WWE's Women Tournament Could Start In Early 2017

Last night, the WWE crowned their first ever Cruiserweight Classic winner, capping off a successful 10 week tournament featuring 32 lesser known wrestlers. According to the website PWInsider, the WWE could be planning their next tournament for early next year.

There have been rumors of an all-women's tournament dating back several months, but now it appears that the WWE could be moving forward with plans to host the tournament sometime during the first quarter of 2017. The women's tournament would allegedly be similar to the Cruiserweight Classic, with the WWE recruiting most of the wrestlers from independent promotions instead of using existing talent.

An all-women's tournament makes sense for the WWE for multiple reasons. The WWE has pushed its women's division in recent months, starting with the so-called "Diva's Revolution" that added Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch to the main roster. The company then retired the much-derided "divas" terminology used to describe its female wrestlers and replaced its Divas Championship with two Women's Championships, one for each of its two brands.

The WWE is also a bit light on women's wrestlers, especially in its NXT developmental brand. After much of the NXT's women's division was called up to the main roster as part of last summer's brand split, NXT now has only one established star, its champion Asuka, and few established competitors to challenge her.

The WWE also wants to capitalize on the success of the Cruiserweight Classic, which exceeded just about everyone's expectations. The CWC was one of the WWE's top programs on its WWE Network and often outperformed the network's weekly NXT show.

If the WWE does host an all-women's tournament, it has plenty of top-tier independent talent to choose from. One obvious name is Candice LaRae, an indie star and fiancee to WWE Cruiserweight Classic competitor Johnny Gargano. Gargano's final independent match will be against LaRae later this month. Other notable "free agents" include Kimber Lee, who became the first woman to win a top title in a non-women's promotion, and Mercedes Martinez, the current holder of the Shimmer Championship.