Last week, Bliss had a championship match against Belair that broke down into a vicious attack. The match ended in a disqualification when Bliss attacked the referee and then turned her attention back to Belair. She took Belair out with two DDTs on the steel steps at ringside. This was all after seeing two Uncle Howdy masked individuals in the front row.
As always, check in with Diva Dirt every Monday during the broadcast of Raw to discuss the show!
WWE Performance Center recruit Lola Vice (Valerie Loureda) had her first singles match at a WWE Live Event that took place on Jan. 7 in Largo, Fla. She wrestled Indi Hartwell in a losing effort. Vice signed with WWE after the WrestleMania tryouts in 2022. She’s had two prior tag team matches and took place in a battle royal at live events. So far, Vice has not had an on-screen match.
first singles match ?? feels so good. A year ago I was fighting, today I’m a WWE superstar ???? thank you God for this opportunity @WWE@WWENXT
Whether your favorite is The Hugger or The Role Model, Bayley has been entertaining you for the past 10 years. In the past decade Bayley has had some match of the year encounters that have left fans remembering them for years to come.
Today marks 10 years that I’ve officially been a part of @WWE.
Bayley first debuted in January 2013 at a live event as a Luchadora for just one night in a six-Diva tag team match. She would go on to debut on TV in NXT come March of that year in a losing effort against Paige.
Bayley would spend a few years in developmental and became the fourth NXT Women’s Champion in a match against Sasha Banks in Brooklyn. The two would have a rematch sparking the fist-ever 30-minute Women’s Ironwoman Match. Bayley would retain in that memorable bout. Her title reign lasted for 223 days before dropping it to Asuka.
The Hugger would make her main roster debut in 2016. She spent the back half of that year and into 2017 chasing the Raw Women’s Championship. She eventually won the belt from Charlotte Flair on an episode of Raw. She held the gold for 75 days before dropping it to alexa Bliss at Payback.
Bayley would continue being a belt collector as she went on to become the longest reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion. A heel turn and a Money in the Bank win spearheaded this. She also pioneered the creation of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions alongside Sasha Banks. They both held the titles twice together
Bayley is the first and one of only four women to be considered Grand Slam Champions (Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Asuka).
In the ten years that Bayley has been in the ring with WWE she has accomplished the following –
NXT Women’s Champion
Raw Women’s Champion
SmackDown Women’s Champion – 2 times
Women Tag Team Champions – 2 times
Money in the Bank – 2019
First Triple Crown Champion
First Grand Slam Champion
What are your favorite memories during Bayley’s time with WWE? Join the discussion below!
The rivalry between Tay Melo & Anna Jay against Ruby Soho & Willow Nightingale will take it to the next level as the two teams are poised to do battle in a Street Fight. This sill take place on the Jan. 13 episode of Rampage.
The last time these two teams clashed, it would be Melo & Anna that were victorious. Soho holds a singles match over Melo from Winter Is Coming but with the numbers game against her, Soho has recruited Nightingale. With anything goes, which team do we see getting this victory?
On the Jan. 6 episode of Rampage, Dr. Britt Baker and the AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter defeated the Renegade Twins.
Battle of the Belts V aired after Rampage this week and Jade Cargill is now 48-0 after retaining the TBS Title against Skye Blue.
Are we on the verge of the upset of the century?! @Skyebyee was just inches from that TBS Championship around her waist! Tune in to #AEWBOTB5 LIVE on TNT! pic.twitter.com/NofUOh2HIL
On the Jan. 6 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, there were two matches featuring the women’s division. First we had the TV in-ring debut from Scarlett as she teamed up with Karrion Kross. Their opponents were Emma and Madcap Moss.
Two weeks ago, things heated up when Emma slapped Scarlett. The final moments of the match saw Scarlett get a near fall before Emma executed a suplex and a single leg kick and went for the pin. Kross pulled Emma off the cover prompting Emma to slap him. Moss tagged in and would eventually be place in Kross’ finisher for the submission victory. Kross and Scarlett celebrated their victory by sending a message to Rey Mysterio and placing his mask on Moss.
