both NY teams are higher), and they beat out the Yankees during that run.

When it comes to Becky Lynch, when she loses, she blames one entity: Jessika Carr. Jessika has officiated a number of Becky's matches, and we've seen Becky get in Jessika's face too many times. Jessika has officiated both times that Becky lost the Women's IC Title, and Becky has wasted no time scapegoating Jessika at every turn. Never mind the fact that Becky has tried many times to cheat her way to wins. Never mind the fact that Becky has been too focused on bullying Jessika. In Becky's mind, it's all Jessika's fault. Oh brother.

Now, Jessika Carr is no slouch. In fact, she's wrestled before. Jessika Carr competed in the indies for a long time, mostly as a villainess under the name Kennadi Brink. She did trade in her gear for a referee's shirt a few years ago, becoming the first female WWE ref since the 80s, and one of three female refs in WWE now. However, she has stepped back in the ring recently as the masked maniac, Kalyx, on WWE Evolve. Part of me hopes that if we get this match, we see Jessika act like Kalyx is a separate and wild personality that she keeps at bay unless provoked, and Becky's done a lot of provoking. We do need to see this happen soon!

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So WWE says they want six women's matches for WrestleMania 42. I hope we get that many matches for the women. Seeing so many women show out at the grand stage that is WrestleMania is absolutely iconic; a far cry from those year where we would get two women's matches, if we were lucky. I am anxious to see what gets added to WrestleMania 42 in the coming weeks, and I will be absolutely, positively amped and excited to see this grand event on April 18 and 19!