Austin: Smackdown Women’s Division Gets Big Upgrades

From Zelina to Nox to Shotzi to Toni, WWE Smackdown is seeing an influx of women’s talent, and Austin is here to break it down!

Lack of numbers on the main roster has been a problem for WWE due to talent being released or signing with other promotions after their contract expires. One area of the company that has perhaps suffered the most is the Smackdown women’s division. In June, 2021, the total number of competitors on the Smackdown women’s roster was seven: Bayley, Bianca Belair, Carmella, Liv Morgan, Natalya, Sasha Banks, and Tamina. Reckoning (Mia Yim) of Retribution was reportedly moved to Smackdown in April, but has yet to be seen or heard from on television. 

Zelina Vega’s return

The division now looks to be headed in the right direction, adding four new women to the roster in recent weeks. On the July 2nd episode of Smackdown, Zelina Vega made her return after a seven-month hiatus, having been released in November of 2020. Vega was introduced by Sonya Deville, and was announced as an entrant into the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Although Vega lost her match that night to Liv Morgan, she is a very talented competitor and could once again find herself in the title picture. 

Shotzi and Nox debut

Two more additions to the roster are NXT call ups Tegan Nox and Shotzi Blackheart. The two debuted on the July 9th Smackdown, working as a tag team. Tegan Nox had not competed since August of 2020, suffering her third ACL tear in her time with the company.

Blackheart was also coming off of an injury, but was only sidelined for a couple of months. She recently held the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships with partner Ember Moon, but lost them right before the injury to Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell. Nox and Blackheart tagged in NXT for a number of weeks, so they have experience working together. Both women have been successful in the company and WWE appears to have big plans for them as a tag team, knocking off current Women’s Tag Team Champions Tamina and Natalya in their debut.

Toni Storm is in waiting

The final addition to the roster is another NXT call up that has yet to be seen. Also on the July 9th episode of Smackdown, a vignette was shown advertising that Toni Storm is coming soon. This will be a great move both for the roster and for Storm, as she has lacked a storyline or feud on NXT for a number of months. At only 25 years old, Storm is an immensely successful wrestler, winning tournaments and championships in Progress Wrestling, World Wonder Ring Stardom, and WWE. Storm won the 2018 Mae Young Classic tournament, defeating Io Shirai at WWE Evolution. Storm also held the NXT UK Women’s Championship, defeating current Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley in the finals. 

Although the WWE Draft is right around the corner, it’s nice to see some new talent added to the depleted roster. All four of these women heading to Smackdown is the right call, giving them roughly the same number of superstars as Raw. While the new talent will shine, the Smackdown women’s division did take a huge hit recently. 

News broke that Bayley had suffered a leg injury in a training session and would be out of action for nine months. Bayley was arguably the most talented woman on the roster, and was set to challenge Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Money in the Bank. Sonya Deville made the announcement on Smackdown that Carmella would be the replacement to challenge Belair. Returning as a heel, Zelina Vega is another option to replace Bayley as top female heel on Smackdown. Deville also tweeted on Monday that Natalya would fill one of the final two spots for the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

and now we have rumors of Sonya Deville herself returning to the ring sooner than later. The Smackdown Women’s Division is starting to heat up…