Also on SmackDown, the new champion Charlotte Flair took to the ring and the mic. She thanked the crowd for their warm response on her return and championship win. After mentioning Rousey’s defeat, the crowd chanted “Thank You, Charlotte” which The Queen said she never would have expected to hear. She says she will focus on three things – passion, dedication & consistency and said that she would not be complacent
It would then be Sonya Deville who interrupted Flair. She says that Flair should have an asterik next to this 14th championship because Rousey was already “half dead” after defending against Raquel Rodriguez. She then challenged Flair to a match right then and there with the title on the line. She wanted to see how Flair would handle a fresh opponent. The crowd was firmly behind Flair telling her to “whoop that trick.”
As for the match, the final moments saw Deville get back into the ring after pushing Flair’s neck through the top rope. Deville thinking she had control, however, Flair caught her with a spear before locking in the Figure Eight for the submission victory and to retain the title.
B-Fab was on this week’s episode and join in on the post match attack of Ricochet (vs. Top Dolla) with her Hit Row counterparts.
On NXT Level Up, a tag team match took place between Sol Ruca & Dani Palmer vs. Amari Miller & Elektra Lopez. Miller and Lopez picked up the win after Lopez delivered the elektric shock on Palmer.
Check back in with Diva Dirt for more news and results from the women of SmackDown.
Liv Morgan has officially become the first woman to declare herself for the 2023 Royal Rumble Match. The event takes place on Jan. 28. The winner will go on to face a champion at WrestleMania.
In a backstage promo on the Jan. 6 episode of SmackDown, Morgan stated she will be entering the Rumble and intends on defeating 29 other women. Furthermore if she had it her way she would enter the match in the number one spot. Morgan says she does well with handling chaos.
We are one week from Charlotte Flair becoming the new SmackDown Women’s Championship and she will have a segment tonight to address her win and her return. Will we hear from Rousey or are we going to move onto another opponent for Flair?
Charlotte Flair made her return to SmackDown last week and became a 14-time women’s champion in the process.
Once now-former SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defeated Raquel Rodriguez, it would be Flair that would emerge to throw down a challenge. Rousey took out Flair eight months ago in an “I Quit” match and since then Flair has been plotting her revenge. Now back with an adjusted look and theme, Flair took the title off Rousey.
Flair will be present for tonight’s episode of SmackDown. What will she have to say as new champion? Check back in with Diva Dirt tonight for the SmackDown Discussion Post to chat about the show.
IMPACT Wrestling’s Hard to Kill takes place one week from today on Jan. 13. Already on the card is two Knockouts matches and now one had been added to the pre-show Countdown to Hard to Kill.
On this week’s IMPACT! episode, Shaw convinced Steelz and Evans to join forces with her and Jai Vidal to take down the Death Dollz. All three women haven’t had luck against the Knockouts World Tag Team Champions, but combined will they be able to get a victory next Friday?
The January 5 episode of IMPACT Wrestling kicked off with Masha Slamovich taking on Taylor Wilde for the first time ever. Deonna Purrazzo was on commentary for the bout to scout her competition. Slamovich controlled the pace early on, landing a pair of Northern Lights Suplexes and a double stomp to the midsection. Wilde would come back with a clotheslines and a Codebreaker, but it wasn’t quite enough. In the end, Wilde caught Slamovich with a roll-up to secure the three-count.
Backstage, Tasha Steelz, Savannah Evans, and Gisele Shaw all conspired to take down The Death Dollz. While not yet confirmed, it seems a six-woman tag may be on the horizon.
What did you think of this week’s IMPACT? Sound off with your thoughts below!
Want to own a piece of history? Check out Ring Post Journal’s 2021 Women’s Wrestling Year in Review, available exclusively on Amazon. The collector’s book features stories, results and stats from WWE, AEW, IMPACT, NWA, ROH and more. A portion of proceeds will be donated to National Alliance on Mental Illness in honor of Daffney. The 2022 edition will hit Amazon in January 2023.
There has been just one woman who has held the AEW TBS Championship so far in its history and that is Jade Cargill. She defeated Ruby Soho in the finals of a tournament to become the champion.
