Every day from March 1 until WWE Wrestlemania 33 on April 2, Fightful will be bringing you the Countdown To WWE Wrestlemania 33. Each day, you will be getting a top 10 list or an event preview or statistics/figures from past ?Mania events and everything in between.
In today?s column, we will be looking at the Top 10 Female Matches In ?Mania History. The women of the WWE have played a major role and ?Mania and this piece will look at the best of the best in women?s action.
#10: Sable (Champion) vs. Tori ? WWE Women?s Title Match (?Mania 15)
Sable was probably at her peak as a performer right here--and as a celebrity--having just appeared in Playboy Magazine and being the queen of the WWE. Tori was the original Mickie James-like character, playing the super fan to Sable, but a face version instead of a heel version. The match wasn?t much to write home about, but you can say that about every Sable match that has ever existed. Also, the late Nicole Bass made her WWE debut in this match, assisting Sable to get the win over Tori.
#9: Alundra Blayze (Champion) vs. Leilani Kai ? WWE Women?s Title Match (?Mania 10)
The story behind this match was that Leilani Kai, who was the WWE Women?s Champion at ?Mania 1, was returning a decade later to reclaim the gold. There wasn?t much hype behind this match, but there also wasn?t much hype behind a women?s division at this time either. Alundra Blayze is better known as WWE Hall Of Fame member Madusa, making her lone Wrestlemania appearance here. Blayze scored the victory and kept her title after nailing Kai with her patented German suplex to get the three count.
#8: Trish Stratus (Champion) vs. Christy Hemme ? WWE Women?s Title Match (?Mania 21)
If you want to know just how good of a wrestler Trish Stratus was, then you really need to check out this match. That can be said because the Canadian star carried Christy Hemme to a relatively decent match, despite the fact that it was Hemme?s first singles match ever as a wrestler. Trish?s longtime rival Lita served as Hemme?s manager in this match, but did very little other than standing at ringside. Trish retained the Women?s Title in the end, catching Hemme with a Chick Kick that sent Hemme spinning in the air.
#7: Victoria (Champion) vs. Molly Holly ? WWE Women?s Title Match ? Hair vs. Hair Match (?Mania 20)
At WWE Wrestlemania 20, the WWE Women?s Title wasn?t going to be defended until Molly Holly made a pitch to the creative team that would result in her head getting shaved. The pitch worked and a bout between Victoria and Holly was a late addition to the historical ?Mania card. Victoria won the match after catching Holly with a roll up from out of nowhere, but it was the post-match that was remembered best by most fans. After the match concluded, Holly was dragged to a barber?s chair and was promptly shaved bald, a mighty sacrifice to get on the ?Mania card.
#6: The Bella Twins vs. Paige & AJ Lee (?Mania 31)
This is the only match on the list that isn?t a title match, but it was still one of the better matches the women have had on a ?Mania card. Also, when you consider that just a year later, AJ Lee would be out of the WWE?Paige would be out of action after two failed drug tests and surgery?plus Brie Bella would be retired ... this was definitely a match with the historical significance worthy of inclusion on this list. This was also a time in the WWE were just about every feud involving the ladies would somehow be based around the Total Diva?s reality show. AJ and Page walked away victorious that night, a night in which the Bella Twins teamed up for the first and only time at a ?Mania.
#5: Victoria (Champion) vs. Jazz vs. Trish Stratus ? WWE Women?s Title Match (?Mania 19)
This match was probably the peak of the women?s division for that era, with Trish Stratus, Jazz and Victoria having great matches with each other every time they stepped into the ring. This was also a well booked match because Trish's opponents both had a male counterpart (Steven Richards with Victoria and Rodney Mack/Teddy Long with Jazz), which made her journey even more perilous. This match was also not given a death sentence as it was not placed in a bad position on the card, taking place early in the show. Trish won the match after catching Victoria with the Stratusfaction, capturing the WWE Women?s Title once again.
#4: Jazz (Champion) vs. Lita vs. Trish Stratus ? WWE Women?s Title Match (?Mania 18)
This match may be the most under appreciated women?s match in ?Mania history, which is something all three women have acknowledged multiple times in past interviews. The reason it goes unnoticed is that it was placed in between a match between The Rock and Hulk Hogan, then a WWE Title Match between Chris Jericho and Triple H. This was a homecoming for Trish, who was competing in her hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Jazz would walk away with her title intact after nailing Lita with a top rope Fisherman Buster Suplex.
#3: Leilani Kai (Champion) vs. Wendi Richter ? WWE Women?s Title Match (?Mania 1)
The first Women's Match in 'Mania history took place between Leilani Kai and Wendi Richter at WWE Wrestlemania 1. The match was the pinnacle of the Rock N? Wrestling Connection partnership between the WWE and MTV. Musician Cyndi Lauper would be in the corner of Richter in this match, while the legendary Fabulous Moolah was in the corner of Kai. Richter would win the match and the title after catching Kai with a roll up following a distraction from Lauper.
#2: Trish Stratus (Champion) vs. Mickie James ? WWE Women?s Title Match (?Mania 22)
Trish Stratus has competed in some great ?Mania matches during her extensive WWE career, but this one was easily the best of them all. Mickie James only made her WWE debut a few months earlier as the super fan of Stratus, much like the Sable/Tori match we spoke about earlier. The Chicago crowd made this match even better as they cheered the evil Mickie and jeered the good Trish. Mickie would win the women?s title in this one after she finished off Trish with Trish?s very own Chick Kick.
#1: Charlotte (Champion) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch ? WWE Women?s Title Match (?Mania 32)
I wrote earlier about how the ?Mania 19 women?s match was the end of one women?s wrestling era. Well, this was the start of the biggest era of women?s wrestling in WWE history. The match was great from bell to bell, with all three women putting everything they had into the match. Charlotte even nailed her two opponents with a moonsault from the top rope to the arena floor, with Sasha doing her patented suicide dive as well. Charlotte kept the title after forcing Becky to tap out to the Figure 8, while her father Ric Flair stopped Sasha from breaking up the submission.
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