IYO SKY and Tiffany Stratton retain their titles on WWE’s grandest stage. Jamie Hayter secures her spot in the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament finals. Dakota Kai chats with WrestleZone, and more!
WWE WrestleMania 41 Takes Over Sin City
Last weekend, WWE took over the city of Las Vegas for several events, including its biggest of the year, WrestleMania 41.
Night one of the WrestleMania 41 action saw Tiffany Stratton successfully defend her WWE Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair, courtesy of the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Flair earned this opportunity by winning the 2025 Women’s Royal Rumble and selecting Stratton as her opponent. Stratton initially claimed the respective title in January by successfully cashing in her Money in the Bank briefcase.
Elsewhere, Jade Cargill and Naomi faced off in the first non-title women’s singles match to grace the grand stage since 2006. Back in November, Naomi unleashed a vicious attack on Cargill, which left her on the sidelines for months. At WWE Elimination Chamber, Cargill returned and launched a counterattack, which resulted in Naomi’s removal from the Women’s Elimination Chamber match. On WrestleMania 41 night one, Cargill’s momentum continued with a win over the in-ring veteran.
The following night, IYO SKY, Rhea Ripley, and Bianca Belair opened the show with a triple threat for the WWE Women’s World Championship. Despite Ripley’s strength and Belair’s 4-0 showing on the main stage, SKY emerged victorious, with “The EST” taking the pin after being hit with an Over The Moonsault.
#IYOSKY won in an absolutely blazing #WrestleMania opening match! pic.twitter.com/Tx7pPnebBq
— WWE (@WWE) April 20, 2025
Meanwhile, Lyra Valkyria and a returning Becky Lynch defeated Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. Their reign didn’t last too long, though, as Morgan pinned Valkyria to regain the titles 24 hours later on WWE Raw. Afterward, Lynch took down Valkyria with a clothesline and three Manhandle Slams, effectively ending their partnership.
RELATED: IYO SKY Reacts To Successful Title Defense At WrestleMania 41
Sol Ruca Snatches Souls (And Titles)
When she’s not snatching souls in the ring, Sol Ruca is also now snatching championships, two of them to be exact. On April 16, the NXT star defeated Candice LeRae to claim the WWE Women’s Speed Championship on WWE Speed. Three days later, Ruca soared a ladder to claim the WWE Women’s NXT North American Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver, also emanating from Las Vegas.
The latter title win came after Ruca fended off four of her five opponents. Firstly, Ruca knocked her tag partner Zaria off the ladder with a double boot to her chin. Next, Ruca left the ladder herself to plant Izzi Dame with a Sol Snatcher. This was followed up by a double Sol Snatcher, with Thea Hail and Lola Vice on the receiving ends. With the competition cleared, Ruca then climbed back up the center ladder to retrieve the vacant NXT Women’s North American Championship hanging above.
EXCLUSIVE: @SolRucaWWE vows to be the best #WWENXT Women’s North American Champion in history after her incredible win in Las Vegas.#StandAndDeliver pic.twitter.com/p8d6ikj02X
— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 19, 2025
Elsewhere at NXT Stand & Deliver, Stephanie Vaquer bested Jaida Parker, Giulia and Jordynne Grace to retain her NXT Women’s Championship, courtesy of a package backbreaker on the former. Vaquer retained her title once more on the subsequent episode of WWE NXT, this time by defeating Roxanne Perez.
Gigi Dolin and Tatum Paxley found victory on the Stand & Deliver pre-show when they outlasted Meta-Four, Fatal Influence, and Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade to secure a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship opportunity. The two ultimately fell short in their subsequent pursuit after Liv Morgan, one-half of the reigning champions, laid out Dolin with an Oblivion.
RELATED: Sol Ruca Reveals The ‘Sol Snatcher’ Originated As A Variation Of A Classic Wrestling Finisher
Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tourney Finals Set
Last week, Mercedes Moné defeated Athena in a critically acclaimed Women’s Owen Hart Foundation semi-finals match. This week on AEW Dynamite, Jamie Hayter took on Kris Statlander on the side of the bracket.
As expected, Statlander vs. Hayter turned out to be a back-and-forth battle, with the two trading submission holds and strikes. In the closing moments, Statlander leaped off the top turnbuckle and landed on Hayter with a 450 Splash. When she returned to the corner for a second one, however, Hayter managed to shift momentum into her favor with a lariat. Hayter then followed up with the Hayterade to secure the win and her spot in the tournament finals against Mone.
“I’ve never met a Hayter doing better than me,” Moné wrote on X while promoting their upcoming clash, which is slated for AEW Double or Nothing on May 25. Moné and Hayter engaged in a brief staredown following the latter’s Dynamite victory.
This will mark the first-ever encounter between Moné, the current TBS Champion, and Hayter, a former AEW Women’s Champion. The winner of the tournament finals will go on to challenge for the AEW Women’s title at AEW All In on July 12. “Timeless” Toni Storm currently holds that title.
Days before Dynamite, Moné defeated Kanji to retain her RevPro Undisputed British Women’s Championship at RevPro’s High Stakes event in England.
INTERVIEWS
Former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Dakota Kai spoke with WrestleZone’s Bill Pritchard about being looked at as a babyface, Damage CTRL, favorite part of WrestleMania weekend, her most frivolous purchase, ladder matches in the COVID era and more.
“The Queen” Charlotte Flair chatted with Denise Salcedo about her return to the ring, her signature style, how she geared up for the biggest event of the year, why fans mean everything to her, her thoughts on her highly anticipated feud with Tiffany Stratton, the evolution of women’s wrestling in WWE and NXT, and more.
WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria joined Queen of the Ring to talk about her love of music, including Nickelback and Evanescence, what she is binge watching on Netflix, helpful advice to up-and-coming talent, the growth of independent wrestling, and more.
WWE Hall of Famer Jacqueline speaks with MuscleManMalcolm about the significance of Naomi vs Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 41, becoming the first black women’s champion in WWE, her induction into the WWE Hall of Fame and more.
MPW Women’s Champion Izzy Moreno appeared on Fightful to discuss her Twitter beef with Mercedes Mone, a potential match with Bayley in the future, competing in her first intergender match, her plans for WrestleMania 41 week, work in Mission Pro Wrestling, and more.
Former WWE Women’s Champion Bayley sat down with Chris Van Vliet to talk about her start in WWE, developing her Hugger persona, destroying the Bayley Buddies as part of her heel turn, her injury that happened during the pandemic, the original plan for Damage CTRL, her relationship with Michael Cole, and more.
Former AEW Women’s Champion Saraya spoke with Andro Mammo about what she learned about herself while writing her new memoir, a chapter that was hard to write about, but important to include in the book, not giving a f*** about outside opinions, the moment she realized she “loved” professional wrestling, the pressure she was feeling after winning the WWE Divas Championship on her main roster debut night, and more.
