5 Women who could win the WWE SmackDown #1 Contenders Battle Royal

On WWE SmackDown tonight, Stephanie McMahon made a huge announcement regarding the SmackDown Women's Championship and SummerSlam. Bayley will be defending her title against the winner of a triple-brand battle royal.

WWE Superstars from RAW, SmackDown, and NXT will all compete for the chance to knock the Golden Role Model off her high horse in a few weeks. There are a dozen if not more matchups that fans could get excited about seeing, and many of those women could be the ones to take out Bayley for good.

With contenders from all three brands taking part in the match next week, here are 5 women who could win the SmackDown #1 Contenders Battle Royal.

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#5 Shayna Baszler jumps to SmackDown

Shayna Baszler is dominant, terrifying, and probably the most dangerous woman on the WWE roster. In fact, she could be the most dangerous WWE Superstar in the company, gender aside. The Queen of Spades spent two years absolutely demolishing everyone that got in her way on NXT, and has since moved on to Monday Night RAW.

Sadly, this run hasn't gone as smoothly as fans would have hoped, but that has already started to change. Over the past few weeks, Baszler has looked like her old self, and on RAW, claimed she would choke out Asuka to win the WWE RAW Women's Championship once the Empress of Tomorrow got it back from Sasha Banks.

Now, what if we got that match, but it wasn't for a few months? What if we got a Champion vs Champion match, possibly even a unification match, at Survivor Series? All we have to do to get there is to have Bayley lose to Shayna Baszler, somebody that she already lost to at Survivor Series last year.

#4 Tegan Nox could gain some retribution on SmackDown

Bayley and Sasha Banks have taken the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships to every brand in WWE, minus NXT UK, but that's another story. In fact, the SmackDown and RAW Women's Champions have even defended their titles on NXT.

In their short three-month reign, the Golden Role Models have defended the belts quite a handful of times, and when they journeyed to the Black & Gold Brand, they put them on the line against the team of Tegan Nox and Shotzi Blackheart. Both Nox and Blackheart showed quite a bit of heart in the match, but ultimately came up short.

Nox hasn't slowed down at all, yet, and is currently on a three-match win streak at the moment. Nox has always been highly regarded by both WWE fans and her peers, so it wouldn't be surprising to see her show up on SmackDown next week.

Nor would it be incredibly shocking to see her at least make it to the finals of the SmackDown Battle Royal. Lady Kane has quite a career ahead of her, and though a win next week wouldn't guarantee a permanent move to SmackDown, it could definitely give her a new high-profile feud.

Tegan Nox is one of the bright stars of NXT, and has the ability to be as big as Bayley when her time comes. We could get a glimpse of that should she come out on top on SmackDown next week.

#3 Naomi could bring the Glow back to SmackDown

WWE is on the cusp of something big with Naomi. That is if they actually feel like taking advantage of the overwhelming swell of support that the former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion has gained.

Recently, after being embarrassed by Lacey Evans, a Twitter movement was created by frustrated Naomi fans. The Queen of the Glow is one of the most gifted in-ring performers on the roster, and even to this day is bringing some innovation to her moveset. Add to that her eye-grabbing entrance, and she's a bonafide star in the eyes of the fans.

So when #NaomiDeservesBetter began to trend, WWE acknowledged it for a while, giving Naomi a chance to defend herself on MizTV and even pick up a win over Lacey Evans. However, we haven't seen her since.

Naomi is someone that the fans are dying to see rise to the top again. A win next Friday would be incredible, and would definitely get the company back in the good graces of the fans. Plus we could see the return of that attractive SmackDown Women's Glow Championship.

#2 Nia Jax may make a statement or break some faces during the SmackDown Battle Royal

Nia Jax is at a strange point right now, which could actually work out in her favor regarding the SmackDown Battle Royal. On WWE RAW, Jax was suspended by Pat Buck after failing to apologize for attacking him the week prior. Jax, not one to take bad news well, laid him out with a headbutt.

So now, at best, Jax has been suspended from Monday nights for a very long time. However, that doesn't mean she's suspended from SmackDown. Loopholes, they'll get you every time. Nia Jax is already a former WWE RAW Women's Champion, so what if she was looking for another prize to add to the trophy case?

What if she was looking for another brand to dominate? What if she was looking to get another shot at Bayley, who, for those of you that don't remember, was one of the biggest challenges to the former Hugger's NXT Women's Championship reign. Bayley barely escaped from that match with the gold.

Years later, Jax is an entirely different kind of WWE Superstar, and one that's looking to make a statement against the SmackDown Women's Champion.

Plus, wouldn't she just love to rub this kind of thing in Pat Buck's face? Honestly, this one writes itself, and could lead to an interesting tweener-like transition for Jax. Picking up the SmackDown Women's Championship would be the icing on the cake.

#1 Rhea Ripley brings a new Nightmare to SmackDown

Of course, the first spot goes to Rhea Ripley. There is no better option than the inaugural WWE NXT UK Women's Champion who, may I remind you, is the only WWE Superstar to hold both that and the WWE NXT Women's Championship. She's already instilled fear on the SmackDown locker room before.

Heading into WrestleMania 36, there were few Superstars rolling with the kind of popularity that Ripley had. Though her momentum slowed drastically after the loss, she's still one of the most exciting performers on any brand, and is still a huge fan favorite. She recently returned to NXT, starting a feud with the Robert Stone Brand that seems to be leading to a showdown between Mercedes Martinez and herself.

The question is, after defeating Shayna Baszler, arguably the greatest and most dominant NXT Women's Champion of all time, and facing Charlotte Flair, in what is considered by many the best match at WrestleMania 36, where does she go from here? She's already accomplished everything she really needed to do on the Black & Gold Brand.

Considering Ripley had such an impressive night at Survivor Series when she led her team to victory, lastly eliminating SmackDown Superstar Sasha Banks. The mainstream WWE audience already knows who she is and just how impressive she can be. It won't take much convincing on Friday nights to get anyone on board.

Rhea Ripley winning the Battle Royal next week might not be the only option, but it's without a doubt the best. Ripley vs Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship is definitely a money match.