WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship is a women's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary women's championships on WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Women's United States Championship on SmackDown. The current champion is Sol Ruca, who is in her first reign. She won the title by defeating Becky Lynch at Clash in Italy on May 31, 2026.
| WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship belt with default side plates | |||||||||||||||||||
| Details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Promotion | WWE | ||||||||||||||||||
| Brand | Raw | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date established | November 25, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Current champion | Sol Ruca | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date won | May 31, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
History
edit.jpg)
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE was founded in April 1963, and recognized a women's world champion from its outset, but it never had a secondary women's championship until April 2024 when the NXT Women's North American Championship was introduced for the developmental brand NXT,[1] followed by the WWE Women's United States Championship for the main roster brand SmackDown in early November.[2][3][4] Later that same month prior to the November 25 episode of Raw, the brand's general manager Adam Pearce unveiled the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship for the main roster women's division on the Raw brand, countering the men's WWE Intercontinental Championship.[5]
The inaugural Women's Intercontinental Champion was determined by a tournament that began on the December 2 episode of Raw. Prior to that episode's broadcast, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque revealed the tournament bracket, featuring 12 women from the Raw roster in four triple threat matches for the first round, with the winners of each advancing to the semifinals in singles matches, with those winners then facing off in the tournament final on Raw on January 13, 2025. Tournament participants announced were Dakota Kai, Shayna Baszler, Katana Chance, Zoey Stark, Raquel Rodriguez, Kayden Carter, Lyra Valkyria, Zelina Vega, Ivy Nile, Alba Fyre, Kairi Sane, and Natalya.[6] In the tournament final on January 13, Valkyria defeated Kai to become the inaugural champion.[7]
Tournaments
editInaugural tournament
edit| First round Raw December 2 – 23, 2024 | Semifinals Raw December 30, 2024 | Final Raw January 13, 2025 | |||||||||
| Katana Chance Shayna Baszler | 7:00[8] — | ||||||||||
| Dakota Kai | Pinfall | ||||||||||
| Dakota Kai | Pinfall | ||||||||||
| Zoey Stark | 8:15[9] | ||||||||||
| Raquel Rodriguez Kayden Carter | — 9:25[10] | ||||||||||
| Zoey Stark | Pinfall | ||||||||||
| Dakota Kai | 8:31[11] | ||||||||||
| Lyra Valkyria | Pinfall | ||||||||||
| Zelina Vega Ivy Nile | — 7:50[12] | ||||||||||
| Lyra Valkyria | Pinfall | ||||||||||
| Lyra Valkyria | Pinfall | ||||||||||
| Iyo Sky | 11:45[9] | ||||||||||
| Alba Fyre Natalya | — 8:05[13] | ||||||||||
| Iyo Sky[a] | Pinfall | ||||||||||
Belt design
editThe belt design is identical to the men's version, but like all women's championships in WWE, it is smaller and on a white strap. It also replaced the word "Heavyweight" with "Women's". Like all of WWE's other championship belts, the two side plates feature a removable center section which can be customized with the champion's logos; the default side plates feature a WWE logo over a blue globe.[14]
Reigns
editAs of June 29, 2026, there have been seven reigns between five champions. The inaugural champion was Lyra Valkyria. Becky Lynch has the most reigns with three, and she has the records for both the longest and shortest reigns, with her first reign being the longest at 163 days, while her third reign was the shortest at 43 days. Lynch is also the oldest title holder, winning the title for a third time at 39 years old, while Sol Ruca is the youngest at 26.
Sol Ruca is the current champion in her first reign. She won the title by defeating Becky Lynch at Clash in Italy on May 31, 2026, in Turin, Italy.[15]
| No. | Overall reign number |
|---|---|
| Reign | Reign number for the specific champion |
| Days | Number of days held |
| Days recog. | Number of days held recognized by the promotion |
| + | Current reign is changing daily |
| No. | Champion | Championship change | Reign statistics | Notes | Ref. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Location | Reign | Days | Days recog. | |||||
| WWE: Raw | ||||||||||
| 1 | Lyra Valkyria | January 13, 2025 | Raw | San Jose, CA | 1 | 145 | 144 | Defeated Dakota Kai in a tournament final to become the inaugural champion. | [16] | |
| 2 | Becky Lynch | June 7, 2025 | Money in the Bank | Inglewood, CA | 1 | 163 | 163 | This was a Last Chance match where if Lynch had lost, she would have never been able to challenge for the title again for as long as Lyra Valkyria was champion. Since Valkyria lost, she had to raise Lynch's hand and acknowledge her as the better woman. | [17] | |
| 3 | Maxxine Dupri | November 17, 2025 | Raw | New York, NY | 1 | 49 | 48 | [18] | ||
| 4 | Becky Lynch | January 5, 2026 | Raw on Netflix Anniversary Show | Brooklyn, NY | 2 | 54 | 53 | [19] | ||
| 5 | AJ Lee | February 28, 2026 | Elimination Chamber | Chicago, IL | 1 | 49 | 48 | [20] | ||
| 6 | Becky Lynch | April 18, 2026 | WrestleMania 42 Night 1 |
Paradise, NV | 3 | 43 | 42 | [21] | ||
| 7 | Sol Ruca | May 31, 2026 | Clash in Italy | Turin, Italy | 1 | 29+ | 29+ | [15] | ||
Combined reigns
editAs of June 29, 2026.
