WWE Reveals How They Will Crown New Women's World Champion

The WWE Universe was upset to learn that Rhea Ripley had experienced a significant injury on this past week's Monday Night Raw, and as a result, she would have to vacate her WWE Women's World Championship. WWE said that a new Champion would be crowned, but didn't provide any details on how that would be handled. During tonight's SmackDown, they finally provided those details, revealing that on next week's Raw there will be a Battle Royal to determine the new Women's World Champion, and we have the full list of competitors as well.

WWE revealed the Battle Royal lineup will include Becky Lynch, Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, Maxxine Dupri, Chelsea Green, Natalya, Katana Chance, Indi Hartwell, Zoey Stark, Kayden Carter, Candice LeRae, Shayna Baszler, Tegan Nox, Piper Niven, and Ivy Nile. Xia-Li was also mentioned, but she was released by WWE during the same episode of SmackDown where the ad took place.

Morgan has to be seen as a prime candidate to win the Battle Royal and thus the Championship, given that WWE leaned into Morgan causing the injury in storyline and even had them almost brawl after Ripley relinquished the Title. Morgan then gave a promo afterwards that leaned even further into that, making this part of her revenge tour.

WWE is clearly setting this up to be a big feud when Ripley does eventually come back, and having Morgan be the one to win the Championship would only pour salt on that wound. Not only would Morgan have caused the injury that led Ripley to vacate the Title, but then she took the title for herself. That has all the makings of a big face run for Ripley when she is back in action.

It certainly seems like a sure bet at some point, but it's just not clear if WWE will move forward with it just yet. Ripley is reportedly out for around 3 months, so there's still time for Morgan to win the Title and move that feud forward before Ripley comes back and have someone else run with the Title for a little while in the interim.

Lynch is another favorite to win the Title, especially since she was the one that came closest to dethroning Ripley, and did so with a high fever and strep throat. Then there are a few wildcards in the mix that could certainly run with the ball if they held the Title, like Chelsea Green or Shayna Baszler. Perhaps someone else is in the cards to hold that Title too, like a Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox, or Nia Jax.

We'll have to wait and see, but let me know who you think will become the new Women's World Champion and talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!