WWE’s women’s division may never be the same after SummerSlam

The Post’s Joseph Staszewski covers the world of professional wrestling in his weekly column, “Post Match Angle.”

SummerSlam could be a defining moment for the WWE women’s division.

The Four Horsewomen have led the division for the past nine years, seemingly being a part of every big moment while producing historic matches and helping to elevate the talent around them.

This year’s SummerSlam will be a lot different with Charlotte Flair in rehab, Becky Lynch on extended leave from WWE, Mercedes Monet (formerly Sasha Banks) working for AEW, and no Ronda Rousey (retired), Asuka (injured) or Alexa Bliss (on maternity leave).

Sure, Bayley, who is scheduled to defend her WWE Women’s Championship against Nia Jax on Saturday (7 p.m., Peacock) at Cleveland Browns Stadium, is having as good a year as anyone, but she probably won’t be walking away with the belt anyway.

That’s not to say the remaining three Horsewomen are past their prime or useless — they’re still some of the biggest stars in WWE, but that’s thanks to their dedication to elevating women’s wrestling and turning budding talents into reality.

Liv Morgan defeated Becky Lynch to win the Women’s World Championship and also had a win over Jax. Rhea Ripley beat Lynch and Flair at WrestleMania. Jax has had two of the best matches of her career since her return in Ripley and Lynch. Tiffany Stratton had a career-concluding match against Lynch at NXT No Mercy last September and then had a star-making performance in a triple threat match against Bayley and Naomi at Backlash.

This leaves the female fighters attending SummerSlam with perhaps the two most intriguing and unpredictable storylines on the card, a chance to solidify two brand new main eventers in Liv Morgan and Jax, and Stratton as the future face of the division thanks to her Money in the Bank contract.

It also feels like this generation of talent is more comfortable expressing more sexuality on screen and interacting meaningfully with their male counterparts as WWE moves into the Netflix era and away from the truly PG product of Triple H. Previous generations, naturally, tried so hard to be taken seriously not for their bodies, but for their incredible athleticism, and in so doing made it the industry standard.

Thankfully, while it’s far from what we saw with the Attitude Era, it does seem like restrictions are loosening up a bit in a way that’s similar to what people are seeing with other forms of entertainment today.

Ripley and Morgan are involved in a love triangle with Dominik Mysterio, and both have worn some pretty revealing outfits over the past two weeks in their flirty storylines. Stratton has often appeared in a bikini during vignettes, including in the latest installment. So far, that’s only heightened audience interest in them and their SummerSlam storyline, which is likely to play out in a variety of different ways.

Ripley could easily defeat Morgan soundly and reclaim the title, or Mysterio’s help could backfire and she could lose. Mysterio could easily betray Ripley and side with Morgan, causing mayhem. Finn Balor and Morgan could reveal they were together the whole time, setting Judgement Day on the path to division.

In the other match, Jax is so dominant that she could either win the match outright against Bayley, or Stratton’s cash-in attempt could distract her and the champion would become the champion. Stratton could be successful in cashing in on either woman, and Jax could be on her side to thwart Bayley’s cash-in attempt.

Flair, who posted his first video of himself working out in the ring on Monday, will be competing in a much different WWE if he returns than he was when he was injured in December.

Either way, SummerSlam could be a game-changing event for the WWE women’s division with the Four Horsewomen competing. More companies to the top.

Picture-in-Picture

If you watched Blood & Guts and were waiting for a big launch pad for The Elite’s storyline, AEW didn’t quietly deliver it, but what AEW delivered, aside from a fun match that included a fantastic coffin drop from Darby Allin from under the cage roof and plenty of tables, staplers and thumb tacks, was a big step forward for the individual storylines heading into All In. It almost felt like the opposite of what Blood & Guts should have been, but on that level it worked.

“Hangman” Adam Page proved he’s only here to defeat his rival Swerve Strickland. He’ll have to take the Young Bucks to task and will likely face Kazuchika Okada for the Continental Championship. Page accidentally hit Okada with a Buckshot Lariat. The Acclaimed also want to challenge the Bucks for the AEW Tag Team Championship.

