x
Injury Could Force Change in Plans for Women's Match at WrestleMania 42
Triple H Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The WWE creative team is reportedly planning to book a record number of women's matches at WrestleMania 42 this April, with six being the magic number that's been floating around the rumor mill.

As of this writing, there are currently two that have been made official: Stephanie Vaquer will defend her Women's World Championship against Women's Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan, and Jade Cargill will defend her WWE Women's Championship against Women's Elimination Chamber winner Rhea Ripley.

It's long been rumored that Women's Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee and Becky Lynch will conclude their program with each other at the 'Showcase of the Immortals' this year, and given the equity that's gone into building the tag team division over the past several months, it would be incredibly surprising if Nia Jax and Lash Legend did not defend the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles in Las Vegas. 


WWE

But what's the plan for the Giulia and the Women's United States Championship?

Chelsea Green defeated Michin on December 14, 2024, at Saturday Night's Main Event to become the inaugural Women's United States Champion. Since then, the title has changed hands four times over the course of 13 total defenses. Not a single one of those defenses has taken place at a Premium Live Event, and that includes during last year's all-women's show Evolution.

According to Ibou of the Self Made Sessions Podcast (excessive profanity warning for those interested in checking out the show), the WWE creative team has finally been working out plans for the Women's United States Title to get a spotlight on the grand stage. However, a pivot may be in order after last Friday's episode of SmackDown.

It was stressed that the following information came from a single source and more work was being done to confirm, but apparently, the plan was for Giulia to defend her title against Tiffany Stratton and Jordynne Grace in a triple threat match.

The Juggernaut, unfortunately, suffered an ankle injury last week while working a match against Alba Fyre for WWE Main Event, and it's currently unclear how long Grace is going to be out of action.

It's entirely possible that WWE simply decides to go with a straight singles match between Giulia and Stratton, but there are still six episodes of SmackDown left to figure out the appropriate direction for the Beautiful Madness and her title.

Much of Giulia's time over the past several weeks has been spent trying to punch her ticket to WrestleMania 42 by some other means, such as winning the Women's Elimination Chamber Match or the Women's Tag Team Titles with Kiana James, which suggests that even she is not confident that her Women's United States Championship is enough to get her to Las Vegas.


This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!