5 reasons Giulia defeated Zelina Vega to become the new WWE Women's United States Champion on SmackDown

On tonight's episode of Friday Night SmackDown live from Riyadh, Giulia defeated Zelina Vega to become the new WWE Women's United States Champion. The former NXT Women's Champion made her arrival on SmackDown a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Vega had defeated Chelsea Green for the Women's US Title two months ago on the post-WrestleMania edition of WWE SmackDown.

There are a multitude of reasons why Triple H could have made the decision to cut short Vega's reign and have Giulia win the title so soon into her main roster career. In this article, we shall discuss five of those.

#1. Zelina Vega had an underwhelming reign as the Women's United States Champion

Zelina Vega's first reign as a champion in WWE was rather underwhelming. While she may have been let down by the booking, the simple fact is that Vega has never been presented as a strong competitor. While fairly solid in the ring, she has never been known for her exceptional in-ring work.

Vega has always been strong on the mic, but because of her babyface character, the liberties she can take in her promos are also significantly curtailed. Finally, the women's division still lacks enough depth for WWE to feed Vega lower-card talent, and they did as well as they could have with Piper Niven and Alba Fyre. And a new NXT call-up like Giulia was never going to be fed to the now-former Women's United States Champion.

#2. Giulia just could not afford a loss on SmackDown

While Stephanie Vaquer and Roxanne Perez were recently called up to Monday Night RAW, Giulia has been drafted to SmackDown. The Japanese sensation clearly has a lot of charisma and a ton of potential. Taking a loss to Vega would have just halted Giulia's momentum.

As a new NXT call-up, it wouldn't make sense for an already weak champion to beat someone who could possibly be a pillar of the Women's division in WWE in the future. If the Japanese superstar had to wrestle Vega, she needed the win.

#3. Giulia needs to be steadily built up as a force in WWE

So, why have "The Beautiful Madness" wrestle Vega at all? Well, as discussed, Zelina Vega just wasn't delivering as the US Champion. Her reign seemingly didn't give fans enough compelling storytelling, presentation, in-ring work, or credible opponents.

Enter Giulia. As someone not very proficient in English, her USP is in-ring ability. As the Women's United States Champion, Giulia could continue to get over with the WWE Universe with her solid in-ring acumen. Week in and week out, she could become one of the staples of the show with her solid in-ring work.

With how deep and talented the division is in 2025, it is not as simple as strapping a rocket behind a potential star's back. In an era where fans analyze and criticize everything, backstage decisions must be made with tact and strategy, keeping in mind the strengths and weaknesses of the wrestler in question.

#4. Giulia is the perfect workhorse champion for SmackDown and can elevate the Women's United States Championship

Simply put, the Women's US Championship picture just needed a change. "Mid-card" titles are often defined by work rate. That is precisely Giulia's strength. WWE did extremely well with booking Lyra Valkyria as the Women's Intercontinental Champion. Despite Valkyria's obvious advantages and the connection and feud with Becky Lynch really elevating her reign, Valkyria had had a solid run, even leading up to WrestleMania.

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As far as consistent in-ring performances, Giulia is clearly a very capable wrestler, much like Lyra. Her title run doesn't need to replicate or be modeled after Lyra's run with the Intercontinental title. However, Triple H could certainly draw from how he presented Valkyria as champion.

Becky Lynch may be the champion now, and she has certainly elevated the title with her star power alone, plus her promo work, but the person who made it a sought-after belt was Valkyria. Even Bayley is vying for the title now!

Giulia can do the same for the United States Title. There is a clear difference in how these titles are perceived and valued, and Giulia is the perfect woman to elevate the Women's US Championship.

#5. Giulia may have won tonight to set up a major match for WWE Evolution

WWE could have given Vega a few more weeks as champion before having her drop the title at WWE Evolution. However, Giulia winning the Women's United States Title tonight may indicate that she is set to be featured in a marquee match at Evolution.

In order for the event to make history once again, Evolution needs to have the biggest and most compelling matches. As for who could be in store to challenge "The Beautiful Madness" for her WWE Women's United States Championship at Evolution, that is something that we may have to wait and watch unfold on SmackDown.

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