LAS VEGAS – Iyo Sky will walk into WrestleMania as a women’s champion for the second straight year, but the match on Sunday night will be even more challenging than the recent one in Philadelphia.
Sky defeated Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship weeks before WrestleMania 41, and it was thought she would only be defending it against Bianca Belair. However, Ripley inserted herself into the match, making it a triple threat for the title.
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Iyo Sky during the Women’s Royal Rumble during the WWE Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Feb. 1, 2025. (Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images)
Since then, Ripley and Belair have taken turns pushing Sky out of the way as they talked trash with each other. Sky, though shorter than them, made clear she wasn’t going to take any more disrespect from the two former champions.
Dakota Kai, a longtime friend of Sky’s and former Damage CTRL stablemate, told Fox News Digital she didn’t understand where the disrespect came from.
“She’s champion right now, you know what I mean? But I think with Rhea and Bianca, they’re so caught up in the issues that they have, they’re not even considering her a threat, but she’s champion for a reason,” Kai said ahead of WrestleMania 41 Night 2. “She’s been my favorite for years even before she was on the Stardom scene.
WRESTLEMANIA 41 SEES NEW CHAMPIONS CROWNED AND 1 SHOCKING BETRAYAL
Iyo Sky wins the SmackDown Women’s Championship in 2023. (WWE)
“I also think Iyo thrives being the underdog though. I think she’s going to pull out a lot of stops on Sunday to show them like, ‘Hey, you’ve been overlooking me these last few weeks, I’m champion for a reason.'”
Sky lost to Bayley in a women’s title match at WrestleMania 40. Bayley was cast out of Damage CTRL in the weeks after she won the 2024 women’s Royal Rumble match.
Kai suggested that Bayley’s win was a driving force for Sky.
“She’s coming into WrestleMania again as champion, and she definitely wants to retain it obviously – who wouldn’t? I think, for her, she definitely has something to prove to come out of the match on top, which she is,” she said.
Bianca Belair makes her entrance to the ring for a Money in the Bank qualifying triple threat match during WWE SmackDown at Allstate Arena on June 21, 2024, in Rosemont, Illinois. (Getty Images)
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Sky will look to walk out of Allegiant Stadium as champion.
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