With WrestleMania 37 now in the rearview mirror and the road to SummerSlam officially begun, it’s time to look ahead to the next few months of potential challengers to the main titles. The SmackDown Women’s Championship is in quite the exciting place after main eventing that first night of such a monumental WrestleMania, so the next challenger for the Women’s Title has quite the big shoes to fill. Bianca Belair winning the championship was one of the biggest moments of the wrestling year overall, but what’s most exciting is what’s next to come for the new champion.
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A new champion sitting at the top of the division opens things up to many more potential stories for the WWE to jump on. This means there is more opportunity to shine for the SmackDown Women’s Division, and there are quite a few names who would stack up well against a champion like Bianca Belair moving forward into SummerSlam and beyond.
But who exactly should challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship next? Read on for our picks for the next challengers to Bianca Belair’s championship, and let us know your thoughts in the comments! Who do you want to see take a shot at this big title next?
Sasha Banks
We do need to get the obvious one out of the way first. Sasha Banks was the SmackDown Women’s Champion for quite a while before losing it to Bianca Belair, so she obviously should stay in the title picture for quite a while. Even if Banks somehow ends up being Belair’s only challenger until SummerSlam, it’s probably not a bad idea considering how great their first bout at WrestleMania 37 was. There’s bound to be some great matches for these two for years to come.
Bayley
Speaking of WrestleMania 37, one strange absence from its monumental card was Bayley. Not only does she have the longest run with the SmackDown Women’s Championship ever, but her current run is the best her character has ever been on. With this match set for WrestleMania Backlash, it appears that Bayley and Bianc Belair will be in the mix just as much as Sasha Banks will be whenever she makes her full return to the SmackDown roster. Given the talent and past between all three, it’s bound to be a fun few months.
Carmella
Carmella is also someone who has been floating around since her loss to Sasha Banks, but she could provide a fun new foil for Bianca Belair as well. A completely different type of persona and fighter than both Sasha Banks and Bayley, Carmella has the kind of character that could really dig under Bianca’s skin. Bayley is capable of the same, but there’s something different about Carmella’s threat as it’s one that Bianca can’t just deal with athletically. Carmella’s more of a sneaky type of fighter that could be fun chasing after the title again.
Ruby Riott
Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan might be the one actual tag team left in the Women’s Division overall, but if there are no plans to actually have them pursue the Women’s Tag Team Championships or establish their place in the tag division like Natalya and Tamina’s current run, then why not have either Riott or Morgan take a shot at the main title? Ruby Riott has done some stellar work in the past with her solo shots at the main title, so it’d be fun to see her tap into that once again especially with a champion like Belair bringing out the best in all of her opponents.
Shayna Baszler
Speaking of tag teams, it seems like Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are on the outs. Their split up will likely lead to a feud between the two of them on Monday Night Raw, but the fun thing to do after would be to split them up even further and have them go on different brands. A bruiser like Baszler would make for not only a fun set of matches against a champion like Belair, but would also be a great spot for Baszler once her run as Tag Team Champion wraps. There’s a chance she’ll get lost in the Raw shuffle like before, so why not have her shift brands and take on Belair next?
Mia Yim (“Reckoning”)
This one’s the completely out of left field pick that could work out! A recent report indicated that Reckoning (who was known as Mia Yim during her time on NXT) could be shifting over to SmackDown, and this would do wonders for reinvigorating her character on the big show. Not only would this further distance her from Retribution (of which she rarely saw any actual in-ring action), but Yim is the kind of talent who could shine in a feud with Belair as champion. She’d basically come into SmackDown with a clean slate, and challenging the champion right out of the gate would be a great start to a proper solo career.
Sonya Deville
With so few women still left on SmackDown overall, it’s really starting to stick out that Sonya Deville is kind of the perfect challenger. Following her loss to Mandy Rose (and some more intense things going on behind the scenes) Sonya Deville has come back to SmackDown with a totally different type of branding. As the General Manager, she’s almost the perfect foil for whenever she decides to make a move. Deville is essentially the Sword of Damocles for any SmackDown Women’s Champion as her position will allow Deville to place herself in the title picture at an opportune time. She’s got the skills both in and out of the ring, so now it’s just a matter of when.
