WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton has been undefeated throughout the entirety of 2025, and has held the gold for, as of this writing, 268 days. She is currently the longest reigning active champion in WWE after successfullycashing in her Money in the Bank contract on former friend Nia Jax on the January 3 episode of "WWE SmackDown." She's had quite the successful reign, but the length of it has many fans questioning when "Tiffy Time" is going to come to an end.
Stratton has ran through every competitor who's been thrown at her. From Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 41 in what turned out to be a messy, personal, off-script feud at some points, to Bayley in her first-ever defense just days after cashing in Money in the Bank, to even WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus at Evolution, Stratton's beaten them all. Two competitors who Stratton has faced over and over, however, are Jade Cargill and Nia Jax, most recently in a messy triple threat on "WWE SmackDown."
It now seems pretty obvious that WWE isn't belting up Cargill yet, surprising to many fans who thought she'd take the title from Stratton at SummerSlam this year, or giving the gold back to Jax. Even if WWE wanted it to be Cargill to defeat Stratton in yet another match, she may possibly have suffered an injury, in addition to an extremely nasty gash on her forehead, during the match on the blue brand.
With other competitors, like Flair and Alexa Bliss currently tied up in the tag team division, the brand split seemingly set in stone, at least for the women's division, and no fresh talent yet to be called up from "WWE NXT," who will be the woman to dethrone Stratton, and who should be the one to defeat her?
There is always the chance that WWE does want to put the belt on Cargill or Jax, but after how many matches these women have had against each other, it seems less and less likely. It almost seems as though WWE is spinning its wheels with the Cargill and Stratton feud while waiting for one of its top stars to return from injury: "The EST of WWE" Bianca Belair.
Belair has been on the shelf since after WrestleMania 41 after her incredible triple threat match against IYO SKY and Rhea Ripley. She brokea finger on her left hand, though the injury is much more complex than a simple break, as she fractured it in multiple places, including the joint, during her 'Mania match. She's been unable to bend the finger, making it impossible to get back between the ropes. In a recent appearance mid-September, Belair mentioned she still couldn't wear her wedding ring on her left hand, and didn't offer a further update about her return. A Belair return looked promising when she was the special guest referee for Naomi and Cargill's match at Evolution, but that didn't end up happening.
Even without a solid date on Belair's return, she still seems like the woman most likely to capture the title from Stratton. If Cargill was going to win the title, she has had plenty of opportunities to do so, and WWE's end game with her just isn't clear right now.
If they're waiting for Belair's return, they can further establish Stratton with a lengthy title reign. Belair is the woman with the longest reign with the WWE Women's Championship, at 419 days, so while hopefully WWE doesn't wait that long to pull the trigger on a title change with Stratton, as she racks up more time with the belt, that's a natural storyline between her and Belair when she returns.
While Belair is the most likely candidate to win the WWE Women's Championship upon her return, there's also someone whoshouldwin the title, despite current storylines and booking not making that very easy for her. Women's United States Champion Giulia should be the woman to dethrone Tiffany Stratton, as the way WWE is currently using her, and how much they've devalued the Women's US title, is criminal.
Giulia won her title from Zelina Vega at the end of June in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and hasn't done much with it since, to no fault of her own. She's only defended the gold against Vega and Michin, the latter of whom seems to be forever chasing the mid-card title, and never on a premium live event. WWE severely needs to course correct with "The Beautiful Madness" and getting the US gold off of her to take the WWE Women's Championship from Stratton would be the best way to do it.
The Japanese star defeating Stratton wouldn't be the difficult part when it comes to the booking, as Giulia could easily get a believable, decisive victory over Stratton on a PLE. The hard part is getting the mid-card title off of her without Giulia looking weak. Thankfully, there are enough women in that title scene to help out, and Kiana James could easily turn on Giulia and cost her the title during a match where the champion was defending against Michin. James and Giulia could feud to tie things up in storyline without the title on the line with Giulia coming out on top. "The BeautifulMadness" then could go on to challenge, and win, the top title, establishing her at the top of the card where many fans believe she should already be.
