On the August 18 edition of WWE, Naomi dropped a bomb on the WWE Universe. She and Jimmy Uso announced via Stephanie McMahon’s podcast that they are expecting their first child. The fans responded with cheers and love for the current WWE Women’s World Champion.
“I’m pregnant and I’m having a baby,” Naomi said during the interview with McMahon. “All of y’all in the locker room should be thanking one person. They should be thanking Big Jim. Without him, they know they wouldn’t have had a chance taking this title off of me.”
This means that Naomi is going to step away from professional wrestling and relinquish the championship. This opens the door for opportunities within the women’s division to build some new names around the title.
There’s a developing angle on Monday Night Raw, which could be used to create a big four-way for the title. Rhea Ripley has been inserted into the storyline featuring the former members of Damage CTRL. It looks like Asuka has taken issue with Ripley trying to help Iyo Sky when Sky asked for no help from Asuka or Kairi Sane. With proper storytelling, it would be interesting to see all four women find themselves in a big match to determine which of them would be the next challenger to the title.
But even closer than any of them is Stephanie Vaquer. Vaquer was expected to face Naomi at WWE Clash in Paris. Michael Cole mentioned that next week will shed some light on the future of the division, giving WWE some time to book what’s next. There are 12 days until that PLE, set for Nanterre, France, on August 31. Putting the title on Vaquer wouldn’t be a bad move. She’s over with fans and has been since her strong run in NXT. It will be intriguing to see who they pit against her in this match.
When news broke about Naomi last week, fans immediately speculated pregnancy news. Now that it is confirmed, Naomi is getting more of the praise she rightfully deserves and has long deserved. Unfortunately, she will have to drop the championship she picked up just weeks ago. WWE has a chance to do something interesting with the build to and the development of a new champion.