| † | Indicates the current champion |
| Rank | Wrestler | No. of reigns |
Combined days |
Combined days rec. by WWE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Becky Lynch | 3 | 260 | 258 |
| 2 | Lyra Valkyria | 1 | 145 | 144 |
| 3 | AJ Lee | 1 | 49 | 48 |
| Maxxine Dupri | 1 | 49 | 48 | |
| 5 | Sol Ruca † | 1 | 29+ | |
Notes
edit- ↑ Kairi Sane was originally slated to participate, but was attacked backstage by Pure Fusion Collective during the December 16 episode of Raw and was pulled from the tournament. She was replaced by fellow Damage CTRL stablemate Iyo Sky.
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ Currier, Joseph (April 6, 2024). "WWE introducing Women's NXT North American Championship". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
- ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (November 8, 2024). "WWE Women's United States Championship Unveiled On WWE SmackDown". Fightful. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
- ↑ Aguilar, Matthew (November 8, 2024). "WWE Reveals New Women's Championship on SmackDown". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on November 9, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
- ↑ Ucchino, Rick (November 9, 2024). "WWE Introduces Women's United States Championship On SmackDown". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 9, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
- ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (November 25, 2024). "WWE Women's Intercontinental Title Introduced Before WWE Raw". Fightful. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
- ↑ Ucchino, Rick (December 2, 2024). "Triple H Unveils The Bracket For the Women's Intercontinental Championship Tournament". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
- ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (January 13, 2025). "First-Ever WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion Crowned On WWE Raw". Fightful. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
- ↑ Powell, Jason (December 2, 2024). "WWE Raw results (12/2): Powell's live review of New Day's ten-year celebration, CM Punk's opening segment, Dakota Kai vs. Katana Chance vs. Shayna Baszler in a Women's Intercontinental Title tournament match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
- 1 2 Powell, Jason (December 30, 2024). "WWE Raw results (12/30): Powell's live review of CM Punk and Seth Rollins, Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria and Dakota Kai vs. Zoey Stark in Women's IC Title tourney semifinal matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
- ↑ Powell, Jason (December 16, 2024). "WWE Raw results (12/16): Powell's live review of Bron Breakker vs. Ludwig Kaiser for the Intercontinental Title, Finn Balor and JD McDonagh vs. The War Raiders for the World Tag Team Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
- ↑ McGuire, Colin (January 13, 2025). "WWE Raw results (1/13): McGuire's live review of Dakota Kai vs. Lyra Valkyiria to become the first Women's IC Champion, Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor in a Street Fight, Chad Gable vs. a mystery luchador". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
- ↑ Powell, Jason (December 9, 2024). "WWE Raw results (12/9): Powell's live review of Raquel Rodriguez vs. Rhea Ripley, Lyra Valkyria vs. Zelina Vega vs. Ivy Nile in a Women's Intercontinental Title tournament match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
- ↑ Powell, Jason (December 23, 2024). "WWE Raw results (12/23): Powell's live review of Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn, Damian Priest vs. Dominik Mysterio, Seth Rollins sit-down interview, Women's Intercontinental Title tournament match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
- ↑ WWE [@WWE] (November 25, 2024). "Say hello to the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship! 🤩" (Tweet). Retrieved November 25, 2024 – via X (formerly Twitter).
- 1 2 Lambert, Jeremy (May 31, 2026). "Sol Ruca Wins WWE Women's Intercontinental Title At WWE Clash In Italy". Fightful. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
- ↑ Thompson, Andrew (January 13, 2025). "Lyra Valkyria defeats Dakota Kai on WWE Raw to become first-ever Women's Intercontinental Champion". POST Wrestling. Retrieved January 13, 2025.
- ↑ Powell, Jason (June 7, 2025). "WWE Money in the Bank results: Powell's review of John Cena and Logan Paul vs. Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes, two MITB ladder matches, Lyra Valkyria vs. Becky Lynch for the Women's Intercontinental Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 7, 2025.
- ↑ Powell, Jason (November 17, 2025). "WWE Raw results (11/17): Powell's live review of John Cena's final Raw as a wrestler, Gunther vs. Je'Von Evans, and Solo Sikoa vs. a mystery wrestler in The Last Time Is Now tournament matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
- ↑ Russell, Skylar (January 5, 2026). "Becky Lynch Wins Women's Intercontinental Championship On 1/5 WWE Raw". Fightful. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
- ↑ Sharma, Ishaan (February 28, 2026). "AJ Lee Wins WWE Women's Intercontinental Title At Elimination Chamber 2026". Fightful. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
- ↑ Flanagan, Neal (April 18, 2026). "Becky Lynch defeats AJ Lee to win Women's Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania 42". POST Wrestling. Retrieved April 18, 2026.