wrestling / Columns
Unlikely, Undeniable, Unbound, Untethered: The Past Week in Women’s Wrestling
Image Credit: WWE
***Editor’s Note***I had something else entirely different ready for this week, but never underestimate the unwavering chaos of the universe – and last week I just discussed “defining moments”…
Over the Spring and Summer, Len Archibald will be a 411Mania guest columnist analyzing the state of women’s professional wrestling in North America.
A tidal wave of game-changing moments surged across WWE, AEW, NXT, and beyond this past week: Jacy Jayne stunned the world defeating Stephanie Vaquer clean in the ring to capture the NXT Women’s Championship. This tied into the official main roster call ups of Vaquer to Monday Night Raw and Giulia to Smackdown with Jordynne Grace probably not far behind.
Over at AEW, Mercedes Moné and Timeless Toni Storm went face-to-face in their first real promo duel on Dynamite to hype up their major battle at All In: Texas, while former AEW Champ, Mariah May officially left AEW with reports the star is heading to WWE. Each of these threads on their own would be newsworthy — together, they form a defining week for the trajectory of women’s professional wrestling in North America.
THE UNLIKELY CROWNED AND A NEW ERA
On the May 28, 2025 episode of NXT, Jacy Jayne of Fatal Influence pinned Stephanie Vaquer to win the NXT Women’s Championship in what may be the most unexpected title change in recent memory. Jayne, long seen as a reliable mid-card heel with attitude and sharp mic work, primarly viewed as a stable sidekick, defied every expectation.
For Jayne, a wrestler who made her name in Toxic Attraction alongside Mandy Rose and Gigi Dolin – and the last one left standing after Dolin’s recent release from WWE, the win feels like NXT giving Jayne a veteran opportunity to help lead the charge to build the next set of stars…which should not be too difficult considering the breadth of female talent on the NXT roster.
Jayne’s win sets up intriguing possibilities: With Mariah May reportedly heading to WWE, if May is first appearing for NXT to replace the star power lost by the call ups of Roxanne Perez, Giulia, Vaquer (and perhaps Jordynne Grace), the possibility of a May vs. Jayne feud for the NXT Women’s Title feels very real. And it signals that the NXT women’s division may be entering another golden reset — but this time, the division is its deepest yet.
The victory not only crowns a new champion—it signals an open door for new contenders and characters to emerge. Names like Sol Ruca, Jaida Parker, Zaria, Lola Vice, Kelani Jordan, Thea Hail, and Lash Legend are all poised to fill the void and shape the new age of NXT. There’s a sense that this isn’t just a reset; it’s the deepest, most promising incarnation of the women’s division the brand has ever had.
But right now, it is Jacy Jayne’s time. Let’s see what she does with it.
THE FUTURE CALLED UP: EXPANDING ITS ARSENAL
Within hours of her NXT Women’s Title loss to Jacy Jayne, reports confirmed that The Dark Angel, Stephanie Vaquer had been called up to Monday Night Raw – following the recent announcement that former NXT Women’s Champ, The Beautiful Madness, Giulia — made her debut appearance on Friday Night SmackDown. Reports that former TNA Knockouts Champ and current NXT talent, Jordynne Grace won’t be far behind joining them on the main roster soon followed. Add in Roxanne Perez joining Raw herself, and these call ups may end up being the most significant since the original Four Horsewomen ushered in the Women’s Revolution in WWE 10 years ago.
Giulia, a founding pillar of modern-day STARDOM and the inaugural NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion is widely considered one of the most transcendent talents of her generation. It appears WWE is on the cusp of kickstarting a feud between her and WWE Women’s U.S. Champ, Zelina Vega – which…good luck, Zelina. But eventual showdowns with Tiffany Stratton, Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair and Chelsea Green will be too big to pass up.
Former dual NXT Women’s World and NXT Women’s North American Champ Stephanie Vaquer joining the RAW roster was the true shock. She was in the middle of a critically acclaimed run in NXT as champ, quickly emerging as one of the most popular and over talents on the entire roster. Vaquer was, for a moment, poised to be the standard-bearer of NXT. But with potential big time dream matches and feuds against Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley, IYO Sky, Asuka, Bayley, Liv Morgan and Lyra Valkyria becoming a reality, we find ourselves in a world where Vaquer has a real opportunity to enter (and perhaps win Money in the Bank 2025) instead.
After Jordynne Grace lost to Vaquer in a top-tier match at NXT Battleground 2025, some fans wondered what may be next for The Juggernaut – for her to lose her first crack at the NXT Women’s Title seemed to put Grace in line for a chase where she eventually becomes champion. But if the rumors are true and Grace is indeed main roster bound, the decision not to put the title on Grace then makes more sense in hindsight.
