SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Iyo Sky and Tiffany Stratton left off WrestleMania
The WWE Women’s Championship and Women’s World Championship were both defended successfully at WrestleMania 41 last year. On Night One, Tiffany Stratton defeated Charlotte Flair in a brutal 19-minute match billed as the night’s co-main event. Stratton emerged from the bout visibly battered and suffering from a chipped tooth. Charlotte returned from injury to win the Royal Rumble and subsequently faced strong backlash from fans who felt they were having another title reign of Flair’s forced upon them. At WrestleMania, Stratton hung with Flair, defeating her in a surprisingly physical contest that opened the door for Charlotte to regain fan approval and thusly begin her redemption tour.
Night Two opened with what was considered by many to be the best match of the entire show, as Iyo Sky defeated Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair to retain her title. The match was so well-received, that a one-on-one rematch between Sky and Ripley was set as the main event for Evolution 2 last July. Following that, her and Ripley would form the bond that became Rhiyo, one of the most beloved acts on the current WWE roster, and now a centerpiece component of this years title match.
The success and popularity of both Stratton and Sky stretched deep into the year to follow. Stratton engaged in a respectful program with Trish Stratus that celebrated both women as the faces of their eras. She then defeated Jade Cargill at SummerSlam before dropping the title to her in November, ending a 302-day reign. A knee injury during that match cost Stratton two months. She returned at the Royal Rumble, but during her hiatus, the Smackdown roster evolved in a way that left Tiffany without a ready-made feud. Many of the bigger names had shifted to the tag division, while Jade Cargill was embarking on her current feud with Rhea Ripley. For her part, Stratton has spoken publicly about outside interests. In mid-February, she announced that she would be competing at a bodybuilding event right around the time of WrestleMania. Then just two weeks ago, she declared that she would like to transition to a career in Hollywood within three years.
Iyo Sky, on the other hand, has remained firmly committed to her career as one of the best wrestlers in the world. After dropping her championship at Evolution to Naomi following a Money in the Bank cash-in, she embarked on the aforementioned tag-team journey with Ripley. After Ripley won the right to a WrestleMania title match against Cargill, Iyo appeared to shift gears to a program with her former stablemates, Asuka and Kairi Sane. The trio routinely crossed paths, with Sky attempting to lure Sane away from the abusive Asuka. Then suddenly, Iyo showed up on Smackdown two weeks ago to aid Ripley. This was especially odd and rang a bit hollow, considering the two had declared a formal separation one month earlier on Raw. Without any acknowledgment, Sky ceased having involvement with Asuka and Sane.
While Stratton had recently entered a feud with Giulia over the US Title that seemed headed for WrestleMania, talk of her outside interests may have made it easy for WWE to scale things back once the card began to fill. Iyo, meanwhile, sits just below the company’s top booking tier at the worst possible time. The fact that she is still included, even marginally, in the title program suggests both confidence in her and a recognition that she belongs on the show. The ripple effects of Sky and Stratton being left without matches at WrestleMania will also be felt by others in their orbit, including Asuka, Kairi, and Giulia, who will likely be left sitting out next weekend.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
WWE RAW
A.J. Lee sit down interview
-Is it just me, or was it super unprofessional of Michael Cole to just bail at the start of the interview because he was slightly rattled by Beck Lynch?
-The lack of live crowd reaction in this pre-taped setting really highlighted how neither performer in this feud comes across as honorable. If you were to have someone unfamiliar with AJ and Becky watch this segment, I’m not sure 100% of them would guess that AJ is the babyface. She’s only too happy to tell you how grateful the entire locker room should be for “everything” she’s done and also that even your favorite wrestler looks up to her. Not exactly Ricky Steamboat here.
-It’s starting to feel as though they jumped the gun a bit too early on Becky’s return, like they mapped out the feud as though WrestleMania were happening this week. Now, we’re just recycling the same material every Monday until it’s go time. Like, how many times can Becky be stunned into silence over her enemy claiming Becky’s daughter is a big fan of hers, followed by Lynch doing the whole “Rats! Foiled again” tantrum?
