5 Former WWE Women's Tag Team Champions who could be surprise entrants at Royal Rumble 2024
WWE Royal Rumble 2024 is only hours away! The 37th annual premium live event extravaganza is scheduled to feature only four matches, including only one bout for the female wrestlers. With most of the participants for the Women's Rumble still unannounced, there are plenty of surprises the company could have in store for us this Saturday night.
Asuka and Kairi Sane currently hold WWE Women's Tag Team Titles, yet neither woman has been announced to compete in Tropicana Field later tonight. The Kabuki Warriors kicked off their second reign as tag champs by defeating Katana Chance and Kayden Carter on the most recent episode of SmackDown. Carter and Chance haven't been announced as participants in the 2024 Women's Rumble.
Fans could be treated to a surprise or two featuring returning competitors who once held the women's tag titles on WWE's main roster. Even though they haven't been announced as participants as of this writing, the current champs Asuka and Sane entering the Rumble is not as big a surprise as seeing a star who fans haven't seen in many months.
Without further ado, let's look at five former WWE Women's Tag Team Champions who could be revealed as surprise entrants during the 2024 Royal Rumble premium live event in St. Petersburg, Florida.
#5. Five-time WWE RAW Women's Champion Sasha Banks, aka Mercedes Mone
WWE would make headlines if they could acquire the former Sasha Banks for the 2024 Royal Rumble. Banks infamously walked out of the company due to creative differences in 2022 as the reigning Women's Tag Team Champion alongside Naomi. She would go on to become a top star in Japan while using the Mercedes Mone moniker.
In February 2023, Mone became the second-ever IWGP Women's Champion by defeating KAIRI, who is now part of Damage CTRL. Mercedes lost the gold in April of that year, and she was put on the shelf with an ankle injury a month later.
There have been past reports of both WWE and AEW trying to strike a deal with Ms. Mone. Despite a recent report from Fightful Select suggesting that the Stamford-based company is currently uninterested in signing the former champion, it's still not out of the realm of possibilities for Sasha Banks to make her return in the 2024 Women's Royal Rumble match.
WWE would attract major headlines if The Boss were to make her triumphant return tonight in Tropicana Field. Considering her history with Kairi Sane and Mone's recent experience working with Japanese Joshi stars, perhaps if Banks does return to Titanland, she will feud with Damage CTRL and look to take the WWE Women's Title away from IYO SKY.
Banks is already a former SmackDown Women's Champion, so she'll become a two-time champion if she were to defeat SKY for the belt.
While she is best known for her work in the singles division, Sasha is also a decorated performer in the tag team division. Banks and Bayley are the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Champions as part of The Boss 'n' Hug Connection.
In total, Banks is a three-time tag team champion. Two of her reigns occurred with Bayley, while her last reign happened with Naomi.
#4. Two-time WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Alexa Bliss
Multi-time champion Alexa Bliss recently posted an Instagram story that implied she was attempting to get back in ring shape. The post also hinted that she'll "get there eventually."
Bliss last wrestled at the 2023 Royal Rumble, losing to Bianca Belair in a match for the RAW Women's Championship.
Following the 2023 Royal Rumble, Bliss took a hiatus and later took maternity leave from the company. In November, she welcomed a baby into the world with Ryan Cabrera.
Returning to the ring two months after giving birth might not be an advisable decision, but it's not out of the realm of possibilities when it comes to the lifestyle of pro wrestlers.
Bliss lives in Florida, where the 2024 Royal Rumble will be held, which has only increased speculation that she'll appear at the event.
It's worth noting that Alexa Bliss is one of the most decorated champions in the history of WWE's women's division. She's held three reigns apiece with the RAW Women's Title and the Women's Tag Team Championship. As previously mentioned, she's a former two-time SmackDown Champion. She's also a former 24/7 Champion and winner of 2018 Women's Money in the Bank.
Will the woman known as Five Feet of Fury find herself in Tropicana Field tonight?
#3. Former WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Naomi, known in TNA as Trinity
Naomi is heavily rumored for a WWE return, which could end up happening tonight in Tropicana Field. She recently finished up obligations with TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, where she was known as Trinity.
During her run with IMPACT, she became a Knockouts World Champion. Now, all signs point towards a WWE comeback for the former Funkadactyl.
Both women infamously walked out of the company during her reign as WWE Women's Tag Team Champion in 2022 alongside Sasha Banks. However, that doesn't necessarily suggest that they burnt bridges beyond repair on the way out.
The former SmackDown Women's Champion is also married to Bloodline member Jimmy Uso. She's the wife of a WWE employee who's a member of arguably the company's most important faction. It's clear to many that this increases the chances that Naomi will be back on WWE programming.
Besides her connection to The Bloodline, Naomi is a fantastic performer in the ring who'd be a valuable asset to WWE's women's division. The 36-year-old is a two-time SmackDown Women's Champion, and she may find herself on the blue brand once again if the company decides to add her to her husband's faction.
#2. Two-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan
Liv Morgan hasn't appeared on WWE programming since being written off television following an attack from Rhea Ripley in July 2023. Morgan reportedly needed time off to heal from a shoulder injury. She'd later attract headlines in the wrestling media in December for a marijuana-related arrest in Florida.
According to Mike Johnson from PWInsider, there was an internal discussion within WWE regarding Morgan being brought back as a surprise entrant in the 2024 Women's Royal Rumble match.
Liv Morgan is one of the most popular female stars, and fans in Tropicana Field and across the globe will predictably welcome her back with open arms if she ends up becoming a surprise entrant in the 2024 Women's Rumble.
In 2022, Morgan was catapulted to the top of the blue brand's women's division. That year, she won the MITB briefcase and became SmackDown Women's Champion the same night.
In 2023, Liv would team up with Raquel Rodriguez to become a two-time Women's Tag Team Champion. In 2024, will Liv make her in-ring return inside Tropicana Field?
#1. Four-time WWE Women's Champion Lita
Lita is one of the most important female wrestlers of the 21st century. Alongside stars like Trish Stratus and Mickie James, The Extreme Diva made RAW's women's division matter years before anyone talked about the Women's Revolution in the Stamford-based company.
The former member of Team Xtreme retired from active competition in 2006. However, Lita has made brief returns to the ring since then. She participated in the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble back in 2018. She also wrestled in the only all-female WWE premium live event, Evolution.
In February 2023, Lita won the Women's Tag Team Titles alongside Becky Lynch. A year prior, the Hall of Famer was battling Becky Lynch at the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event in Saudi Arabia.
They made history by becoming the first-ever female WWE Superstars to be featured on a billboard in the Arabian country.
Lita would lose the Women's Tag Team Championship without defending it in a match herself. She was mysteriously attacked before a scheduled title defense. Her longtime friend/rival, Trish Stratus, would take her place in the bout and lose for her team. the mysterious attacker would later revealed to be Stratus.
The WWE Hall of Famer last competed in the Women's Royal Rumble back in 2022. Maybe in 2024, Lita will delight her fans with a surprise Rumble return inside Tropicana Field.