Giulia’s Triple-Champion Dream Hits a Wall on SmackDown

Giulia’s rocky night on SmackDown has halted her dream of becoming a triple champion in WWE and even raised questions about whether she’s now the weak link of her tag team. This breakdown looks at what actually happened, how it affects the women’s tag title scene, and what it means for Giulia’s long-term future in WWE.

On a loaded episode of WWE SmackDown, the women’s division turned into a genuine cross-brand spectacle. Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY invaded from Raw to defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship against up-and-coming contenders Kiana James and a partner who suddenly has all of wrestling Twitter talking: Giulia. For weeks, buzz around Giulia centered on her potential to become a triple champion in record time. After this match, that narrative looks very different.

Rhea Ripley entering the arena on WWE SmackDown with a confident expression
Rhea Ripley continues to be the measuring stick of WWE’s women’s division, even when crossing over to SmackDown.

The result: Giulia’s dream scenario of holding multiple titles at once is, for now, officially off the table—and the way it unraveled has people wondering whether she’s the asset, or the liability, of her tag team.


How We Got Here: Giulia’s WWE Hype and the Tag Title Picture

Giulia didn’t arrive in WWE as some anonymous rookie. She carried serious buzz from her work in Japan, where she built a reputation as a stylish bruiser—a performer who could blend charisma, striking offense, and big-match aura. That aura followed her into WWE, where speculation kicked in immediately: would the company fast-track her into a triple champion role, stacking singles gold on top of tag-team success?

Meanwhile, the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship has been trying to find its identity. WWE has cycled through teams, injuries, and short reigns, often flying the belts between Raw, SmackDown, and even NXT in a search for stability and prestige. Enter Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY—two wrestlers who already have main-event credibility and the kind of in-ring presence that can upgrade any title they touch.

Having those two defend against Kiana James and Giulia on SmackDown wasn’t just a match; it was a statement about how WWE wants its women’s tag division to feel: cross-brand, high-profile, and consequential.


The SmackDown Match: A Showcase That Turned into a Stress Test

The SmackDown women’s tag title bout was framed like a “prove it” game. Ripley and SKY walked in as the traveling champions, while Kiana James and Giulia entered as the hungry challengers looking to upset WWE’s established power duo.

Structurally, the match was designed to highlight contrasts: Ripley’s power vs. Giulia’s grit, SKY’s aerial offense vs. James’s pragmatism. For long stretches, it did exactly that. Ripley, in particular, continues to feel like a final boss who just happens to wrestle weekly television.

“SmackDown fans were in for a treat tonight when Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY came over from Raw to defend the WWE women’s tag team championship against the number one contenders, Kiana James and Giulia.”

But as the match wore on and the stakes rose, the story subtly shifted from a star-making opportunity for Giulia to a magnifying glass on her timing, chemistry, and positioning. Where Ripley and SKY looked like a machine, James and Giulia felt, at moments, like they were still beta testing their partnership.

Two wrestlers in a ring performing a tag team maneuver in front of a live crowd
Tag team wrestling lives and dies on chemistry—one mistimed moment can flip the narrative from “breakthrough” to “weak link.”

After the bell, one talking point rose above the rest: had Giulia, the supposed breakout star, actually become the weak link in her team with Kiana James? From a story perspective, WWE absolutely leaned into that idea. Commentary and body language in the ring painted Giulia as the one under the microscope.

Whether she’s actually the weak link is more complicated. On one hand, her inexperience with WWE’s style compared to veterans like Ripley and SKY showed. The pace, the camera awareness, and some of the transitions looked half a beat off. On the other hand, it’s rare for any new arrival—no matter how decorated—to instantly sync with WWE’s very specific house style, especially in a multi-woman title match on television.

  • What hurt her: A few rough edges in timing, occasional miscommunications with James, and the optics of being the one eating the key offense.
  • What helped her: Strong selling, visible fire in comebacks, and the fact that she was clearly positioned as central to the story, not just a body in the ring.

Cageside Seats framed it bluntly: the triple-champion fantasy is done for now, and the short-term narrative is that Giulia is dragging the team down more than lifting it up. That might sound harsh, but it’s also a very wrestling way to build sympathy and long-term payoffs.


The Triple-Champion Dream: Ambition vs. Pacing in WWE Storytelling

The idea of Giulia as a triple champion always felt both thrilling and slightly premature. WWE has a history of loading up certain stars with multiple titles—think Becky Lynch as “Becky Two Belts” or Roman Reigns stacking world championships to signal total dominance. Doing that with a relatively new arrival like Giulia would have been a bold, almost punk move.

