WWE Raw after Wrestlemania 41 expectedly featured multiple surprises, one of which was the reigning NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer. For the very first time, she attended WWE’s flagship show, which generally hosts the most raucous crowd, and also ended up wrestling on the show.
On the April 21 episode of WWE Raw from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Vaquer interrupted IYO SKY’s celebration of retaining her Women’s World Championship against Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley in a triple threat at Wrestlemania 41. Vaquer then challenged the main roster champion to a match.
WWE Raw: Stephanie Vaquer vs. IYO SKY took place on April 21
WWE Raw general manager Adam Pearce quickly made the bout official, and it went down right away. In a mouth-watering champion vs. champion matchup, Women’s World Champion IYO SKY vs. NXT Women’s Champion IYO SKY ended in a No Contest after Roxanne Perez and Giulia interfered to attack Vaquer. This led Rhea Ripley to make the save as she handed SKY her title belt, and the duo also shared a brief staredown.
At Wrestlemania 41 Sunday night, SKY retained the belt in the opening contest and she pinned Belair in the final pin count of the bout. Technically, Ripley never lost the match, and she might call in for another shot at the women’s world title that she lost to SKY on the March 3 episode of WWE Raw, heading into the Show of Shows.
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As for Vaquer, she got signed with WWE, last summer following an outstanding contest against Mercedes Mone at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view last June. Just 13 days later, she made her WWE debut on a house show in Mexico before landing on WWE NXT. Before appearing on WWE Raw, she made her televised main roster debut at the Royal Rumble in the women’s Royal Rumble match.
This past February at Vengeance Day, Vaquer won the NXT Women’s North American Championship, and then she would go on to defeat Giulia for the NXT Women’s title in March, becoming a dual champion for a couple of weeks. Vaquer has since vacated the North American title and retained the NXT women’s title at NXT Stand & Deliver in a fatal-4-way over Giulia, Jaida Parker, and Jordynne Grace. Last night’s WWE Raw appearance is considered to be a one-off for her and Giulia.