Jan. 5 marks 365 days since Cargill was crowned the inaugural champion and she still holds the gold along with an undefeated 47-0 record. During her time as champion she has defended against the likes of Anna Jay, Nyla Rose, The Bunny, Tay Melo, Athena, Willow Nightingale, Kiera Hogan, and more.
Her last match was a tag team bout alongside Red Velvet on the Jan. 4 episode of Dynamite where they went on to defeat Kiera Hogan and Skye Blue. However, there is a lot of animosity building between Red and Jade.
Cargill will put the title on the line against Skye Blue at Battle of the Belts V this Friday on Jan. 6.
Who do you see becoming the next TBS Champion?
Check back in with Diva Dirt for more news and results from the women of AEW.
It appears to finally be official, for those who were still holding out hope of a Sasha Banks return to WWE it won’t be at this time. She has officially quietly been moved to the Alumni section of WWE.com. Naomi, who walked out of the company with Banks back in May is still listed under the active roster.
WWE did not officially give Banks a future endeavor notice as they have not been doing so for well over a year now. Just as they did not give one to the recent departure of Mandy Rose.
WWE has quietly shifted Sasha Banks to the Alumni section of their official website.
This quiet shift in the profile of Banks is due to her recent debut in NJPW and subsequent expectation for Stardom. She is now known by the ring name Mercedes Mone and will be facing KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship in February.
It had previously been announced that a number one contenders match would take place at IMPACT Wrestling’s Hard to Kill event on Jan. 13. The event is sold out. It was originally a Three Way bout comprised of Masha Slamovich, Deonna Purrazzo, and Taylor Wilde. Now, Killer Kelly has been added making it a Four Way. The last we saw Kelly in the ring was in October.
The winner of this match will get a shot at the Knockouts World Title, but who will be the champion? Also at Hard to Kill, it will be a Career vs. Title match as Mickie James‘ Last Rodeo may make its final stop as she puts her career on the line for the Knockouts World Championship. She will be facing the champion – Jordynne Grace.
On tonight’s episode of IMPACT! on Jan. 5, Slamovich will be taking on Wilde one-on-one.
Britt Baker says she’s “the boss,” but can we bank on it?
The first Dynamite of the year featured Tony Schiavone sitting down for a brief interview with Britt Baker and AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter. Ultimately, they downplayed who Saraya’s mystery tag team partner will be for their high-profile clash on next week’s show in Los Angeles. Baker referred to herself as “the boss,” which felt like a direct hint at who may debut, however Saraya might be throwing us off track.
Later on, Saraya sat down with Toni Storm, Hikaru Shida, and Renee Paquette. Saraya hyped up both women before ultimately announcing she was picking Storm to team with her on January 11. The news left Shida disappointed, while Paquette was also confused. Perhaps nothing’s official until it happens.
Elsehwere, TBS Champion Jade Cargill and Red Velvet struggled to get on the the same page when they teamed up against Skye Blue and Kiera Hogan. While Cargill was able to secure the victory, tensions were still at a fever pitch with Velvet. Following the match, it was announced that Cargill will defend the TBS title against Blue this Friday on Battle of the Belts V.
.@Thee_Red_Velvet almost costing TBS Champion @Jade_Cargill the match, but the champ still manages to score the victory and remain undefeated!
We also know that Baker and Hayter will compete on Friday’s Rampage against The Renegade Twins as “The Killer and The Pillar” prepare for their battle in Los Angeles.
What did you think of this week’s Dynamite? Sound off with your thoughts below!
Want to own a piece of history? Check out Ring Post Journal’s 2021 Women’s Wrestling Year in Review, available exclusively on Amazon. The collector’s book features stories, results and stats from WWE, AEW, IMPACT, NWA, ROH and more. A portion of proceeds will be donated to National Alliance on Mental Illness in honor of Daffney. The 2022 edition will hit Amazon in January 2023.
Charlotte Flair made her surprise return on the last SmackDOwn of 2022. After Ronda Rousey retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Raquel Rodriguez, Flair made her entrance and challenged her former foe for the gold. The match took place and Flair became a 14-time women’s champion.
Flair was out for eight months, and during the time away she got married. She was on the most recent episode of WWE’s The Bump to discuss her return and how she felt the response was.
