Just before WrestleMania 33 earlier this year, WWE announced that they will be hosting a women’s wrestling tournament this summer. This tournament will be similar to their recent UK tournament and their Cruiserweight Classic, both of which have received high praise for how they were booked and presented.
Like the Cruiserweight Classic, the women’s tournament will feature 32 competitors from 17 countries. The women’s tournament will also be structured in the same way as the Cruiserweight Classic: a 5-round, single-elimination tournament with a first round that will take the 32 competitors and turn them into 16, followed by eight quarter-finalists, and so on, until only one woman is announced as the winner.
Last year’s Cruiserweight Classic was, in itself, a resounding success. The tournament featured wrestlers from all around the world, including those that were signed with other wrestling promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling such as Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre, Jr. For wrestlers like these two to grace a WWE ring added a lot of prestige and importance to the tournament.
The Cruiserweight Classic, which has become the template and the measuring stick for all of WWE’s subsequent tournaments, will be remembered for one thing: the sheer volume of great matches. We as fans were treated to such performances as Kota Ibushi vs. The Brian Kendrick, Gran Metalik vs. T.J. Perkins, Kota Ibushi vs. Cedric Alexander, and many more.
It was this ‘international flavour’, if you will, that led to the CWC becoming such a big hit, as it allowed for a more diverse set of wrestling styles to be presented to a WWE audience. WWE should do the same with the women’s tournament by signing as many ‘outsiders’ as possible. WWE should try to get as many women’s wrestlers from other promotions as possible in order to capitalise on this growing interest in women’s wrestling in general.
Here are five women that WWE MUST sign in order to make this women’s tournament a resounding success.
#1 Awesome Kong/Kharma
Kong/Kharma is one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world, and was on track to having a successful career in WWE, before outside circumstances ruined her push completely. She became pregnant, suffered complications, and never had a proper return to WWE, despite being one of the most popular women in the division during her short run (because who didn’t enjoy watching her demolish the ‘Barbie Doll’ women of the pre-women’s revolution WWE?).
If Kong were to return to WWE as part of this tournament, it could lead to a redemption story in the same vein as Brian Kendrick’s. When he arrived at the tournament, he was a veteran whose in-ring career was winding down and needed a big win to support his family.
This made him someone whom the fans wanted to see succeed, and even though he didn’t win the tournament, he has still found meaningful and regular work in WWE’s cruiserweight division.
Seeing Kharma back in WWE full-time would be a very interesting scenario, especially since she’d be another ‘big woman’ alongside both Nia Jax and Tamina Snuka.
#2 Gail Kim
This one’s a bit of a gamble, especially given Kim’s troubled relationship with WWE. Her second WWE run was mired in controversy, as she famously eliminated herself from a women’s battle royal and left WWE under bad terms. She believed that those in power at the time ‘were holding the women back’ and she vowed to never return to WWE.
If – and this is a big IF – WWE can somehow convince Kim to return to WWE, it would be a huge benefit to their public relations department. WWE has been pushing their women to the forefront of their product for years now, and have made immense progress in erasing the worst aspects of the former ‘Divas’ approach.
If Gail Kim were to return to WWE for the Women’s Tournament, it would send a critical message: the old ‘Divas’ approach is indeed dead and buried forever, and WWE is genuinely interested in treating its women as top draws.
Thus, Kim’s involvement in the Women’s Tournament would have double importance. It would be great to see such a skilled women’s wrestler back in a WWE ring, and it would help them in repairing a somewhat-still-damaged image over how its women were once treated.
#3 Candace LeRae
Candace LeRae is one of the best wrestlers active today. Trained by TJ Perkins (er, sorry, TJP), she has shown incredible skill as a wrestler over the past fifteen years, and is one of the most popular and respected women’s wrestlers on the independent circuit.
What also makes her such a good wrestler is that she has experience wrestling against men in intergender matches because of which she has more experience doing a variety of things in a wrestling ring that some of her female colleagues might not have done.
It also helps that she’s married to Johnny Gargano, one-half of #DIY, and one of the most popular wrestlers in NXT. With her having that connection, as well as having already appeared on NXT programming, it would be foolish for WWE not to include LeRae in this prestigious tournament.
#4 Kairi Hojo
Before she became known as Asuka, the women then-known as Kana had two rivals: Io Shirai and Kairi Hojo. Of these two, Hojo’s the more promising candidate for the women’s tournament, considering she signed a 3-year contract with NXT in March of this year.
Hojo is one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world, and one of wrestling promotion Stardom’s finest athletes. She’s athletically-gifted and capable of performing a wide array of impressive wrestling moves. Most notably, she pulls off one of the greatest diving elbow drops ever seen, one that would make Randy Savage proud.
This would make sense because of Hojo’s history with Kana. The two worked together in Stardom, and since then Kana/Asuka has become the ace of the NXT Women’s division. With her being virtually undefeated and lacking in credible threats to her Women’s Championship, it would make sense for WWE to bring in someone that has experience wrestling Asuka, since no one outside of Japan has managed to defeat her.
#5 Manami Toyota
What’s the best way to make your women’s tournament feel important and historic? By signing the single-greatest women’s wrestler of all time.
Manami Toyota is basically the Shawn Michaels or the Ric Flair of women’s wrestling. During her prime in the early-to-mid-1990s, Toyota was out-wrestling virtually every single person, male or female, in the wrestling world. She was years ahead of everyone else and brought a newfound prestige to women’s wrestling.
During her prime, women’s wrestlers were treated equally in terms of draws and reputation for the first time ever. No longer were they gimmicky ‘girls’ or treated as secondary to male wrestlers; Toyota and her colleagues sold out major venues with their wrestling abilities.
While WWE has never formally mentioned her by name (although Lita name-dropped her during her Hall of Fame speech), it would make complete sense for WWE to bring in Manami Toyota for this tournament. As a legendary figure in women’s wrestling, Toyota’s presence, no matter how small, would make the Women’s Tournament even more prestigious. It would be similar to having Ric Flair presiding or taking part in a tournament of champions on the main roster.
Toyota does not even have to do that much. All she would need to do is wrestle one or two matches, and lose to someone whom WWE would want to push in their own women’s division. If that were to happen, WWE would all of a sudden have a huge threat to win the tournament, as defeating Toyota would be an enormous boost to that wrestler’s credibility.
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