WWE‘s 2026 Queen of the Ring tournament continues. TNA confirms several departures and re-signings, and more.
WWE Queen of the Ring Updates
With a world title match at WWE SummerSlam on the line, 16 women are competing in the 2026 Queen of the Ring tournament. As of this writing, only three remain.
On the left side of the bracket, WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan secured a spot in the semi-finals by besting Chelsea Green, Alexa Bliss, and Becky Lynch in the opening round. Morgan entered the tourney with the intention of “taking it all” at SummerSlam. To get there, though, she must first conquer “The Queen” Charlotte Flair on Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
Flair solidified her semi-final slot by making Lyra Valkyria tap out to the Figure Eight in the first round. WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca and 2025 Queen of the Ring Jade Cargill were also involved in the respective four-way.
On the right side of the bracket, former Women’s World Champion IYO SKY has punched her ticket to the QOTR finals by pinning the Judgment Day’s Raquel Rodriguez in the first semi-final bout on WWE Raw. SKY had previously overcome Giulia, Roxanne Perez, and Lash Legend in her quarterfinals match, with Giulia taking the pinfall. Rodriguez pinned Kiana James in her own opening round four-way.
As it stands, the Queen of the Ring winner will face either Liv Morgan or Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley at SummerSlam. Given Ripley’s current knee injury, however, her status as a champion, and her involvement at SummerSlam, could be in jeopardy.
Last year, Cargill cashed in her Queen of the Ring crown for a shot at WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton at SummerSlam. Stratton emerged victorious on that occasion, but fell short in their rematch at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event in November.
RELATED: Rhea Ripley Injury Leads to ‘Significant’ Changes To WWE TV Plans — Report
TNA Departures & Re-Signings
2026 has seen several departures from the TNA Knockouts division, including Killer Kelly, The IInspiration, Steph De Lander, and Dani Luna. This month, Myla Grace and Tessa Blanchard then joined that list.
News of Grace’s exit broke two weeks ago when reports indicated that she had requested her release, which TNA ultimately granted. TNA themselves later confirmed as such.
Grace signed with TNA in 2025, making history as the first-ever Irish-born wrestler to sign with the promotion. During her brief run, she formed a notable alliance with UK native Harley Hudson.
Earlier this week, TNA announced the additional departure of former TNA Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard. According to Blanchard, she chose to leave TNA after being asked to choose to wrestle for either TNA or CMLL, as opposed to performing for both like she had been. After thorough consideration, Blanchard opted to dedicate herself “100%” to CMLL.
Amidst the mass exodus, fellow former TNA Knockouts Champion Tasha Steelz revealed that she re-signed with TNA.
“It took me I would say a good 48 hours to think about it,” Steelz told Denise Salcedo in a new interview. “One thing about me is I’m a loyal girl and I like to stay loyal. I know that this Knockouts division from day one has helped me and a lot of women in the division has helped me. There’s no way I can turn my back on these ladies, so I have to stick around. I have to stay. I love my ladies very much.”
Steelz made her TNA debut in 2019, with reigns as TNA Knockouts and Knockouts Tag Team Champion coming in the years following.
RELATED: TNA Wrestling Announces ‘Workforce Reduction’
INTERVIEWS
Former WWE Divas Champion Layla sat down with Chris Van Vliet to discuss why she has returned to wrestling conventions after being away for so long, why she left WWE in 2015, if she is open to one more match, winning the Diva Search, being paired with Michelle McCool, the infamous Piggy James storyline, how CM Punk came up with the name Lay-Cool, becoming a mom and more.
WWE star Michin appeared on What’s Your Story with Stephanie McMahon to talk about her father’s FBI secrets, her sister’s relationship with Big E, her emotional road to WWE, once sending hate mail to Stephanie McMahon, the importance of therapy, her long-time dream of being a pro wrestler, and more.
Former TNA Knockouts Champion Tasha Steelz chatted with Denise Salcedo about her decision to re-sign with TNA Wrestling, her 7-year journey with the company, working with Order 5, her growth as a Knockout, and what the future holds for her, and more.
Former WWE broadcaster Kayla Braxton joined TMZ’s Inside The Ring to discuss her post-wrestling career, her recently launched live sports show, working alongside Roman Reigns’ Bloodline, praising Sami Zayn and The New Day as backstage leaders, the possibility of a future WWE return, why she never considered joining another wrestling promotion after leaving WWE, her hopes of becoming a horror movie scream queen in Hollywood, and more.