“It’s kind of surreal. I mean I was gone for eight months, and then to be back, here I am in my office, holding the title, it feels like I never left, really. I was sincerely so touched by the fan reaction on Friday. I done a lot of things in my career, but to see the smiles and the cheers, and the reception that I received when I came back, I was just thinking to myself, any time I’ve ever thought negative or ‘Do I still have it,’ I know I always have it, but it was just very rewarding after this journey that I’ve had for ten years. Being in the audience, which I’ve never done before, like I’ve been in the audience, but I’m usually kicking someone’s butt, but here I was holding the title in Tampa, where my career started full circle, and being back after eight months, it really made me emotional,” Flair said.
Flair continues, “I think after being gone for eight months, the things that I worried about before, I don’t worry about as much. My legacy is cemented now, and I think moving forward, I’ve always been so serious. I’m very serious about the champion, about [having] the title and progressing, and never resting or coasting or being complacent, but it let me know that everyone had appreciated what I’ve done leading up to being back after eight months. It meant a lot to me.“
“It’s not that I was nervous. I was just enjoying the moment of the fans being excited to have me back. Seeing everyone cheer, I was just blown away. I’m usually not in that role to where everyone is just so excited to see me because I’ve never [been] away, I’ve never had a break. I’ve always [been] just go, go, go, consistency, dedication, passion. I feel like because I was so consistent [with] my skill, my talent, my presence, was kind of taken for granted. To come back and be in the audience and just see so many faces, and not just so many happy faces, and not just boos or having to be arrogant, just being me, I was enjoying the moment as not feeling like I had to put on my armor and be arrogant or bossy about what I’ve done. I was just literally in the moment,” Flair said. (Fightful)
Flair also spoke about who her dream opponents would be. She commented that the current SmackDown roster has a lot of new people for her to wrestle with, but if she has to name dream opponents she had three legends in mind. Flair named Mickie James, Michelle McCool, and Lita.
The newly named Mercedes Moné arrived in NJPW and the Tokyo Dome with a new look at Wrestle Kingdom 17. She made her anticipated debut after KAIRI successfully retained her IWGP Women’s Championship against Tam Nakano.
After making her entrance, Moné comes face to face with KAIRI as the champion raises her belt. KAIRI goes to shake the hand of Moné but gets taken down. Moné then takes to the mic and tells KAIRI to enjoy her title while she can. Because at the next NJPW event in the United States – Battle in the Valley in San Jose she is going to leave her “Bankrupt Bitch! And you can Bank on Moné”
A 20-Woman Women’s Battle Royal will take place on the Jan. 10 episode of NXT – New Year’s Evil. The winner will become the new number one contender for Roxanne Perez’s NXT Women’s Championship. The title match will take place at Vengeance Day next month.
The 20 women who will be participating according to the match graphic are – Gigi Dolin, Jacy Jayne, Ivy Nile, Tatum Paxley, Jakara Jackson, Dani Palmer, Valentia Feroz, Cora Jade, Zoey Stark, Kiana James, Elektra Lopez, Lash Legend, Amari Miller, Sol Ruca, Wendy Choo, Indi Hartwell, Fallon Henley, Nikkita Lyons, Lyra Valkyria, and Thea Hail.
This match came about after a brawl took place in the ring between the NXT women’s locker room. It started with Toxic Attraction cutting a promo in the ring. They once again talked about rebuilding their empire and that they will be the must see thing in 2023. Dolin & Jayne then turned their attention to Roxanne Perez and the NXT Women’s Title. Other women of the division started to appear throughout the arena such as Hartwell, Choo, Jade, Stark, Lyons, and Hail to stake their claim to the women’s championship.
The brawl then took place before Perez appeared and stated that there will be the Battle Royal taking place next week.
This segment directly led into the Extreme Resolution Match between Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre. Dawn took the win in their last match, but this time Fyre got a much-needed win. She picked up the win after driving Dawn through a table on the outside with a Gory Bomb. Fyre got her back in the ring for the pin and the victory.
Ahead of the reports that Mercedes Varndao (Sasha Banks) will be appearing at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 17, she has taken to her social media to give thanks.