Bayley defeated Lash Legend
-I hate to see Nikki Bella hurt, particularly right before a big payday like WrestleMania. As much as I feel “contributions” made by performers like her and AJ Lee are given too much credit for the current success of women’s wrestling, they did play a hand in elevating the division in WWE from gratuitous peep show to a more quality in-ring performance-based product. Would that have happened in time as our culture continued to evolve? And as such, did those particular women benefit from being in the right place at the right time? Perhaps. I do feel at her peak, Nikki was a pretty solid centerpiece heel. Further, I fully recognize the fact that she and Brie created their own successful brand and that, with it, they now bring with them an audience that might not otherwise be too terribly interested in the current WWE product. An additional audience like that will only help line the pockets of TKO. So, in that way, the Bellas performing at Mania is a win-win. All that said, it’s silly that someone in Nikki’s position would feel pressured into a quick recovery from an injury onto a card that truly will do just as well, if not a little bit better from an in-ring perspective, without the Bellas presence. Let the woman recover properly. Jesus.
-This is only Lash’s third one-on-one singles match, and first of 2026, since arriving from NXT. Corey Graves made note of the differences in style between Lash and Nia Jax, specifically Legend’s speed and athleticism. That gets tampered down in a tag team setting as Lash gets homogenized into the “powerhouse duo” role. This is a good reminder that she stands alone quite well.
-It didn’t work out too well for her, but good to see Lyra won’t be standing around watching Jax pull that heel nonsense without having to answer for it.
-Lash landed a bit too deep inside of the ring for Lyra to smoothly pull off that Bobby Heenan circa WrestleMania V move of holding down Lash’s leg, but she made it work! Between Cole’s comments about Bayley telling him she felt other teams weren’t taking her and Lyra seriously, and now this Heel 101 sneaky win, we might have something cooking here.
-I would say it’s still too soon to switch Bayley back again, but a heel turn as part of a team would hit a little differently. And oh my god does heel Valkyria have potential or what? I’m calling it now – these two are breaking bad and taking the titles at Mania. Give it to me, please!
Stephanie Vaquer
-Stephanie’s English skills are not an issue. Yet, to this point, WWE has chosen to limit the verbal input she’s had in her program with Liv. The end result is a lopsided series of promos that has left Vaquer feeling like a side character in this feud. Even worse, we’ve had Liv’s motives and justifications laid out clearly and routinely, which helps us better relate to her. At best, we’ve been given little reason to care for Vaquer at all. Her pre-taped promo on this show illustrated her compassion for fans who face uphill struggles and also showed off the more acerbic side of her humor. It went a far ways in deepening her character and I only hope it’s not too little, too late.
-That brutal backstage attack only served to make me sympathize more with Liv (and Roxanne). It was a cowardly move of Stephanie and even something of an overreaction to verbal taunts to jump Liv from behind so viciously and then follow up by putting her through a television screen. And storyline aside, holy crap am I glad both Liv and Roxanne are ok. The knots they both have on their heads are gruesome. Who’s idea was it for Stephanie to lay in that stiffly? Thank goodness both women had their heads positioned exactly as they did or that could’ve been so much worse.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Rhiyo defeated Michin & B-Fab
-If you’ve read anything I’ve had to say these past few weeks, you know how much I love this matchup.
-Not sure why Michael Cole is unclear on what the relationship is between Jade Cargill and B-Fab and Michin. It’s like he doesn’t watch Smackdown. B-Fab straight up told us that Jade made them an offer. Michin followed by saying her and B-Fab were tired of being overlooked while wrestlers like Rhea Ripley got all the opportunities. It was a perfect storm, pun partially intended. Also, shut up, Cole. Leave a good thing alone, would you?
-You only get one shot at rebooting an act. I don’t think a clean loss in a short TV match did anything to help B-Fab and Michin here. They were already reduced to a losing act before turning. A tainted victory would’ve gone a long ways here to showing WWE is committed to this new act. If putting them over Rhiyo in any way was too tall an order, maybe just leave this match alone for a while. The purpose was to promote Rhea-Jade, I get that, but they’re already on dangerous ground with B-Fab and Michin.
