From January until April, Mickie James was on “SmackDown’s” roster. She’d spend the next two years on “Raw.” “NXT” beefed up their women’s roster in 2017 with  Zelina Vega, Shayna Baszler, Rhea Ripley, Ruby Riott, Nixon Newell, Kairi Sane, Taynara Conti (AEW’s Tay Melo), Lacey Evans, and Abbey Laith (Kimber Lee) rounding out the roster. In September, Asuka joined the “Raw” roster. She had been the most dominant NXT Women’s Champion, holding the title for 510 days before vacating it. Maria Kanelis-Bennett returned to WWE in June 2017, joining “SmackDown, while Liv Morgan joined the blue brand in November. 

In February of that year, Naomi won the SmackDown’s Women’s Championship at Elimination Chamber. Unfortunately, she only held the title for nine days due to a knee injury. She would go on to win the title back at WrestleMania 33. She seems like the most obvious option to win the 2017 Rumble given her momentum and being a two-time champion before the year ended.