Tiffany Stratton has officially begun her championship reign.
The closing stages of the 10th January episode of SmackDown witnessed the official beginning of the ‘Tiffy Time’. Celebrating one week after her title win in Portland, Oregon, Stratton came out to a roaring crowd and boasted her accomplishment.
Former champion Nia Jax would soon cut the celebration short. Calling out her former ally for betraying her, Jax demanded Stratton hand over her the title. However, things would soon get complicated when four more former champions demanded a shot as well.
General manager Nick Aldis announced a fatal-four-way match between Bianca Belair, Bayley, Naomi, and Nia Jax to determine the next number-one contender for Stratton’s title. In the closing stages of the match, Candice LeRae’s interference allowed Bayley to execute her finishing move on Naomi, securing the victory.
Fighting off a long and unpredictable battle, Bayley secured her title shot. Later announced via a backstage segment, Stratton will now defend her gold against Bayley next week on the 17th January episode of SmackDown.
The Role Model is a former champion herself, who won the title off Iyo Sky at WrestleMania 40 after winning Royal Rumble 2024 earlier last year. She lost the gold to Nia Jax at SummerSlam 2024.
Former WWE Star Believes Tiffany Stratton Is A “Natural Athlete”
Before her rise to stardom in WWE, Stratton used to train at former WWE star, Mr.Kennedy’s The Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Last month, heaping praise on his student, Mr.Kennedy aka Ken Anderson termed Tiffany Stratton as a natural athlete. Speaking on Rewind Recap Relive, he said:
“Tiffany Stratton is just a natural athlete. She’s one of those people where you show her something one time, and even if you have to offer a couple of corrections, she quickly figures it out and can replicate it over and over again.
The one thing I will say is that she didn’t have the charisma she has now. At least, not back then. I think she was more focused on the physical aspect at the time. She wasn’t putting a lot into the character work. She was just quiet when she came to class, kind of kept her nose clean, and did her thing.”
In other news: A top AEW star does not want to face Tessa Blanchard.
As part of a recent update, Tiffany Stratton could be set for a major WrestleMania match.