Who will be WWE Women’s Champion heading into WrestleMania 43: Five stars who could defend the title in Saudi Arabia

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There is currently a lot of uncertainty surrounding the WWE Women’s Championship picture, especially following recent injuries.

With lineal champion Rhea Ripley out of action due to injury, Chelsea Green became interim WWE Women’s World Champion at SummerSlam, winning a ladder match to become the top active champion in SmackDown’s women’s division.

With WWE President Nick Khan recently stating that the company is “all across” creative for WrestleMania 43, there has been a lot of speculation about potential plans for the SmackDown women’s division at the Show of Shows.

In addition to Chelsea Green, there are several other stars who we could see hold the WWE Women’s Championship ahead of the company’s visit to Saudi Arabia.

Potential champions heading into WrestleMania 43 include…

Chelsea Green

Chelsea Green’s first reign with the WWE Women’s Championship has been far from smooth-sailing.

Following Green’s title win on August 2, the new champion suffered an orbital injury during tag-team action on the August 7 SmackDown episode.

SmackDown General Manager gave Green 30 days to get cleared and defend the title before he’d have to strip her of the belt. She ultimately defended the gold on September 11, against Nia Jax.

Chelsea Green having the championship in the first place feels like a miracle, so it will be interesting to see how long this reign ends up being.

Rhea Ripley

Of course, there is the possibility of Rhea Ripley making her return and re-establishing herself as WWE Women’s Champion.

Rhea Ripley won the WWE Women’s Championship from Jade Cargill at WrestleMania 42. Her only title defense before stepping away from the ring saw her defeat Cargill in a rematch at Clash in Italy in May.

With Ripley confirmed to be sidelined with a knee injury in June, the star revealed in early-August that she had underwent surgery.

While Rhea Ripley’s timeline for a return is currently unclear, it feels like an inevitability that she will go after whoever is champion to determine an undisputed titleholder.

Charlotte Flair

While Charlotte Flair has been teaming with Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley recently, I don’t think there’s ever a time you can count her out of WrestleMania plans.

With Flair being one of the women’s division’s best WrestleMania performers, she feels like WWE’s “break glass in case of emergency” option heading into the 2027 season.

With Charlotte looking to win her 15th world championship in WWE, we could see this happen at, or in the months before, WrestleMania 43.

Sol Ruca

Sol Ruca defeated Lyra Valkyria and Maxxine Dupri on the September 7 Raw episode to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match.

If Ruca wins this multi-woman bout on October 10, she will be able to cash in her contract for a championship match at a time of her choosing.

Following her previous Women’s Intercontinental Championship reign, and facing then-Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan in her Raw debut match, Sol Ruca seems destined for the WWE main event scene.

While Sol Ruca currently wrestles for Raw, we could see her move to SmackDown following a successful cash-in.

IYO SKY

Ahead of Rhea Ripley’s injury, it appeared that the company was sowing seeds for a future WWE Women’s Championship match against IYO SKY.

While most recently wrestling as allies, the duo have an interesting dynamic as opponents, with Ripley making it her long-term mission to defeat SKY.

While Rhea Ripley is currently out of action, we could see IYO SKY take over on SmackDown, building anticipation as the Eradicator prepares for her return.

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