In Jack Perry’s TNT Championship match at All In, Allin won the match by threatening to set the champion on fire, forcing Matthew Jackson to forfeit for his team. Perry, who was unnecessarily hit in the head with a defenseless chair by Mark Briscoe (it is unclear whether the chair was a gimmick), played his best match, as he was willing to be set on fire in order to not lose the match.

None of this makes up for the lack of clear stakes in how much power AEW’s Tony Khan and The Elite have on TV, or the fact that it’s hard to see The Elite posing a serious threat again. AEW was never able to capitalize on the momentum The Elite gained from attacking Khan with an overall angle, but at least Blood & Guts built an important individual storyline into their biggest show of the year.

Holding Pattern

NXT was stagnant during week one of The Great American Bash with no title changes and only minor storyline developments, with some of the episodes lifted straight from TNA, including a throwback episode with The Rascals and an above-average concert from Joe Hendry.

Hendry said in a promo that she wanted to prove she could compete with the best in the world in NXT, but I think that could have been a better pitch for her company. I thought Thea Hale had a strong performance in her NXT Women’s Championship match against Roxanne Perez, but I don’t think fans are going to rally around to root for anyone in Chase U.

10 counts

Given WWE’s current business style, it was easy to predict that a WrestleMania outside of the US would happen sooner or later, but it’s really odd that the Mayor of London and WWE are openly flaunting these talks without announcing a deal to bring AEW to London within a month, with WWE likely hoping to beat AEW’s ticket distribution record.

Next Monday will be Wyatt Six’s first real test as he sees Dexter Lumis, Joe Gacy and Erick Rowan finally make an appearance on RAW. finally He steps into the ring for a six-man tag team match against Chad Gable and the Creed Brothers.

Something felt missing from Mercedes Mohn’s presentation, but Camille’s well-acted debut may have been just what we needed: we now see CEO Mohn as a strong, powerful enforcer like we’ve never seen her before.

So when is MJF’s Lex Express-like bus tour? If there’s anyone who can make you root for him against the “American hero” of the story, it’s MJF. Having his face painted on the flag instead of stars and changing the International Championship to the American Title, like Will Ospreay once did in reverse with the IWGP United States Championship, was a great touch to add heat.

Bloodline becoming the number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championships shows just how incredible a player Jacob Fatu is, and also gives Cody Rhodes a much-needed ally, whether in DIY or the Street Profits.

I’m all for storytelling in the WWE women’s division outside of championships, and a returning Damage CTRL versus Shayna Baszler, Sonya Deville and Zoey Stark was definitely that. But aside from Damage CTRL doing a 180 degree turn and actually caring about Zelina Vega, these two factions are very much heels. So who is the audience supposed to root for?

I hope that this week’s Nick Nemeth vs. Mustafa Ali match for the TNA World Championship isn’t just a one-off because I think these two have a compelling story to tell in the long run.

I love how Toni Storm brings a different look and level of insanity after Mariah May’s attack, as she goes from a detached, delusional heel to a fierce, focused babyface.

Dustin Rhodes winning the Ring of Honor Six-Man Championship with Marshall and Ross Von Erich in Texas will go down as one of the coolest wrestling moments of the year, but the Battle of the Belts will have to conclude with the next AEW television deal.

Now that Billie Starks has lost the Ring of Honor Women’s World Television Championship, it’s time for her to end the story and bring an end to Athena’s Women’s World Championship reign that lasted over 600 days.

Additional Info: Women Of Wrestling (WOW) continues to expand its reach as it begins syndication on a dedicated new channel on Pluto TV the weekend of September 14th.

Extra, Extra: Can they keep the Rascals together for as long as possible? It was fun to see them wrestle together again. The same can be said for Layla Hirsch and Diamante after their Texas Death Match that stole the show at ROH.

Wrestler of the Week

Darby O’Lean, AEW

It’s been a big week for Allin as he enters his post-Sting career, with big highlights at Blood & Guts including a wild Coffin Drop and threatening to set Perry on fire to earn a TNT Championship match at All In, as well as a win at Royal Rampage to earn an AEW World Championship match at Grand Slam.

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