-Jade’s outfit was insane and I love that her baddies coordinated colors with her.
-Iyo’s situation is so muddled right now. Here’s what I think is happening: WWE wants to give her something to do at WrestleMania but they aren’t thrilled about the program they’ve set up between her and Asuka. That feud will continue to receive crumbs on TV until we get past Mania, finally taking place as soon as perhaps the Raw after Mania. In the meantime, they brought Rhiyo back together so Iyo can have involvement on the show in the form of Rhea’s match.
The problem with that plan is that Iyo is not Miss Elizabeth. Her serving as a helpless valet that gets beaten down by Cargill while Rhea is forced to watch makes no sense. Rhiyo is a team built on mutual respect stemming from the fact that Rhea has never managed to beat Iyo. It’s absolutely shameful that the company booked itself into a spot where they are now blowing an opportunity to have prime Iyo Sky performing in a high level match at WrestleMania. But reducing her to a sympathetic victim in the process is so much worse. She can recover and she no doubt will, but this whole thing stinks of failure on the part of the writing team and the booking priorities of the company.
AEW Dynamite
Willow Nightingale defeated Queen Aminata
-The Queen is back! But why not serve this up as part of Willow’s ongoing open challenge? I guess that was a one-off after all? The audience was ready to receive Aminata’s return as a bigger deal.
-Wait, Aminata cheap-shotted Willow with a kick to the midsection during a handshake. Why are both wrestlers smiling and treating that as a good-spirited opening exchange?
-Don’t call it a Devil’s Kiss ripoff. Queen was doing it first!
-Aminata got about 75 percent of the offense in that one and looked terrific in the process. Losing to Willow is no slight at this stage. While I think there might’ve been more to bringing Queen back to have a dominant squash win, honestly, AEW isn’t giving much time to the women right now, so getting featured in your return along with one of the centerpieces of the division at least shows they see a lot in her.
ROH Honor Club 161
The Iinspiration defeated Viva Van and Frankie B.
-I’ll give ROH a pass on only featuring one women’s match this week. Just a couple episodes ago, we received five matches as part of “Ladies Night.” While I don’t want to see the division compartmentalized, it felt more to me like they were trying to gage viewer interest. The current roster is a bit limited, but doesn’t have to be. Bringing in the Iinspiration is certainly a positive step.
-This was a short squash that showcased the Iinspiration’s comedy style, but also showed off some polished tag spots. I particularly like their opening huddle, deciding whether or not to accept the handshake from Viva Van. They were hilarious throughout and seemed to connect with the ROH crowd. I feel like there are good things to come from this.
TNA Impact
Jada Stone defeated Dani Luna
-The Knockouts division is not exactly firing on all cylinders at the moment. With the majority of it’s focus shared between two very sports-entertainy acts in the form of the Elegance Brand and the tongue-in-cheek World Champion, Arianna Grace, it’s clearly seen better days. All a way of saying the timing couldn’t be worse for TNA to be losing the services of a tough, popular wrestler like Dani Luna. Without any details beyond knowing that Luna requested and was granted her release, and watching her go at full speed and in what seems to be more her environment a few weeks back when she captured the Attack Wrestling Championship, it’s easy to see why things worked out the way they did in TNA.
-Awkward timing for Tasha Steelz on commentary to be talking about how the Knockouts Division needs someone like Dani Luna. Erm, yep.
-I’m trying to suspend my disbelief, but the size difference alone between Luna and Jada Stone is making this one tough.
-The clean, non-banana peel finish was something of a surprise. But you know, Stone is a fun watch. Why not?
Elegance Brand segment
-Taryn Terrell is pretty solid on the mic and I was buying into what she was saying, but am I the only one who thought that outfit made her look like her pants were falling down?
-Pretty nice clothesline by Heather on that security guard.
-Was that hesitation by Mr. Elegance when he was being ordered to stomp Terrell? Outbid he just kinda not too bright?
-It’s too bad Heather and M don’t get to wrestle more, because they’re pretty solid when given a chance. And props all around for less yelling this week.
