Bracket buster: WWE to hold 32-woman international tournament

ORLANDO — WWE’s commitment to women’s wrestling is continuing with the announcement Saturday of a tournament for this summer with 32 participants from 17 countries at a location to be determined.

The event had long been anticipated, and Paul “Triple H Levesque, WWE’s executive vice president of talent, live events and creative, has talked publicly about his intentions.

The announcement was made at at business partner summit as part of WrestleMania week by Levesque, WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon and the women’s champions of the three brands — RAW’s Bayley, Smackdown’s Alexa Bliss and NXT’s Asuka.

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Levesque told Paste BN Sports the women’s tournament will “change the face of the women’s division again and change how the women are perceived and add to the talent pool. This will make the division so much deeper and make the division so much better.”

Similar to the Cruiserweight Classic and the United Kingdom tournament, the women’s event  provides WWE with exposure to top talent who could eventually join the company. It also provides programming for the WWE Network.

WWE has featured a resurgence in women’s wrestling through NXT, its third brand focused on development, and as those participants have come up to the main roster.