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WrestleMania 42 bracketology: Who's WWE's No. 1 women's seed ahead of Las Vegas showcase?
In recent years, the women’s roster has become one of the most compelling parts of WWE. On some nights, it doesn’t just compete with the men’s division, it steals the show. But like any roster, it comes in waves. There are times when a performer is hotter than fish grease, and times when, in the words of Randy Savage, they are “too cold to hold.” And that’s what makes this time of year so interesting.
Because from the Royal Rumble to WrestleMania, WWE starts to feel a lot like the NBA playoffs, with ‘Mania being where everyone is competing to win the Larry O'Brien. Momentum builds for some, the positions shift, and the best of the best end up at the “Showcase of the Immortals.” So, if WrestleMania is the Finals, the question becomes simple: What does the playoff picture look like right now? Who’s surging toward the top of the bracket? Who might be waiting in the seventh or eighth spot, positioned to push?
So I took a step back, looked at the WWE women’s division as it stands right now. I analyzed, agonized and did my best to map it out. I asked who’s up, who’s down and how the seeding would shake out in this version of wrestling’s March Madness.
No. 8 Seed: Tiffany Stratton
Tiffany Stratton had her crowning moment — quite literally — at last year’s WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, where she defeated Charlotte Flair and successfully retained the WWE Women’s Championship.
She followed that up with a Last Woman Standing brawl with Nia Jax on “SmackDown,” teamed with Trish Stratus at Elimination Chamber 2025, and later faced Stratus again at Evolution. Stratton then battled the Queen of the Ring Jade Cargill at SummerSlam and walked away victorious, before eventually losing the title to Cargill at Saturday Night’s Main Event in October.
Right now, Stratton still feels like a major star on the roster — but there has been a bit of a plateau for her recently. As Women’s Champion, she had strong matches and standout moments. But when she lost the championship to Jade Cargill, it didn’t feel shocking — it felt inevitable, and as if it was no longer “Tiffy time.”
So where could Stratton end up at WrestleMania 42? The WWE Women’s United States Championship seems to just be floating around the waist of Giulia, and there hasn’t been a huge spotlight put on the title in recent weeks. The seeds of the rivalry have been planted, but will we see a WrestleMania match between these two?
Stratton is no doubt one of the biggest new-era stars WWE has, and reminds me of Jayson Tatum, a young talent seemingly given the franchise, but who just hasn’t taken over the entire league yet.
Given the current landscape, the No. 8 seed feels right.
No. 7 Seed: Becky Lynch
In my hoops analogy, Becky Lynch is Steph Curry.
She’s always exciting. She keeps every match interesting. And at any moment during the year, she can catch fire and go on a run where she simply doesn’t miss.
Since returning at last year’s WrestleMania 41 and turning heel the following night, Lynch has done something remarkable: She elevated a secondary championship into a meaningful prize.
When she won the Women’s Intercontinental Championship from Lyra Valkyria, Lynch immediately gave the title credibility. And when she shockingly lost it to Maxxine Dupri, it did even more.
That moment made Dupri look like a star overnight. It increased the importance of the championship, and Lynch’s visible frustration and obsession with regaining it made the title feel like more than just a trophy, but her Holy Grail. Those moments turned Becky Lynch’s 2025 — and early 2026 — into one of the most compelling stories on the women’s roster.
That’s why she lands at the No. 7 seed.
No. 6 Seed: The Bella Twins
Alright, I already know some of you have read that the Bellas are on the list and have immediately disregarded and discredited this list in its entirety. However, I am here to tell you that the Bella Twins deserve to be where they are at this current juncture in time.
The name Nikki Bella still means something, even if she hasn’t worn the top title in over a decade — similar to Dwayne Wade, a star who is more well-known teaming up with a partner (i.e., Shaq or LeBron), but is still lethal bringing the ball up the court herself.
Whether you love, hate, or are indifferent about her, Nikki is without a doubt one of the most popular female superstars in the history of the WWE. The longest reigning Divas Champion of all time, a Hall of Famer for good reason, still throwing 100 miles an hour into her 40s, and she does something that very few other people in the women’s division in history have done … remain over and relevant inside and outside the wrestling bubble.
And in concert with her sister Brie Bella, they brought in a new audience to wrestling. People might have short-term memory loss, but what the Bellas were able to do with “Total Divas” throughout the 2010s was invite in a young female audience who was engaged with the product because of a reality show anchored by the Bella Twins.
Then we had this past February’s Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, where Brie Bella made her long-awaited WWE return after several years away — and if you heard the ovation she received, it was one of the loudest of the night. It rivaled the entrances of Roman Reigns and AJ Styles, the latter of whom even retired that evening. Brie Bella is like a Carmelo Anthony; she’s never hit a buzzer-beating shot in Game 7 of the Finals, but is still a known name who’ll always be relevant. And it showed in Saudi Arabia that even in her absence, the fanbase’s collective heart undoubtedly grew fonder of the Bella brand.
After their first tag match on “Smackdown” in nearly a decade ended in a non-decision, a Fatal 4-Way with the Irresistible Forces, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, and Bayley and Lyra Valkyria for the Women's Tag Team Championship is a direction we are going in, with the Bella Twins officially ‘Mania-bound.
No. 5 Seed: AJ Lee
Another returning superstar. AJ Lee’s comeback after a decade away was one of the best things in pro wrestling in 2025. One of those rare moments where we know there’s a high likelihood something’s going to occur, and we wait on bated breath for it to happen — and then it happens and it actually delivers.
AJ Lee is like a Kawhi Leonard. If you talk about the greatest NBA players of the past 10 years, Kawhi’s name will get brought up, but it won’t get brought up first. But like Kawhi, who might be on the bench for part of the season but, when he plays, he shows up and is the difference-maker that allows his team to win, Lee is the same way.
