WWE has surprisingly not scheduled the upcoming inaugural Women’s Intercontinental Championship match for the January 6 debut of Raw on Netflix, but reportedly pushed it back a week until the 13th.
DAKOTA KAI vs. LYRA VALKYRIA
There can only be one first Women’s Intercontinental Champion! pic.twitter.com/bQrOtANfkp
— WWE (@WWE)
December 31, 2024
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The WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship, an upcoming title on the Raw brand, will be one of two secondary women’s championships on WWE’s main roster, alongside the WWE Women’s United States Championship on SmackDown.
The original list of contestants for the inaugural championship included Alba Fyre, Dakota Kai, Ivy Nile, Katana Chance, Kairi Sane, Kayden Carter, Lyra Valkyria, Natalya, Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, Zelina Vega, and Zoey Stark.
The title was unveiled ahead of the November 25, 2024, episode of Raw, with the inaugural champion set to be determined through a tournament final between Kai and Valkyria.
Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai and IYO Sky of Damage CTRL make their entrance during an episode of Monday Night RAW at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on May 13, 2024 in Greenville, South Carolina. (
Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai and IYO Sky of Damage CTRL make their entrance during an episode of Monday Night RAW at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on May 13, 2024 in Greenville, South Carolina. (
WWE/Getty Images
Originally, the finals were scheduled to take place during the premiere episode of RAW on Netflix next week.
However, during this week’s episode of RAW, it was announced that the match has been postponed to January 13, 2025.
The reason for the delay, according to WrestleVotes, is to prevent the championship match from being overshadowed by the star-studded RAW on Netflix premiere.
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“We are told that WWE shifted the finals of the Women’s Intercontinental Tournament off of the Netflix debut in order for the match to not get lost in the shuffle,” Wrestlevotes claimed. “It seems like WWE wants to get this title off and running in a big way, and felt as though having it mixed in with a show the size of Netflix premiere would not do that justice.”
In some ways, this makes sense. The January 6 debut of Raw is sure to be a huge event for both WWE and Netflix, with both companies doing everything they can to make sure that they draw as big of an audience as possible to justify this historic partnership.
The official card for Netflix Raw includes Roman Reigns facing Solo Sikoa in a Tribal Combat match for the Ula Fala and recognition as Tribal Chief of the Anoa?i family, while Liv Morgan will defend her Women’s World Championship against Rhea Ripley in a Last Woman Standing match.
Drew McIntyre will take on Jey Uso in a singles match, while CM Punk will square off against Seth “Freakin” Rollins in another singles match.
That’s a whole lot of big names that could potentially distract from a new championship belt with relatively lesser-known names, so it would be very easy for any of the above matches to drown out coverage of the Women’s Intercontinental Championship.
It also stands to reason that WWE is concerned with a big dropoff on the second episode of Netflix Raw and is positioning this new championship match as a big draw to keep viewers on board for Week 2. Either way, there’ll be a new champion soon.
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WWE Pushes Back New Championship Match After Netflix Debut: Report
