Rhea Ripley’s title defense at Crown Jewel will set the tone for women’s division

Rhea Ripley has a major title match at WWE Crown Jewel and the results will impact the entire WWE Raw women’s division. 

Rhea Ripley is set for a big title defense at WWE Crown Jewel. She will share the ring with Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark. While the troubling nature of another trip to Saudi Arabia looms over this event, this should still be a stellar match. With so many top performers and names in the match, and the growing energy that WWE is building a thorough women’s division, this match has the opportunity to kickstart some true momentum for the women’s roster on WWE Raw.

Let’s get the first thought out the way; Rhea Ripley will successfully defend the championship at Crown Jewel. Her story and its intermingling with The Judgement Day hinges on her holding the WWE Women’s World Championship. Has her reign been the most robust story? No. Has WWE presented her as a star for today and the future of the company? They absolutely have. She’s not losing this championship at WWE Crown Jewel and no one should be surprised at that opinion.

But what will this match do for the rest of the division? One, it has the potential of creating a new top contender for Ripley heading into the 2024 edition of the Royal Rumble. One of these four challengers will face her in a one-on-one match at that PLE, and potentially be involved in major angles with Ripley heading into that show. Imagine having Shayna Baszler put on a strong performance in this match, not take the pin, and then emerge as the woman to face Ripley in a singles match. That would be an angle that fans are interested in watching it booked correctly.

This match will also benefit the women’s division outside of the title picture. WWE has long needed to develop a mid-card section for the women’s roster. We see that slowly developing in angles like Becky Lynch versus Xia Li and the potential Charlotte Flair versus Shotzi. Think of a Raquel Rodriguez versus Nia Jax mid-card angle with the intention of building Rodriguez as a potential WrestleMania threat to Ripley. Or what about Zoey Stark having a good showing at the PLE and then moving into a mid-card feud against a returning Trish Stratus? There’s an opportunity to use this match to jettison the four losers into important mid-card angles that would benefit the parties involved.

Women’s wrestling in WWE is headed in an interesting direction. WWE NXT continues to showcase the women’s division as a prime attraction to the show. WWE Raw continues to feature several names in varying ways each week. And SmackDown is slowly taking steps to catch up. Rhea Ripley’s big title match at WWE Crown Jewel should continue the build of momentum if it and its fallout are handled in the right way.