Shady's Spotlight: Women's Wrestling in 2025

I watched the most incredible women’s wrestling match in history this past year.

The match was brutal; weapons were wielded as often as the two traded blows. The amount of blood covering their faces made them look absolutely desperate to come out on top. It wasn’t just a run of the mill match for a title, it was the definitive ending to one the greatest rivalries of all time.

The show could have been the main event at literally any event in any promotion (and for some reason it was not).

Every social media app I opened was filled with clips of the feud. Edits of the women, snippets of promos and spots from their previous matches dominated the feeds. Tribalism was almost non-existent. 

When Toni Storm and Mariah May were both laid out at the end of the Hollywood Ending match, it felt like something everyone had been following.

Toni Storm cemented herself as the greatest women’s professional wrestler of our time, and Mariah May was the woman who could put any company onto her back and carry it into the future. AEW created a once-in-a-lifetime star that proved she deserved to become the face of a company.

Women’s wrestling truly felt like the most important spectacle, with true care put into their booking. The match exposed what true dedication to women’s wrestling could give us.

Fast forward, and Mariah May disappeared from television.

Contract rumors spread like wildfire. Everyone knew she wanted to move to WWE, it was very openly her dream to wrestle there.

AEW fans who fell in love with her being at the top of their company were upset that Tony Kahn created a star only for her to walk away.

WWE fans were excited to see one of AEW’s top stars jump ship, me included.

And what happened next?

WWE in 2025

The newly renamed Blake Monroe got some cool video packages in NXT, and I figured she would fit right into their main event scene. Instead, one of the biggest women’s stars of the year was pushed into the developmental midcard.

It’s just one example of how WWE has all the potential in the world to showcase the best women’s roster in the world, only to fail time and time again.

The problem wasn’t talent, it was a lack of dedication to fully showcase women as the heart of their shows. It was the way WWE couldn’t pivot when real life interrupted their carefully crafted stories.

On paper, WWE should be at the top.

• WWE has multiple shows that all feature incredible women: Raw, SmackDown, NXT and more

• Rhea Ripley is the most over superstar in the world, man or woman

• Women are consistently featured on television

And even considering all of this, half of the year felt like it was at a standstill. Don’t get me wrong, some of this was beyond their control, but not all of it.

• Liv Morgan was out with a shoulder injury that cost her the second half of 2025. The Judgment Day’s seeming implosion as a whole stalled out without her present

• Naomi won the Women’s World Championship! …and then got pregnant and is now off television

• Bianca has been battling the worst broken finger of all time since WrestleMania

WWE had multiple options to move forward, and the choices they made were the wrong ones. Despite the depth of their roster, they couldn’t find meaningful ways to push storylines forward. This is where that depth should have come into play.

The Fed Failed

Let’s be real, there’s plenty of things that WWE did wrong

If WWE hadn’t been able to figure out how to keep Rhea important in a way that makes sense, they would have been in an even worse position than they are.

Yes, Rhea is the most over star in the world, but it took most of the year to get her into a story that actually mattered. Rhea Ripley was on the road to becoming the next Charlotte Flair since her constant championship push was all that she had going for her. She should be thanking Iyo that their insane levels of chemistry turned them into a tag team.

Over on the other brand, there was a complete lack of a fleshed-out main event picture.

SmackDown had one of the best young stars in Tiffany Stratton, and she dropped the title to Jade Cargill (who no one agrees is ready enough to carry the weight of the championship).

Jade being champion leads directly into the issue that both she and Stratton faced: there is no one in the main event scene for either of them to build stories with on SmackDown. 

Very quickly, the depth of the roster became damaging. Despite having incredible in-ring talents like Candice LeRae and Alba Fyre, SmackDown couldn’t put together a single feud without just throwing Michin to the wolves to elevate the rest of the roster. 

Chelsea feuded with Michin for the U.S. title. Then Giulia had to deal with her. Then she was thrown at Jade for the Women’s WWE Championship. 

Candice LeRae? She got thrown off a ladder, through another ladder, and yet she still can’t be given a chance at a midcard belt.

Blake Monroe spent her time wasting away in NXT; she was effectively handcuffed to a developmental system while already being a star. Jordynne Grace was down there as well, going from TNA Knockouts Champion to unable to capture NXT gold.

NXT stars that actually could have used more time, like Stephanie Vaquer and Giulia, had their development sped up to put them on the main roster with titles that have not truly elevated them. Stephanie Vaquer’s championship highlight is going to be that she was the placeholder champion before the belt moved on to the Judgment Day civil war.

Thankfully, Giulia is getting a second chance at a US title run after her first run was almost entirely off-screen.

A-E-Dub Does It Right

AEW truly does it the right way for their women. It’s not a perfect product by any means, but they truly stick to their priorities. I’ll always be a WWE fan for life, but this past year I’ve keeping up with AEW as well.

Feuds are allowed full timelines to build up. Matches are allowed to be as brutal as the men’s. The characters are fully fleshed out. 

Marina Shafir is in a stable that is constantly in the main event. Where Candice LeRae is used as the occasional distraction in WWE for DIY, Shafir is allowed to fully participate in matches. She wrestles in women’s matches and mixed matches.

Hell, in AEW women and men are allowed to fully interact and actually wrestle with each other! Unless you’re Rhea Ripley slamming a few men around, WWE does not showcase mixed-gender spots. 

The spotlight only got brighter as AEW introduced their women’s tag titles, immediately showing their importance. It wasn’t ragtag teams, but actual friends and partnerships that made sense. It wasn’t midcard or lower women chasing them. It was Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné and other established main event players.

Looking Forward

WWE found some footing at the end of 2025, and hopefully it will continue through 2026.

Out of nowhere, the women’s tag titles became the most important titles on the roster. 

Rhea and Iyo.

The Kabuki Warriors.

Charlotte and Alexa.

Nia Jax and Lash Legend.

Almost everyone in that list is World Champion caliber, and they’ve all been feuding for the tag titles.

Jordynne Grace officially signed with SmackDown last night, on January 9.

Blake Monroe is rumored to be coming to the main roster, and her rematch for the Women’s North American Championship was abruptly called off.

I’d love for Monroe to go straight after Jade and the Women’s Championship, but she and Becky could make actual magic with the Women’s Intercontinental Championship on the line.

WWE doesn’t lack the talent, they just need to stop fucking around and trust the women’s roster that they have so carefully curated. There is no reason for storylines to fade into obscurity and talented women to go months on end without being showcased. 

Women’s wrestling was captivating enough to put on the Evolution PLE and it was one of the best shows of the year despite the fact that The Fed hardly cared to properly build it up. 

Clearly the women know how to put on a show and draw a crowd. WWE just needs to let them.