In a series of Tweets, Varnado thanked WWE, Triple H, William Regal, Vince McMahon, the WWE Universe, the Krew, and “Sasha Banks.”
It has reported that Varnado will be brought into Wrestle Kingdom 17. A match is not on the schedule but KAIRI is slated to defend her IWGP Women’s Championship against Tam Nakano on Jan. 4. Varnado has gone on record saying she wants to face KAIRI in New Japan or STARDOM.
Other reports have indicated that both Naomi and Bayley will be in Japan to support Varnado in what is to be expected her NJPW debut.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 3, 2023
Varnado has trademarked the name Mone’ Banks which may be her new ring name.
It is being said that Varnado is a free agent as of Jan. 1. WWE has not confirmed Varnado’s exit and she still appears on WWE.com under the active roster.
Check back in with Diva Dirt for any further news on Mercedes Varnado.
The first NXT of the year is starting out with a bang as an Extreme Resolution Match is set to take place. This Anything Goes match will have foes Alba Fyre take on Isla Dawn.
Since Dawn appeared in NXT from NXT UK, she has been a thorn in the side of Fyre. Dawn won the last match against the two that took place at Deadline.
Who is going to be the first opponent for Roxanne Perez? New Year’s Evil takes place next week, will we see a challenger for the NXT Women’s Title? Toxic Attraction talked about seeking revenge against her.
An “NXT Anonymous” Twitter account has been created…who is behind this?
A new account has started today on Twitter titled “NXT Anonymous” and it has first targeted the NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Kayden Carter & Katana Chance.
In the first tweet, we hear a woman spying on the champions who are talking to medical. The voice states – “Everyone has their secrets in NXT. What’s yours?” Both Carter and Chance have responded.
Why would you film a private conversation with medical? Wtf?!!
Doudrop has been missing in action from WWE programming since September. The last fans saw of her on-screen was a match alongside Nikki A.S.H as they defeated Toxic Attraction on Sept. 6 episode of NXT.
A fan posted on Twitter tagging Doudrop about her missing from TV for a bit and the talent responded. Doudrop stated that she was very sick but she is healing and added two emojis (one of a brain and one of a flexing arm).
There have been prior rumors in regards to her absence of a broken nose from her last match and also one stating she had visa issues. She cleared that up in a Twitter post that she had her visa fixed back in April.
No my visa was updated in April as discussed with @AlexMcCarthy88
To start off the new year, Alexa Bliss went one on one with the Raw Women’s Champion. Bliss had every intention heading into the match to win her first singles title since 2018 but that didn’t happen after an attack on the referee caused the match to end.
The battle between Bliss and Belair ended after Bliss was captivated by two different men in the crowd wearing Uncle Howdy masks. Once back in the ring, the Bray Wyatt symbol appeared a couple of times on the big screen causing Bliss to lose control. She attacked the referee before turning her attention to Belair. Bliss continued the attack on the champion ringside and planted two DDTs on the steel steps.
Belair was bleeding from her mouth/lip after the DDTs were executed and during the break Montez Ford came out to help her to the back. Bliss escaped through the crowd.
Later in the night, Bliss was stopped backstage by Byron Saxton asking her what happened earlier. He stated it seemed like she lost control. Bliss stated that she actually gained control, control of Bianca’s headspace. And she states that Belair now knows who the championship really belongs to.
Also on Raw, Damage CTRL took to the ring for a segment. Bayley brought up her recent win against Becky Lynch. Lynch would make her way out and want to end her feud with Bayley in the same place it started during SummerSlam in Nashville.
Bayley stated she didn’t need to face Lynch cause she already beat her. However, since Lynch seems to be obsessed with IYO SKY and Dakota Kai she can face them and even pick her partner. Lynch didn’t seem to need a partner and went at it alone in a handicap match. Midway through the match, Lynch did receive a tag team partner as Michin Mia Yim rushed to the ring.
A Raw Women’s Championship match will take place tonight as Alexa Bliss will challenge the champ Bianca Belair. Belair has held the championship since WrestleMania and is pushing 300 days as champ. Bliss won a Triple Threat match and then defeated Bayley to earn this opportunity. Bliss has not held a singles title since 2018.
