The dust has settled from the 2025 Royal Rumble, and Charlotte Flair walked out of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana as the winner. The reaction to Flair’s win – and her subsequent reception on WWE Raw in the aftermath – has dominated the conversation, just as Jey Uso’s oddly divisive victory in the men’s Rumble, and John Cena’s response to losing have generated thousands of conversations.
But there was more on show than the final moments of those show-piece matches, and way statements of intent by WWE that threaten to be overlooked in the shadow of the flashier elements. There were the arrivals of Jordynne Grace and Joe Hendry, the escalation of old conflicts, and the establishment of news ones, and, of course, Logan Paul’s continued emergence as a villain.
And possibly the most overlooked highlight of the night was how WWE showcased the future of the women’s division in WWE being displayed. Despite many talented women not participating, the Rumble match still felt like an amazing glance into the future of women’s wrestling in WWE. During the Paul “Triple H” Levesque era, the company has made it known they’d like to put more attention to the women’s division, and this past Royal Rumble felt like a massive statement that its future are in good hands.
The Best Women’s Division In Wrestling Was Represented In The Royal Rumble
NXT Women Were The Highlight Of The Women’s Royal Rumble
For the past couple of years, WWE NXT has taken over as the brand that brings out the best in their women’s division. This is based on how the President of Talent Shawn Michaels has booked the NXT brand. Through a mix of home-grown talent and international superstars, he has founded the blueprint to bring the best out of a young, up-and-coming women’s division. Once known as a developmental brand, it has now become the place a superstar wants to be, to the point that many commentators are saying that NXT has the best women’s division in the world of professional wrestling.
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At last weekend’s Royal Rumble, six women from NXT appeared in the 30-women Rumble match, meaning that 20 percent of the women were from NXT. Roxanne Perez, NXT Women’s Champion Giulia, Stephanie Vaquer, Jaida Parker, Lash Legend, and the newly signed Jordynne Grace are all NXT superstars. In addition to their appearing in the match, they all received a very positive reaction from the crowd in Indianapolis. This, again, is a testament to how women are being presented on the weekly programming on Tuesday nights. A performance by one of the women stood out the most and is one of the biggest highlights from the PLE.
Roxanne Perez’s Performance Initiates New Call-Up Format
Perez Gets Called Up To Main Roster After Rumble
The Prodigy entered the women’s Rumble match at number 3, and lasted until the very end, being the last one eliminated by Flair, which only added to Charlotte’s current heat with the fans. It is the closest any NXT superstar, man or woman, came to winning the Rumble. To be in the final two shows how much the company believes in her. In addition to that, Roxanne broke the record for the longest time spent in the history of the women’s Rumble at one hour, seven minutes, and forty-seven seconds.
After spending the past two-plus years on the developmental brand, Perez appears to be headed to the main roster after to her performance. At 23 years old and two years with the company, she’s already made history on numerous occasions. The former two-time NXT Women’s Champion seems to be on to bigger things.
WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry spoke very highly of Perez’ performance in the Rumble match on Busted Open Radio.
“Roxanne Perez at the end, her and Charlotte [Flair as the final two], Roxanne is not in that place for nothing. Roxanne is in that place because of what they see the future being. How awesome it is to be in that spot where the company views you as somebody that could potentially be a top, top person in the business? Roxanne should be super proud of herself.”
At a very young age, Roxanne was trusted by WWE to be in the final two of the Rumble match in front of 70,000-plus fans. She has laid out the red carpet for women coming after her on NXT. Due to her historic title reign on NXT, hard work, and performance with the best women wrestlers in the world in the Rumble, she’s on the main roster. Her last match will likely be a triple threat match against Bayley and Giulia for the NXT Women’s Championship at Vengeance Day on February 15th.
The Royal Rumble Showed Just How Good WWE’s Women’s Division Is
The 2025 Royal Rumble was the biggest in WWE’s history under many metrics. While the superstars from Raw and Smackdown were understandably the main focus, many fans are recognizing that the women’s Rumble was the best in the match’s history, and a big reason for that was the performance of the women from NXT. While Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair may monopolize the headlines after the Royal Rumble, the most important outcome of the night, perhaps, is the confirmation that WWE‘s women’s division has never been healthier, and the women of NXT are leading the charge.
