Spoiler On New #1 Contender For WWE SmackDown Women's Champion

Who will be next to challenge Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women's Title?

by Andrew Pollard
Ronda Rousey Raquel Rodriguez
WWE.com

With WWE having already taped next week's episode of SmackDown, Raquel Rodriguez is the new #1 contender for the SmackDown Women's Championship currently held by Ronda Rousey.

It was previously announced how this upcoming blue brand offering - which was taped from Chicago's Allstate Arena directly after last Friday's SmackDown - would see a six-woman gauntlet match to crown a new challenger for the Rowdy One, and spoilers for Smackers come from Twitter user Miguel960 and NoDQ.com.

Billed as Raquel Rodriguez vs. Liv Morgan vs. Tegan Nox vs. Emma vs. Sonya Deville vs. Xia Li, this bout started off by having the recently returned Li beat both Emma and Nox. From there, Rodriguez entered the match and went through Xia, Morgan, and Deville to win the contest... ish.

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In a twist, after Sonya was eliminated, Shayna Baszler came out as a surprise entrant in this gauntlet effort. Despite having already had to battle through three other competitors, Raquel managed to get the better of the Queen of Spades and earn herself a shot at Ronda Rousey.

Many had predicted that Raquel Rodriguez would be next up to challenge for Rousey's SmackDown Women's Championship, with Ronda and Baszler having attacked and injured Raquel's arm several times over these past few weeks.

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In-ring, Rousey and Rodriguez do have some previous, with Rowdy Ronda picking up a W when the two squared off back in May. A second singles match ended in a no contest after less than a minute, though the two have tangled (and teamed together) in tag action on a couple of occasions.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.