WWE has a stacked roster of talented performers. With approximately 7-8 hours of television time allotted to the shows, it can be difficult to find the space for everyone to flourish. That is especially true with the women’s division. When looking at the depth of the field, it is understandable why there’s a growing frustration with Rhea Ripley’s sustained push without building any of the other women on the roster.
Rhea Ripley and IYO Sky are set to team on the May 12 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw against Roxanne Perez and Giulia. This is an interesting match because it should be seen as the next step in a major angle involving all women. However, the focus is on Ripley and Sky in another “can they coexist” angle featuring the current WWE Women’s World Champion in Sky, and the woman she defeated for the title in Ripley.
Sky pinned Bianca Belair to win the triple threat match that stole the entire weekend. That booking decision sets up a continuation between Ripley and Sky, but is that needed immediately?
Imagine WWE giving some time to build to that match by allowing both women to go off and do other things against important opponents. For example, Roxanne Perez was slated to have a major feud against Bayley, but all that was scrapped in the weeks before. Perez versus Ripley would be a great way to introduce the former as an important new threat in the women’s division.
Or what about someone like Lash Legend? She was split from Jakara Jackson when Jackson was released from the company. WWE seemed interested in presenting them both as new names in the division to watch, so if that continues with Legend, she’d be an interesting opponent for Ripley as well.
All the while, Sky could go off and have a major angle against Giulia for a few months to establish her on the main roster as well. Even a mini feud against Raquel Rodriguez would make sense, as Rodriguez took the NXT Women’s Championship from Sky years ago. That’s the intro point the company could build from to tell a story.
Rhea Ripley is a major name in women’s wrestling. At 28 years of age, she has the potential to be a pillar in wrestling for years to come. Her star power will only continue to grow. However, WWE needs to do a better job using her established aura to help build the rest of the division. IYO Sky has transcended because WWE has given her more time to do so against top performers like Ripley and Belair. The roster features other women like Zoey Stark, Kairi Sane, and Candice LeRae, who would benefit from similar opportunities.