Piper Niven will challenge for a world championship in her home country. AEW announces two major title matches for Forbidden Door. Jetta chats with WrestleZone and more. Let’s break it down in this week’s edition of Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up!
Piper Niven Set For WWE Title Shot In Her Home Country
On July 15, WWE will host its first ever premium live event in the country of Scotland, specifically in the city of Glasgow. For Piper Niven and Drew McIntyre this event, titled Clash at the Castle, will also mark their special homecomings, as each were born and bred on Scottish land. While challenges Damian Priest for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Niven will attempt to dethrone WWE Women’s Champion Bayley.
Over the last few weeks, Niven, along with her tag team partner Chelsea Green, have painted a proverbial target on Bayley. On one occasion, Niven flattened Bayley after defeating Green on WWE SmackDown. The following week, Bayley prepared to confront the 2024 Queen of the Ring winner Nia Jax. Before she could utter any words, though, Niven and Green launched another surprise attack from behind. Later in the evening, Green and Niven defeated Bayley and Naomi in tag team competition.
Following this series of events, WWE officially announced that Bayley defend her WWE Women’s Championship against Niven at the upcoming Clash at the Castle PLE. This will mark the second televised title defense of Bayley’s reign, with the first taking form at WWE Backlash last month.
Niven previously commented on WWE’s impending trip to Scotland, noting her excitement in knowing that her fellow Scots will soon experience their first ever premium live event.
“This announcement was very, very satisfying for me because the people of Scotland have deserved this for such a long time,” Niven told Gorilla Position. “Without the British boom, it is my belief that there probably wouldn’t have been an NXT UK. Scotland was a massive part of that boom. Scotland was a huge part of that boom.”
“Most of the people that I’ve met by chance here this week [at WrestleMania 40] are Scottish. There’s such a huge fan base in Scotland, and they deserve this. They deserve this. So I’m very happy. I’m very proud for them.”
RELATED: Piper Niven Tried To Make ‘Doudrop’ Work, Got Her Identity Back With Name Change
AEW Opens The Forbidden Door
With AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on the horizon, a pair of title crossover matches were confirmed on the June 5 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Last week, Mercedes Moné put her newly won TBS Championship on the line in a Dynamite match against Skye Blue. After conquering Blue, though, Moné was quickly met by another potential challenger in the form of NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer.
Vaquer had appeared in a vignette earlier in the evening, teasing her imminent arrival to All Elite Wrestling. Now, AEW has confirmed that Vaquer will make her in-ring debut in a title-for-title match against Moné at Forbidden Door on June 30. This will mark the second in-ring encounter between and Vaquer, having previously squared off in the semi-finals of the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship tournament in May 2023. It was Moné who emerged victorious in this respective matchup.
Storm vs. Shirakawa
Elsewhere on Forbidden Door, Toni Storm will defend the AEW Women’s Championship against current Artist Of STARDOM Champion Mina Shirakawa. Storm previously declared that she had “opened the forbidden door” for Shirakawa to show what kind of woman she really was. Naturally, Shirakawa accepted Storm’s challenge, leading AEW to confirm their championship face-off for the Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
The championship bout between Storm and Shirakawa will present an added layer of drama as both competitors remain affiliated with “The Glamour” Mariah May. Before arriving to AEW last fall, May served as a loyal member of STARDOM’s Club Venus faction, which was notably spearheaded by Shirakawa. Upon joining AEW, though, May shifted her allegiances to “Timeless”
Toni Storm.
Which side will May choose at Forbidden Door?
RELATED: Saraya Targets The ‘Door’ At Wembley Stadium After Victory Over Mariah May
INTERVIEWS
“The Princess Diana Of Pro Wrestling” Jetta spoke with WrestleZone’s Ella Jay about her upcoming retirement match at EVE, the bloody Loser Leaves EVE match between Charlie Morgan and Alex Windsor, memories of wrestling Jazz and Manami Toyota, post-wrestling plans, who she believes are the future stars of the sport, and more.
PWA Heavyweight Champion Jessica Troy chatted with Astrid Pizarro of BodySlamNet about her path into the professional wrestling world, Rhea Ripley’s success in WWE, her upcoming title defense against DELTA, her recent match against Tenille Dashwood, her love for books, and more.
NWA Women’s Champion Kenzie Paige appeared on the Battleground Podcast to talk about her personal and professional journey as NWA Women’s Champion, the impact of the new NWA-CW streaming deal on women’s wrestling, wrestling alongside her sister Kylie Paige, behind-the-scenes stories from Carneyland, and more.
TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace sat down with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful to discuss her experience meeting WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, her appearance on WWE NXT, her recent Poptart-beef meme, the new regime in TNA Wrestling, and more.
Former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Sonya Deville joined Chris Van Vliet to talk about recovering from her torn ACL, winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship with Chelsea Green, how she met her wife, her particularly violent match with Liv Morgan, a possible match with Rhea Ripley and more.
Former WWE Divas Champion Alicia Fox spoke with MuscleManMalcolm about making her pro wrestling comeback against Mickie James at the HER event in Australia, potential interest in joining AEW or TNA, her viral match against Ronda Rousey, how Jade Cargill is the future of the WWE, and more.
