Bianca Belair and IYO SKY put on a banger at WWE Backlash. NXT begins its search for the next NXT Women’s Champion. Kamille hits an impressive milestone. Hyan speaks with WrestleZone, and more! Let’s break it down in this week’s edition of Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up.
WWE Backlash Results, Rhea Ripley’s Next Challenger Emerges
WWE made its way to San Juan, Puerto Rico over the weekend to present Backlash and it sure generated a lot of buzz.
Bianca Belair and IYO SKY kicked off the show as “The EST” defended her RAW Women’s Championship. In a twist of fate, though, the crowd began heavily rooting for the challenger, IYO SKY. Both women fought their hardest to outdo the other, but both competitors routinely powered out of each other’s pinfall attempts.
Toward the conclusion of the match, SKY’s Damage CTRL stablemates Dakota Kai and Bayley rushed down to ringside. As the referee wasn’t looking, Kai kicked Belair in the head, paving the way for SKY to ascend to the top rope. As Belair lay in position to absorb the move, Bayley pulled her braid to keep her from escaping. Unfortunately for Damage CTRL, the referee spotted the sneaky play, allowing Belair to move out of the path of SKY’s Moonsault. After 18 minutes of competition, Bianca Belair finally nailed IYO SKY with a KOD for the win.
With her victory, Bianca Belair now cements herself in WWE history as the longest-reigning RAW Women’s Champion of all time. She is also now the longest-reigning women’s champion of the whole modern era in WWE.
The Eradicator Takes Care of Business
Later in the evening, Rhea Ripley defended her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Zelina Vega. As she hails from Puerto Rican descent, Vega arrived to the ring with the Puerto Rican flag. And much like IYO SKY earlier in the night, the Backlash crowd was firmly behind Vega here. The inaugural Queen of the Ring did her best to ground her larger opponent, hitting Ripley with a 619 and a top rope Meteora. But in the end, Ripley’s strength proved to be too much for Vega to overcome. After delivering a head kicking to Vega, Ripley hit her Riptide finisher to secure the victory.
READ MORE: WWE Backlash Results (5/6/23)
Two days later, Rhea Ripley officially made her way back to RAW as a result of the WWE Draft. “The Eradicator” quickly sprung back into action as well as Dana Brooke stepped up to face her. Brooke wouldn’t last too long though, as Ripley swiftly defeated her in under two minutes.
Ripley’s post-match celebration, or rather, post-match submission on Brooke, was cut short. Another woman has set her sights on the Australian superstar. Natalya, a former SmackDown Women’s Champion, emerged through the curtain and issued a staredown. Ripley, and her ally Dominik Mysterio, soon retreated, but it appears that Natalya might be her next challenger.
READ MORE: WWE Raw Results (5/8/23)
NXT Women’s Championship Tournament Begins
As Ripley and Belair keep hold of their championships, Indi Hartwell has relinquished hers. Last week on NXT, Hartwell announced that she’d be vacating her NXT Women’s Championship as she moves up to the main roster. While Hartwell settle into her new home of RAW, the remaining women in NXT were eager to see who will fill her spot.
As such, WWE revealed that an eight-woman tournament would determine the new NXT Women’s Champion. Last night, that tournament officially began. The left side bracket featured three former titleholders, including former NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez. Next week, Perez will square off with former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Jacy Jayne in the opening round. The winner of that contest will then move on to the semi-finals to face Tiffany Stratton.
Last night, Stratton kicked off the tournament against another former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion, Gigi Dolin. Dolin and Stratton fought back and forth, but in the end, Dolin couldn’t kick out of Stratton’s Prettiest Moonsault Ever.
Lyra Valkyria and Kiana James later opened the action for the right-side bracket. Valkyria clinched the victory after stunning James with a head kick. She now advances to the semi-finals as well. Next week, Cora Jade and Fallon Henley will also battle in the opening round, where the winner will go on to face Valkyria in the semi-finals.
The finals of the NXT Women’s Championship Tournament will be held at NXT Battleground on May 28.
READ MORE: WWE NXT Results (5/9/23)
Kamille Reaches Impressive Milestone In Reign As NWA Women’s Champion
NWA Women’s Champion Kamille hit an impressive milestone a few days ago.
