WWE crushed hopes for the Queen’s Crown tournament in one night

When the WWE announced the Queen’s Crown tournament, there was some excitement around the opportunity for the WWE to build a new name in the women’s division. It’s clear that the group needed is, as the division has circulated around the same names for years. Unfortunately, after one night of booking, it seems like that hope was immediately squashed, and it speaks to the lack of direction the minds behind the promotion have for this group.

A combined three minutes and fifty seconds was dedicated to two tournament matches on WWE SmackDown. Carmella defeated Liv Morgan in 1:40 while Zelina Vega defeated Toni Storm in 2:10. Compare that to the nearly twenty minutes combined dedicated to the two men’s qualifying matches, and that’s just the starting point of this conversation. That is a whole different issue that also needs to be discussed.

But first, let’s dive into how having both Carmella and Vega move forward almost quashes any interest in this tournament.

Since 2020 Carmella and Vega have combined for a total of 10 wins and 46 losses, data from Cagematch. This doesn’t include any tag team contests they may have competed in. They’ve both been used to build up champions, but in many ways, their constant inclusion in the title picture even diminishes that belt over time. If you don’t think Carmella is an afterthought, just look at the way she was tossed aside when Becky Lynch returned at SummerSlam. Done so in a way she did not deserve.

Carmella and Vega have their own fan bases, which they’ve cultivated over the years. But fans wanted to see more out of both Storm and Morgan. Storm put together a strong career outside of the WWE and even had her own success on NXT UK and in the Mae Young Classic. All of that was thrown to the side the minute she was brought up to the main roster.

Fans are equally upset about seeing Morgan get kicked out of the tournament as well. If there’s anyone that fans want to see elevated as a potential babyface, it would be Morgan. Yet, WWE continues to look the other way for reasons that can’t be explained. She’s continued to improve in the ring and has the look that WWE continues to elevate, but they frequently look in the other direction. Voices are growing more hopefully that Morgan will eventually leave the WWE for an organization like Impact or ROH where she may be better appreciated, but there’s no telling if that will come.

Now, let’s dive back to the issue with match times. Even if Carmella and Vega were to be booked to win, imagine if they were given the time to tell an adequate story within a match. Did WWE have to dedicate so much time to the Happy Corbin segment or yet another Roman Reigns monologue? No, and some of that time could have been kicked over to the women to build up those matches. Instead, WWE consistently goes in the opposite direction. This diminishes the perception of those matches and in turn, diminishes the overall value of the tournament.

There has been a lot of concern about the direction of the women’s divisions across the WWE product. From the immediate elevation of Toxic Attraction to the lack of direction with so many talents on the roster, these concerns continue to grow. After one night of booking of the Queen’s Crown, fans are shaking their heads at the outcome. WWE killed the momentum of the tournament in less than five minutes.