Elena Black defeated Myla Grace
-I haven’t loved Black’s heel presentation, but since the commentary team is discussing her championship aspirations, I will say I’d take her in that role over Arianna Grace and that ongoing story of hers any day.
-Fun to get a singles match with Myla Grace. She has the ability, and it would be super cool to see TNA do something with her. With Dani Luna out of the picture, they should be willing to take all the half-way decent workers they can get.
Indi Hartwell is suspended
-Okay, I have given it plenty of time before complaining, but I do not get the Daria Rae storyline. Are we to assume that this “board” she routinely meets with never actually watches the show and only takes her account of things into consideration? This corrupt, power-obsessed GM role is as paper thin now as it was in the era TNA currently seems to be obsessed with from over 20 years ago.
Undead Realm saga
-And in what may seem like an immediate contradiction, let me say how much I continue to enjoy these segments. Unlike the food fights, bad acting and unserious champions that clog up so much of the Knockouts TV time these days, the Undead Realm is TNA doing sports entertainment the right way. And it’s no surprise why, either. This entire saga is unique to the company. It’s not just a tired retread of bad comedy we’ve seen done better, and often times just as bad, on WWE programming from the 00’s. This was a TNA creation from the start and they’re comfortable telling the story their way. There’s still plenty of bad acting, but in this campy horror setting, that’s absolutely digestible. As much fun as it is to see all these faces from the past making appearances, though, the real intrigue for me comes from the introduction of new ones, like the Diamond Collective. Tessa Blanchard in particular is being given a chance to jump into something new that can help expand her characters. She, of all people, can use it. Eventually, somehow, this all needs to lead back to the ring, and when it does, the more quality workers we can add to the mix, the better. The Undead Realm continues to be the primary thing that keeps me glued to TNA programming for the moments it airs.
AEW Collision
Kris Statlander & Hikaru Shida defeated Gigi Ray & Ava Lawless
-Throughout the majority of this (short) match, it seemed as though the idea was to introduced Stat and Shida as a new team to the tag division. By the end, though, it felt like we were watching the build towards a one-on-one match. I don’t know quite where it’s going, and the mention of Harley Cameron being upset over Statlander choosing to team with Shida instead of her only makes things more intriguing.
-Wonderful to see Hyan and Maya World getting a little pre-tape time on AEW programming. I mean, they don’t stand a chance against Divine Dominion or anything, but still. Cool they were here.
Brawling Birds promo
-I get that we have to provide Divine Dominion with some time to run with the belts before jumping into a program with these two, but does that mean we have to divert to singles matches with both Birds? Their matches have quickly become must watch TV and they are just so good together, but now we have to… Ok, actually, I’m really looking forward to both of their matches at Dynasty. Forget my previous point.
Shirakawa-Cameron promo
-Why is Harley so bummed about not having a partner? She’s done just fine in singles in the past and I, for one, would love to see a serious run out of her. That said, I love the idea of adding to the tag division, and she and Mina will be a solid pairing.
Willow promo
-The idea is that Willow is looking to take on “returning” wrestlers? Isn’t Mercedes Mone due back any time? Hmm.
Brawling Birds defeated Thekla & Marina Shafir
-Oh man, I was trying to listen in on the convo between Shafir and Thekla, as I feel it would be fascinating, but alas. The Birds music interrupted.
-The only problem with a match like this that features so much top notch talent is that, assuming there’s a proper finish, someone will have to take the loss. Shafir is the odd one out in that equation. Unfortunately, it feels like she’s been defined down a notch following her feud with Toni Storm and, of all the competitors here, she could probably use a win the most.
-It was so smart of Tony Kahn to lock Thekla up long-term recently. The woman is unparalleled right now. She just exudes star power.
-Fun, short match that served as an excellent preview of things to come at Dynasty. The end result, though, was exactly the one I feared it would be but that makes the most sense.
-Shafir smiles after getting pinned. Does that make up for the loss in some weird way?
Thanks so much for reading and, of course, for supporting women’s wrestling. Feel free to leave a comment or drop a line via email at jeffp.rush@gmail.com or on Twitter/X @nottherightjeff.
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