Last Friday, WWE SmackDown’s General Manager Nick Aldis dropped a bombshell by unveiling a brand-new title: the WWE Women’s United States Championship. While fans got a heads-up about the title announcement an hour before SmackDown aired, WWE’s women’s division found out on the spot, learning about this new opportunity only hours before Aldis made it official.
According to Fightful Select, the title was news to WWE’s female talent until the very day of the show. Wrestlers like Bayley have since expressed excitement, hailing it as a “huge” step for the women’s division. Aldis emphasized that the Women’s United States Championship won’t simply be awarded—it will go to whoever is ready to “seize the moment.”
Whether this new belt will stay exclusive to SmackDown or appear on Raw remains a mystery, as does how WWE plans to determine the inaugural champion. With this announcement following close on the heels of WWE’s Women’s North American Title in NXT, the Women’s U.S. Championship seems to mark WWE’s continued push for more mid-card opportunities for women wrestlers across all brands.