Kamille has proven to be a dominant force with the National Wrestling Alliance, so it’s only fitting to note that her reign has now surpassed 700 days. Kamille, of course, won the NWA Women’s Championship at NWA When Our Shadows Fall on June 6, 2021, as she defeated Serena Deeb.
Following that massive victory, Kamille transformed herself into the face of the women’s division. Many women have attempted to dethrone “The Brickhouse,” but none have succeeded. Kamille’s most recent title defense occurred last month as she defeated La Rosa Negra at NWA 312. Other notable challengers include Taya Valkyrie, KiLynn King, Angelina Love, and Leyla Hirsch.
The Next Goal
Speaking with WrestleZone‘s own Ella Jay last month, Kamille expressed her goal to crack the top three for the record of combined days as champion. As it stands, Kamille is less than 60 days away from entering the top five. If she can hold on to the title for two more months, she will surpass June Byers (#5) and Tasha Simone (#6).
“I don’t know why, but I guess top three would be cool,” she said. Kamille continued on to recognize that the current record holder, The Fabulous Moolah, holds a near insurmountable record of 9,000+ days as champion. As such, she’s confident that no one will ever touch that record. “No one in today’s society is going to do that. Let’s be realistic, okay? I’ll probably be done wrestling before that can happen,” Kamille joked. “We all know that she booked herself a certain type of way, so she had that thing for a long time. But yeah, top three would be cool.”
“Cracking top five in of it itself, that’s amazing. That’s something that I never would have expected a couple of years ago. I’m just super grateful and blessed and happy. I’m grateful for everybody that I’ve been able to get in the ring and have a championship match with. My hope for it is, too, that they feel like elevated by the experience as well. That they got something from it. I feel like every match that you have with anybody on the Indies, whether it’s a championship match, whether it’s just a random six-minute match, as long as you gain something from it, I feel like it’s a positive.”
RELATED: Kamille Expresses Her Interest In Potentially Facing Charlotte Flair
INTERVIEWS:
“The Renaissance Woman” Hyan speaks with WrestleZone’s Ella Jay about the upcoming Queen of the Indies event, Nicole Savoy’s return to wrestling, training at the Marvelous Dojo, getting a degree in psychology, and more!
Knockouts Tag Team Champion Taylor Wilde joined WrestlingNewsCo to discuss her initial departure from IMPACT Wrestling, wanting more female writers in wrestling, training some of the women in WWE developmental, and more.
Former NXT UK star Lizzy Evo chatted with Turning Heel about her love for Maria Kanellis growing up, wrestling for STARDOM, her 1PW title victory, main eventing NXT UK alongside Xia Brookside, and more.
Former SmackDown Women’s Champion Trinity appeared on Women’s Wrestling Talk to discuss her journey to IMPACT Wrestling, who she has her eyes on in the Knockouts locker room. the reason for silence about her WWE departure, and more.
RESULTS:
Pro-Wrestling EVE: Lucky 13 – All Hail The Queens (Night One)
- EVE Title #1 Contendership Tournament First Round: Billie Starkz defeated Safire Reed
- EVE Title #1 Contendership Tournament First Round: Emersyn Jayne defeated Laura Di Matteo
- The Unbreakables (Lucy Sky & Rhio) defeat M62 Wrecking Crew (Alexxis Falcon & Lizzy Evo)
- The Royal Aces (Charlie Morgan & Jetta) defeat The Unbreakables (Lucy Sky & Rhio)
- Janai Kai defeated Skye Smitson
- EVE Title #1 Contendership Tournament Final: Billie Starkz defeated Emersyn Jayne
- EVE Title 30 Minute Ironwoman: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Millie McKenzie [4:3]
Lucky 13 – All Hail The Queens (Night Two)
- Emersyn Jayne defeated Darcy Stone
- Skye Smitson defeated Lizzy Evo
- Alexxis Falcon defeated Safire Reed
- Emersyn Jayne defeated Janai Kai
- EVE Title: Miyu Yamashita (c) defeated Billie Starkz
- EVE Tag Team Titles: The Rock n Rome Express (Laura Di Matteo & Rayne Leverkusen) (c) defeat The Royal Aces (Charlie Morgan & Jetta)
