WWE had the opportunity to do something important at Wrestlepalooza, and the company took that chance. Putting the WWE Women’s World Championship on Stephanie Vaquer is the right move, putting the ball in the hands of a new face at a time when fans were calling for something different in the women’s division.
WWE has an exceptionally stacked women’s division. Any organization that could look to names like Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, Kairi Sane, Asuka, Bianca Belair, as mainstays, while having three of the Four Horsewomen, Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan, and several others on the payroll, could boast about having the best division in the world.
However, several fans were beginning to complain about the company’s penchant for leaning on Rhea Ripley as the focal point. While she is the biggest name in women’s wrestling today, the company was failing to build up others in the same way.
Enter Stephanie Vaquer. She’s been the beneficiary of excellent timing in WWE. She had a dominant run in NXT, being the first to hold the NXT Women’s and North American Titles at the same time. That happened thanks to Giulia suffering through an injury. On the main roster, Naomi’s pregnancy announcement opened the door for Vaquer to win this title. It was clear that WWE had big plans for her, but to see those plans get pushed to the forefront faster than expected was a pleasant surprise.
Now, the question is how WWE continues to keep her momentum moving in the right direction. WWE has failed to book women’s champions well in recent months. Iyo Sky rarely defended the title when she was champion. Same with Ripley who infrequently competed on weekly television. Giulia’s inactivity is one of the biggest complaints about SmackDown. WWE can’t do the same with Vaquer because that would be yet another example of how Triple H’s creative direction isn’t as great as fans make it out to be.
WWE needs to get out of the habit of doing the same thing within its booking. Putting the WWE Women’s Championship on Stephanie Vaquer is a change of pace that should create some interesting developments in the women’s division.