It is being reported by PWInsider that Naomi (Trinity Fatu) will be in Japan and be present for NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 17. It is unknown if she will appear for the actual broadcast.
The report is specifically saying that New Japan sources did not confirm whether or not they were bringing in Naomi and that she was attending on her own accord. This could be to simply support Sasha Banks who is planning to be at the event.
Banks (Mercedes Vernado) is also reported by several sources to appear for Wrestle Kingdom 17. It is unknown to what capacity she will appear but according to Bushiroad CEO Takaaki Kidani stated that an appearance “is a possibility.”
Both women have not appeared in a wrestling-related moment since they walked out of WWE last May.
Wrestle Kingdom 17 takes place on Jan. 4 and features KAIRI defending the IWGP Women’s Championship against Tam Nakano.
Check back in with Diva Dirt for more news and results.
Women’s wrestling is flourishing all over. With so much talent on the scene, becoming a champion isn’t easy. There are many women who have been with a major wrestling company for years and still haven’t achieved the top of the mountain – a singles championship.
The list below is 10 women who have not won a singles championship in the current promotion that they are in.
Emma started training to be a wrestler at the young age of 13. She made her official debut in 2005 and to this date, she has yet to win a singles title in any major promotion that she has worked in. The time is now for her. She returned to WWE a few months ago and she feels as though she is back home. She has worked for ROH and IMPACT since but still hasn’t held any singles gold. Emma became tag team champs with Madison Rayne in IMPACT as The Influence.
Red Velvet
Red Velvet should be the one to take the TBS Championship off of Jade Cargill and also give Cargill her first defeat. The two women have a story from the beginning of Cargill’s career. AEW needs to invest in this full circle moment and make it Red that dethrones Jade for the championship. There has been some animosity brewing between the two since Red has returned from injury and they are bound to clash once again.
Masha Slamovich
Masha has had an impressive breakout year in IMPACT Wrestling. Since signing a contract with the promotion in 2021, she has been a dominant force and was undefeated until she faced Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts Title. After two failed attempts at becoming champion in back-to-back events, Slamovich may get another chance if she wins a Triple Threat (along with Taylor Wilde and Deonna Purrazzo) at Hard to Kill in a couple of weeks. At some point in 2023 it is likely for Slamovich to win the top title for the Knockouts.
Zelina Vega
Zelina was first signed with WWE in 2017 and despite the first half or more of her career with the promotion being in a managerial role she has always been a wrestler. A wrestler who hasn’t had a singles title run. It is a rarity that in WWE an intergender faction all wins gold. We have a few happening right now that it seems to be bound to happen. If Legado del Fantasma wins some gold there is no reason why all of the members shouldn’t be dripped in it. Give Zelina a singles title for the first time in her WWE career and have her as SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Doudrop
It is crazy that Doudrop has never held a women’s championship in WWE. She is approaching four years with the company and really should have become at least NT UK Women’s Champion before the title was unified. She was a rarity to come right to the main roster and skip NXT, but Doudrop hasn’t had the smoothest transition to the main roster based on booking decisions. She did have a Raw Women’s Title match during the Royal Rumble event in 2022. In 2023 she needs to grab a hold of that title after a name changed and a clear gimmick direction.
The first 2023 AEW Dynamite will feature a tag team between TBS Champion Jade Cargill & Red Velvet taking on Kiera Hogan and Skye Blue. The first Dynamite of the year will take place on Jan. 4 which is just one day shy of Cargill holding gold for 365 days.
On the Dec. 30 episode of AEW Rampage, Cargill became 46-0 after delivering Jaded to Kiera Hogan in a pretty competitive match. Post match, Leila Grey celebrated with Cargill in the ring but Velvet walked to the ramp eyeing up Cargill to end the segment. The wedge between Cargill and Velvet will make their partnership on this coming weeks Dynamite interesting.
The AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter had a video package talking her recent match with Shida. She took attention to Saraya and the upcoming tag team match on Jan. 11 where Hayter will team with Baker. Saraya will have a mystery opponent.