Her performance at Battleground against Vaquer was stellar, reminding the WWE Universe of her legitimacy, power, and connection to the audience. A full-time jump to WWE was always inevitable, but I don’t think anyone considered it would happen this soon. Grace, who turned heads with her 2024 Royal Rumble appearance as TNA Knockouts Champion has been riding a wave of momentum with her blend of strength, experience, and credibility. Whether she ends up standing across the ring from Rhea Becky, Bianca, IYO, Tiffany, Charlotte, Nia, Jax or Jade Cargill, Grace could transform whichever brand she lands on.
Taken together, these call ups could very well end up becoming the spine of WWE’s next decade of women’s wrestling – a power play in the global wrestling landscape. And eventually when WWE runs back the Giulia vs. Stephanie Vaquer rivalry on the main stage, it will be a major deal. Like, WrestleMania Main Event.
ALL IN TO MAKE SOME TIMELESS MONÉ
On the May 29, 2025 episode of AEW Dynamite, the long-awaited confrontation finally arrived. Mercedes Moné stood in the center of the ring in Los Angeles, mic in hand. Opposite her: the Timeless Toni Storm, feathered robe flowing, Marlene Dietrich by way of mayhem.
At All In: Texas, the long-awaited battle between AEW TBS Women’s Champ, the belt-collecting CEO, Mercedes Moné and AEW Women’s World Champ, the incomparable “Timeless” Toni Storm will finally happen and the two biggest stars of AEW’s Women’s division had their first real promo battle and face off on this past week’s episode of AEW Dynamite – a blockbuster moment in the promotion’s still young history.
The face off was blistering, with Storm bluntly asking Moné “what took her so long” for this match to finally happen, Moné comparing herself to Beyonce (which got MASSIVE boos – the kind of heat Mercedes generates that I adore), and the two comparing their very similar, yet divergent career paths as talents who grew estranged with WWE and decided to strike out on their own and reinvent themselves. Then we got one of my favorite promo exchanges of the year…
Storm: If you want to ride the Moné train through the Toni Tunnel, I hope you can get deep enough.
Moné: Your hips aren’t deep enough for the Moné train.”
Storm: Somewhere, a little girl with big dreams will watch us fight at All In and say, “Holy shit, these bitches are crazy!” Then she’ll find out who the better woman is. I sincerely believe you’re the greatest of all time, Mercedes. But unfortunately for you, I happen to be TIMELESS.”
I have my personal thoughts on how I feel AEW should treat this match (hints at a future column), but overall this was the kind of segment that AEW needed for its women’s division — two stars, both fully realized, commanding time, space, and attention.
Storm vs. Moné at All In: Texas is more than just a dream match – it’s a referendum on what direction AEW’s future investment in women’s wrestling will take. After Toni Storm and Mariah May (and Mina Shirakawa) helped to redefine complex long form storytelling for modern women’s wrestling, we have two artists at the height of their powers getting the platform their careers have built toward and their orbit-shifting first AEW encounter was a watershed moment for the promotion when it comes to their female performers.
MARIAH’S MAY EXIT
The last watershed moment AEW presented when it came to their female wrestlers was the Timeless Toni Storm/Mariah May storyline and feud that culminated with the insanely excellent Hollywood Ending AEW Women’s Title Match. After Storm won the match, effectively ending the feud and storyline (for the time), we all wondered what was next for May as within a mere two years, she ascended to become one of the top names in the industry.
So May’s seismic exit from AEW somehow felt off-balance and inevitable simultaneously. May’s storyline with Storm seemed to place her in the upper echelon of AEW Women’s division as a permanent fixture and one of their “pillars”. At the same time, May’s rise from Pro Wrestling Eve to STARDOM to AEW is the kind of globetrotting indie “rags to riches” story WWE (and particularly HHH) loves to tout.
May has the kind of charisma that WWE’s production machine was built to amplify. The glam and character work of of Trish Stratus blended with the strength and work ethic of Bianca Belair — May can be a WWE star in the making with both beauty and believability. If she’s headed to NXT, Jacy Jayne may be her first target. If it’s straight to Raw or SmackDown, we could be seeing a STARDOM revisit between her and Giulia. Either way, Mariah May is about to step foot into the deepest female roster in the world and this would be a massive get for WWE and provides a massive void for AEW.
THE RIPPLE EFFECT: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
This past week wasn’t just about belts and brands. It was about balance shifting.
AEW has its next signature women’s rivalry in Storm vs. Moné – and it could be the one that truly redefines the future of women’s wrestling in the promotion, while the performer who participated in that promotion’s last major female feud simultaneously left the promotion. WWE just loaded its main roster with three distinct generational talents and in doing so, provided a truly shocking and unexpected title change – something that is certainly rare in the modern era – giving a hard reset of NXT’s women’s division. The board for supremacy in the women’s division on that brand has never been more wide open.
Promotions have realized that the ceiling for women’s wrestling isn’t as low as they once set it. It’s boundless. And the stars of this week—Jacy Jayne, Stephanie Vaquer, Giulia, Mariah May, Mercedes Moné, Toni Storm, Jordynne Grace—are not anomalies in this formula. What comes next is unknowable. But one thing is clear: we are in the middle of another revolution. And this one doesn’t need hashtags or slogans.
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