WWE News: WWE Officially Announces Global Women’s Tournament For This Summer

This summer is appears that WWE will be going back to the tournament world yet again, this time with some of the best female wrestlers on the planet. Triple H along with wife Stephanie McMahon was joined by WWE RAW Women’s Champion Bayley, WWE SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, and WWE NXT Women’s Champion Asuka in making this revolutionary announcement for the WWE. A year ago, WWE was able to kill it with the Cruiserweight Classic, and fans begged for a new tournament in 2017.

Fans had been hearing that WWE wanted to do a women’s tournament, which could not possibly come at a better time for the WWE. The company has pushed a “women’s revolution” for a few years now, but 2016 was really when barriers were broken down in the WWE for ladies of the ring. Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks did just about anything one could do. They performed in only the second Ironwoman match, a Hell in a Cell match, main evented WWE RAW.

Not only that, but they became the first women to ever perform in a match one on one at a WWE PPV. They were not alone in the greatness, as people such as Asuka and Alexa Bliss were killing it and even Bayley. Most of these women became just as big as the men, with their popularity growing and growing simply because of their impressive in-ring work. That said, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon felt a women’s tournament would make sense.

Rumors of a women’s tournament date back to last year, but the company wanted to see if The Cruiserweight Classic would work first. They needed to know this formula was going to do well for them before they pushed to have the women do one. The CWC was a massive success, which led to plans for the women’s tournament to get going. Now WWE has confirmed through a press release and announcement that it is coming this year.

“WWE announces 32-competitor Women’s Tournament coming to WWE Network this summer

“For the first time in WWE history, 32 of the top female competitors from around the world will participate in a tournament this summer on WWE Network. The long-rumored tournament was confirmed today as part of “WWE Reimagined,” a presentation held at a business partner summit in Orlando, Fla., during WrestleMania Week. Competitors from 17 countries are expected to participate in the tournament, underscoring the breadth and international diversity of women’s wrestling.

“Raw Women’s Champion Bayley, SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and undefeated NXT Women’s Champion Asuka – all of whom are slated for title defenses this weekend – were on hand to break the big news with Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative, and Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer. The tournament marks a new milestone for WWE’s ongoing Women’s Evolution.

“‘Building on our Women’s division, it gives us great pleasure to share in announcing what’s next for WWE,’ said Bayley. ‘For the first time ever, this summer, WWE will feature a Women’s Tournament.’

“‘I speak on behalf of all of us, not just the champions standing before you today, but the entire Women’s division. It’s truly an honor to be part of another significant movement in WWE history,’ Bliss said.

“After speaking to the audience in Japanese, Asuka said in English, ‘I am proud to be part of the Women’s Evolution, representing Japan and WWE.’

“Levesque also shared the historic announcement with the WWE Universe on social media. The tournament comes on the heels of other successful WWE Network tournaments, such as last year’s Cruiserweight Classic, which focused on competitors 205 pounds and lighter, and January’s United Kingdom Championship Tournament, which spotlighted the U.K.’s toughest grapplers.

“Stick with WWE.com for future announcements about this summer’s unprecedented Women’s Tournament.”

This is huge news for the WWE, who has wanted to really get this going for some time. Having a women’s tournament could only do good things for the WWE and allow us to see some of the best women we don’t know about. As of now, we know 32 women from 17 different countries will be involved in the tournament. As of now, there are no announcements regarding who will be in the tournament as of now. However, WWE did work out a number of women months back,

There is also the thought that they may try to bring in some free agents in the women’s wrestling industry like Velvet Sky, Rachael Ellering, and Deonna Purazzo. Obviously since no one has been confirmed by the WWE as of yet we’re just going to have to wait for a few weeks to see who will end up joining in at the end of the day. This is big for a number of reasons for the WWE and not just for the women.

WWE needs to get more women in, as they seem to be lacking a lot of them as the top girls go up and begin to get a lot of time on television. They also have to see the WWE NXT girls go up from there too, and they need to be replaced without losing a step that the girls prior all set up for them. So really, WWE needs this to help elevate women’s wrestling but also to show off some girls they may be signing soon so the world can see how good things could get.

[Featured Image By WWE]