Instead, this loss signals that WWE is opting for a slower burn. The company seems more interested in:

  1. Letting Giulia struggle visibly on TV, so any future title win feels earned.
  2. Using Ripley and SKY’s run to rehabilitate the women’s tag titles.
  3. Positioning Giulia and James as a team that has to work through tension instead of being instant super-champions.
In modern WWE, failure is often the first act, not the epilogue. The question isn’t “Did Giulia blow it?” It’s “What does she do now that she did?”

From a creative standpoint, shelving the triple-champion fantasy now could actually lengthen Giulia’s shelf life as a compelling character. Instant dominance is flashy; clawing back from embarrassment is sticky television.

Wrestling championship belt resting on the ring apron under arena lights
Championship gold in WWE is as much about timing and story as it is about in-ring skill.

What This Match Says About Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY

While a lot of discourse orbits around Giulia, the match quietly affirmed something about Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY: these two aren’t just holding the women’s tag titles, they’re actively rebranding them. Cross-brand appearances, main-event energy, and credible defenses like this make the belts feel like an accessory to real stars rather than a consolation prize.

Ripley, in particular, continues to feel like the era-defining presence on WWE’s women’s side—someone whose matches double as measuring sticks for newer talent. SKY adds the veteran polish and high-flying unpredictability that makes every sequence with her feel dangerous and important.

Two wrestlers performing a high-flying move in a brightly lit arena
IYO SKY’s aerial style continues the lineage of high-risk, high-reward women’s wrestling on the big stage.

Industry Lens: Cross-Brand Appearances and Women’s Wrestling Momentum

From a broader industry angle, this SmackDown episode fits into WWE’s ongoing strategy of blurring brand lines to juice ratings and keep matchups feeling fresh. Having Ripley and SKY from Raw drop into SmackDown isn’t just a one-night stunt; it’s part of a bigger attempt to make the women’s divisions feel less siloed and more like one interconnected universe.

It also underscores a quiet but real shift: women’s tag wrestling isn’t just filling time anymore. When you bring genuine stars, cross-brand stakes, and intriguing prospects like Giulia into the same segment, you’re signaling that these titles—and these stories—matter.

Culturally, this lines up with how women’s wrestling has evolved over the past decade. What used to be a niche interest has become a pillar of the product, and fans are now comfortable dissecting booking decisions around women’s matches with the same energy they reserve for world title feuds.

Large arena crowd illuminated by stage lights during a wrestling event
Cross-brand title defenses help make the WWE women’s division feel like one connected ecosystem rather than isolated rosters.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Segment and Story

Looking at the SmackDown match and its fallout as a self-contained chapter, there’s a lot that worked—and a few things that may age awkwardly depending on how WWE follows up.

What Worked

  • Star Power: Ripley and SKY elevated the stakes just by being there.
  • Spotlight on Giulia: Even in defeat, she was clearly the focal point, which is valuable screen time.
  • Title Relevance: The women’s tag belts felt important, not like a mid-card afterthought.

What Fell Short

  • Team Chemistry: James and Giulia didn’t always feel like a cohesive unit, which fed into the “weak link” narrative.
  • Pacing for a Newcomer: Asking Giulia to keep pace with two of WWE’s most polished TV performers may have rushed things.
  • Expectation Management: Building up the triple-champion fantasy only to squash it quickly risks fan whiplash if there’s no clear next step.

What’s Next for Giulia and the Women’s Tag Division?

So, where does this leave everyone? For Giulia, the narrative shift from “potential triple champion” to “possible weak link” isn’t a burial; it’s a fork in the road. WWE can go a few ways:

  • Redemption Arc: Giulia leans into the criticism, sharpens up, and eventually proves she can carry her side of a big-match load.
  • Tag Team Friction: Tension with Kiana James could simmer into a breakup feud that establishes Giulia as a singles player.
  • Slow-Burn Rebuild: She steps out of the immediate title picture, quietly racks up more reps, and returns stronger next time WWE needs a fresh challenger.

For Ripley and SKY, this defense keeps their run credible and sets them up as traveling champions who can drop in anywhere, face anyone, and make it feel big. That’s exactly what the women’s tag titles have needed.

The triple-champion dream might be over for now, but in wrestling, “for now” is doing a lot of work. If Giulia can turn this stumble into character fuel, there’s every chance that years from today, we’ll look back at this SmackDown not as the end of a fantasy—but as the moment her real WWE story actually started.

Wrestler standing on the turnbuckle looking at the crowd, symbolizing a crossroads moment
Losses in WWE are often less about endings and more about where the character goes next.

Further Viewing and Official Resources

For fans who want to dig deeper into this storyline and the performers involved, check out:

Watching how WWE handles Giulia over the next few months will say a lot about where the company sees her ceiling—and whether this first major setback was a detour or the beginning of something bigger.