Pour a double of the cheapest draft in the house and pull up a barstool because Fort Wayne just hosted a wrestling head-scratcher disguised as a Saturday night throwback showcase. While the soccer world is counting down the four days until the UCL Final and the World Cup kickoff is only 18 days away, the entire wrestling internet is locked in a civil war over what went down in Indiana. Let's put our cards on the table: the booking of the women's division is currently running on pure vibes and zero logic.
If you tuned into Peacock or hopped on YouTube to watch the Saturday Night Main Event results, you saw something truly bizarre. The most dominant woman in the industry, Women's Champion Rhea Ripley, walked out of the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on the losing side of a six-woman tag match. She did not lose to a murderer's row of former champions or top-tier singles stars either.
Instead, Ripley and her partners fell to the combined force of Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin. Yes, you read that right. B-Fab and Michin, two performers who spend more time in the catering section than in actual televised matches, just stood victorious over the champion of the world. It is the kind of creative decision that makes you want to throw your remote through the television screen.
The Fort Wayne Fiasco
Let's dissect this mess piece by piece. The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum was packed with fans hoping for a historic night at the 44th annual Saturday Night's Main Event. What they got instead was a televised live event that had all the creative ambition of a Sunday afternoon house show in a high school gym.
Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin are three talented women, but they have absolutely no business teaming up to defeat the champion. Jade is a superstar in the making, but her partners are currently treated as afterthoughts on weekly television. Throwing them together in a random trio is a lazy shortcut that helps nobody in the long run.
Michin has spent the last year bouncing around the midcard, struggling to find any consistent direction or character hooks. B-Fab is incredibly charismatic as a manager, but her in-ring appearances are so rare they feel like trivia questions. Putting them on the same level as Rhea Ripley, even for one night in Indiana, completely kills the aura of the championship. It tells the audience that the title does not really matter if the champion can be defeated by a thrown-together team.
Protecting Everyone and Helping No One
We all know the classic WWE booking formula for these kinds of matches. They want to give the babyfaces a big win to send the crowd home happy, but they also want to protect the top heel champion. So they have one of the champion's partners take the pinfall while the champion looks on in frustration. It is a compromise that pleases no one and leaves the audience feeling cheated.
If Rhea Ripley is the most dominant champion in the industry, she should not be taking losses in six-woman tag matches on throwback shows. A true champion should be a special attraction, someone whose matches feel like major events. When you put her in these chaotic, multi-person matches, you dilute her star power and make her look like just another wrestler on the roster.
The match itself reportedly lasted just under twelve minutes, which is barely enough time for a six-woman tag match to breathe. With six performers in the ring, the action is naturally rushed and chaotic. There is no time to tell a compelling story or build up to a dramatic climax. It is just a series of moves and tags leading to a predictable finish.
The Legacy of Saturday Night's Main Event
Saturday Night's Main Event has a rich history that deserves to be treated with respect. In the nineteen-eighties, this show was a prime-time powerhouse that featured massive title defenses and historic moments. It was the show where Hulk Hogan fought Paul Orndorff and Randy Savage defended the Intercontinental Championship.
The modern revival, however, has struggled to capture that same magic. Instead of feeling like a major television special, it often feels like a glorified house show with a few cameras thrown in. The matches are decent, but they rarely have any impact on the broader storylines or character development.
If WWE wants these specials to succeed, they need to treat them like premium live events. That means booking matches that actually matter and avoiding these throwaway tag team encounters. The fans in Fort Wayne paid good money for tickets, and they deserved to see a show that had some real stakes.
The Jade Cargill Dilemma
Let's talk about Jade Cargill, because she is the focal point of this entire division's future. Her physical presence is undeniable, and she looks like a superstar from the moment her music hits. But WWE is currently booking her in a way that shields her from having to work long, competitive singles matches.
By putting her in tag teams and multi-woman matches, they can hide her in-ring limitations while still giving her the big babyface moments. She can tag in, hit her signature power moves, and get the pinfall without having to carry the bulk of the match. It is a smart short-term strategy, but it is not a sustainable way to build a top-tier champion.
If Jade is eventually going to challenge Rhea Ripley in a massive singles match, she needs to prove she can go the distance. She needs to work fifteen-minute singles matches against experienced workers who can help her grow. Shielding her in these tag matches only delays her development and hurts the division in the long run.
A Stark Contrast with the Competition
The timing of this Saturday Night's Main Event is also incredibly interesting when you look at the broader wrestling scene. Today, May 24, 2026, is the day of AEW's Double or Nothing pay-per-view. While WWE is giving us throwaway tag matches, their chief rivals are presenting highly focused singles feuds with weeks of intense build.
This contrast highlights the current creative stagnation in WWE's women's division. The roster is absolutely loaded with world-class talent, but they are trapped in circular booking loops. We see the same matches and the same segments week after week, with very little actual progression or character growth.
Tonight, AEW has the opportunity to show what a focused, competitive division looks like. If WWE continues to treat their top champions like afterthoughts on their own network specials, they risk alienating their core audience. The modern wrestling fan is highly educated and will not accept substandard booking when there are other options available.
The Midcard Muddle
What makes this match even more frustrating is what it says about the state of the women's midcard. Michin is a solid worker who has been with the company for years, but she has never been given a sustained push or a clear character direction. She is used as a utility player, someone who can fill a spot in a match when needed but is never treated as a serious threat.
B-Fab is a fantastic personality who brings a lot of energy to the screen, but she is simply not ready for high-profile in-ring positions. Putting her in a match where she defeats a team led by the Women's Champion is a massive stretch of the imagination. It hurts the credibility of the entire division and makes the match feel like a comedy segment.
Instead of elevating B-Fab and Michin, this win actually dilutes the value of a victory over Rhea Ripley's team. If anyone can beat the champion's team in a random tag match, then a victory over them is no longer special. It is a classic case of booking for a short-term pop at the expense of long-term storytelling.
How to Fix the Women's Division
So, where does WWE go from here? The first step is to stop booking Rhea Ripley in these meaningless multi-woman matches. She is the crown jewel of the division, and her appearances should feel like a major deal. She should only be competing in singles matches that have clear, personal stakes and logical builds.
Secondly, WWE needs to start building up legitimate singles challengers through strong promo segments and competitive matches. Stop relying on tag team victories to create momentum. If Jade Cargill is the chosen one, start booking her in dominant singles matches where she can showcase her skills and build her credibility.
The fans want to see compelling, high-stakes wrestling, and WWE has the talent to deliver it. But they need to abandon their lazy, formulaic booking habits and start taking some creative risks. The Fort Wayne show was a missed opportunity, but it can serve as a valuable wake-up call for the creative team.
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