When she shows up, it feels important. She plays her position, she over-delivers and leaves the fans happy. AJ Lee is a lock for the 5 seed.
No. 4 Seed: Rhea Ripley
Rhea Ripley has become one of the most important WWE stars over the past two years. Her victory over Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40 and her standout performance with Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 41 — which took top honors as Uncrowned’s 2025 Match of the Year — have firmly established her at the top of the division. She’s elite, dominant and must-watch. She’s the Kevin Durant of the WWE women’s division. A unicorn.
On my ESPN Radio show, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Booker T and I discussed the potential of a Jade Cargill match before Rhea Ripley's eventual victory at Elimination Chamber. And we both agreed on a similar sentiment: Ripley vs. Cargill is the top women’s match to make right now. Say what you will about Cargill, but she’s a mega-star. So is Rhea Ripley. And when you look at them physically, they match up very well.
You must give the people a larger-than-life spectacle they’ll want to pay to see for WrestleMania. I promise you this: Anybody scrolling through social media, walking through the terminals at Harry Reid International Airport, or flipping through channels — if you see the poster of Ripley vs. Cargill, you’re going to think to yourself, “Oh s***!”
And then you consider the social media jabs they’ve taken at each other and WWE now being in its “Unreal” era, trying to figure out if this is a work, if it’s a shoot, or if it’s working a shoot into a work in order to generate interest in a match. Whichever the case may be, Ripley has catapulted into playoff seeding, and her momentum is meeting the moment.
No. 3 Seed: Stephanie Vaquer
Stephanie Vaquer might shock people coming in only at No. 3 on the list, because 2025 may be the most impressive year for any superstar in company history when you talk about rookie achievements.
Stephanie Vaquer came into NXT, won the North American Championship with no problem, then went on to be the NXT Women’s Champion with no problem, holding those titles simultaneously. And it seemed there was an internal battle for popularity over who would be the mega-star: Vaquer or Giulia.
But Stephanie obviously won the popularity battle once they were both brought up to the main roster — Stephanie to “Raw,” Giulia to “SmackDown.”
Giulia did find success winning the United States Women’s Championship, but Vaque — due to a series of perfect events — won the Evolution Battle Royal, went on to win the Women’s World Championship after Naomi had to vacate it for her pregnancy, and then defeated Tiffany Stratton just a couple of months later for the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship in Saudi Arabia. And all that happened in the same year.
It’s incredible what Vaquer has been able to do, and now she marches into WrestleMania to face Liv Morgan. I’d say that’s one hell of a year, almost like a 2011 Derrick Rose.
Stephanie Vaquer is number three.
No. 2 Seed: Jade Cargill
When we first saw Jade Cargill in AEW, there was something undeniable about her. There was something so loud about seeing her on television; it was practically screaming at you, like your significant other might when you forget to buy milk on your way home.
It was that she had WWE written all over her.
Jade Cargill was meant to be a WWE superstar. When you talk about the eight-by-ten or the airport test, there is not a woman on the roster who passes it better than her. A comic book superhero come to life, it has been said — Storm from X-Men fame in the flesh.
With two WrestleManias under her belt, a SummerSlam main event, and now a world title as the WWE Women’s Champion, it’s fitting that Cargill made her debut tagging alongside Shaquille O'Neal, because she is the Shaq of the women’s division. She’s less about technique and more about sheer force and effectiveness.
From all reports, the WrestleMania card has been written, erased, written, torn up, blown up and written again. So we’ll see where everything shakes out. But right now, she is the No. 2 seed in this WrestleMania playoff season.
No. 1 Seed: Liv Morgan
I was in the building when Liv Morgan made her main roster debut back in 2017. Since then, Morgan has gone through ebbs and flows in popularity yet has always maintained a spot on the card.
But if you look back at what she was able to do in late 2024 through early 2025, Liv Morgan, for all intents and purposes, has been the MVP of the women’s roster. She consistently goes out there and puts on sensational matches.
I spoke with Morgan a few weeks back and asked her whether she felt like the MVP of the past year. Here’s what she shared with me:
“I feel like 2024 was a bit of a coming-out party for me. If you didn’t know about Liv Morgan before, you definitely do now. Unfortunately, I did suffer an injury, and it happened when I was really hitting my stride. I wouldn’t say I was at my peak, because I truly believe I’m going to be even better than I am right now. This is a great version of Liv Morgan, but it’s not the best version yet.
At the time, though, I was on a serious upward trajectory, so the injury was devastating. I was very, very angry during that time off. But now, being on the other side of it — coming in as the greatest Royal Rumble winner of all time, heading into WrestleMania — it just proves that everything happens for a reason, even the setbacks. And because of that, I feel vindicated.”
That kind of confidence is reminiscent of Kobe Bryant’s first championship run on the Lakers. Relentless. And that vindication came with a crowning jewel: Earlier this year in Saudi Arabia, when she won the Women’s Royal Rumble, Morgan was truly — despite an incredibly stacked and talented women’s roster — the only logical choice.
So, for that reason and more, Liv Morgan lands in our top spot and is the most likely to become a champion once WrestleMania 42 has concluded.
Those are my top eight seeds in the women’s division. A lot of names have been left out: Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Nattie, Zelina Vega, Giulia, Chelsea Green, Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez, Maxxine Dupri, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria.
Any of those names could make a run in the next few weeks and this list would suddenly look a lot different. But that’s the excitement of playoffs season — you don’t know what can happen. Because in the WWE, the only thing that ever matters this time of the year is the momentum of the moment — and that can change at a moment’s notice.
