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Women's World Championship Match Set For WWE Wrestlepalooza On ESPN

Stephanie Vaquer will get her shot at the Women's World Championship at WWE Wrestlepalooza, but who is her opponent?
Rick Ucchino|
Stephanie Vaquer
Stephanie Vaquer | WWE

WWE is going to kick-off the ESPN era with a bang.

The inaugural WWE Wrestlepalooza will take place Saturday, September 20 from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. It will be the first Premium Live Event to air live on ESPN DTC streaming service and one match has now been made official for the show.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced Monday afternoon that the vacated Women's World Championship will be awarded to a new Superstar at Wrestlepalooza when No. 1 Contender Stephanie Vaquer goes one-on-one with the former champion IYO SKY.

The Dark Angel earned her shot at the title by winning the Women's Battle Royal at WWE Evolution back in July. She was scheduled to face either Naomi or IYO SKY at Clash in Paris, but that match was postponed after Naomi announced her pregnancy a few weeks back and relinquished the Women's World Championship.

IYO SKY was supposed to face Naomi for the gold a week before her announcement, but that match was obviously called off as well.

Since both Vaquer and IYO were owed opportunities to challenge for the Women's World Championship, Adam Pearce decided the best course of action would be for them to face each other for the title later this month in Indianapolis.

A contract signing is set for next Monday on WWE Raw

IYO SKY
IYO SKY | WWE

Both IYO SKY and Stephanie Vaquer will be present next Monday night on Raw in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to sign their contract for the match. It will be interesting to see if Asuka and Kairi Sane feel they need to be there as well.

Tensions have been increasing between the former Damage CTRL teammates for a few weeks now. The Empress of Tomorrow clearly feels a certain way about SKY branching out and making new allies with other women in the locker room.

Asuka interrupted a backstage conversation between SKY and Nikki Bella Monday afternoon in Paris and basically shooed the WWE Hall of Famer away. She was then very insistent that the Kabuki Warriors be in IYO's corner at Wrestlepalooza, since SKY was unable to win back the Women's World Championship on her own at SummerSlam.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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