As of this writing, the only match for the upcoming WWESaturday Night's MainEvent for which we know all the participants involves Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY (collectively known as Rhiyo) defending their women's tag titles against The Judgment Day's Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez. Of course, Rhiyo have only just won the tag belts, defeating The Kabuki Warriors on the one-year anniversary episode of "Raw" on Netflix, but with the red brand women's division continuing to be the powerhouse centerpiece of Monday nights, we here at Wrestling Inc. feel the need to analyze where WWE could be going in terms of the next champions and where they should.
Who do we think will be the ones to dethrone SKY and Ripley, either sooner or later, and who would we support to hold the titles next? It's time to break down the belts!
There are a few reasons it's hard to imagine WWE not putting the women's tag straps back on Charlexa eventually. You have to think the match is coming the two teams haven't faced each other, and it would be a marquee matchup that you'd expect either as a TV main event or a PLE match. Rhiyo seems like they'll have to deal with the "Raw" tag division before moving on to "SmackDown," if this past Monday's action is any indication, so they'd be able to get a few defenses under their belts before losing the titles. SKY and Ripley are both top stars and former world champions; knowing the way WWE operates, it will take a similarly prestigious duo to unseat them, and Flair and Bliss fit the bill. They're also just extremely popular in their own right, and their first title reign was going pretty well before losing the belts to The Kabuki Warriors. They were even WINC's tag team of the year in 2025!
More than Flair and Bliss needing the women's tag titles, though, it seems likely that WWE will realize in fairly short order that "SmackDown" needs the women's tag titles. With the show moving back to three hours, the blue brand appears to be raiding "NXT," specifically the women's division, to boost the roster. Those talents are going to need something to fight for, and moving the tag belts back primarily back to Friday nights would give them that. Charlexa might not seem like the most exciting option to dethrone Rhiyo, but doing so would put the tag belts in reach of an entire host of up-and-coming female stars, assuming the likes of Jacy Jayne and Blake Monroe are truly bound for the main roster.
Let's be real about this: Lyra Valkyria and Bayley are currently two of WWE's most underutilized talents. You'd think Bayley would be a made woman in this company after the last 10+ years of consistent excellence, but her booking in 2025 was so bad that fans are fantasizing about her joining best friend Mercedes Mone in AEW. Meanwhile, Lyra Valkyria seemed to have a rocket strapped to her when she became the first-ever women's Intercontinental Champion, but she's been an afterthought since losing her feud with Becky Lynch at SummerSlam despite being one of WWE's most talented young stars. There's nothing wrong with being in the tag division, but these two would need some serious build-up to be in a place where they could believably take down Rhiyo.
Here at WINC, we'd love to see them get that build-up. Don't do the title change now or any time soon take it all the way until WrestleMania or beyond if necessary.But if any team that hasn't yet held the titles should ultimately get the rub from dethroning SKY and Ripley, it's Bayley and Valkyria. Quite frankly, they're just too good to be doing anything else. They deserve more time, both in the ring (for Valkyria's development) and on the mic (so Bayley can express her underserved schizophrenic character) and they deserve to be pushed to champion status. Bayley is a former world champion and Valkyria is a future one there's no better team for WWE to establish as being on Rhiyo's level.
