As revealed last Friday on SmackDown by General Manager Nick Aldis, the WWE is introducing a Women’s United States Championship. This new title at long last offers the women’s division a mid-card belt to vie for.
While the main roster men’s division has two top singles titles, two mid-card titles, and two sets of tag belts, until now the women’s division has had just two singles titles and one set of tag belts.
The new Women’s US Championship is a positive move, and one that hopefully represents a commitment to more equal booking and screen time for WWE’s women competitors. Judging by Aldis’ intro segment, the belt looks set to be exclusive to SmackDown – suggesting a Women’s Intercontinental Championship is (hopefully) just around the corner for Monday Night Raw. In a way, it’s something of a surprise to see the US title come first given that its lineage is tied more closely to WCW than WWE.
Minus points for the use of “glass ceiling” framing without reference to or accountability for the imposition and upholding of a glass ceiling in the first place. As a company, WWE loves to “make history” without contextualizing why something like the introduction of a women’s secondary singles title is historic in 2024.
Obligatory salt aside, this is still great to see. The big question now is who will be the first women’s US champ? And to be fair here, it is a question of more genuine historical import than inaugurating the first ever Crown Jewel champions, because this is a real title that will actually be defended. Intriguingly, the introduction of the Women’s US Championship effectively revokes Bayley’s grand slam status. As a performer, she’d be a perfect first, but there’s a greater storyline there if it becomes something she ends up having to chase.
