WrestleMania season is here, and unlike in previous eras, women’s wrestling is a prominent part of the show. From Bayley’s quest to get revenge against the squad she built to Becky Lynch’s long-awaited battle with Rhea Ripley to Jade Cargill’s glorious debut this past week, their stories are just as impactful as those of the men—if not more so. WrestleMania turns 40 this year, and believe it or not, 11 of those events (WrestleManias III-IX, XI-13, and 29) didn’t have a women’s match on the card. At WrestleMania 39, Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair was touted as the match to see, which was virtually unheard of a decade ago.
As we prepare for the biggest WrestleMania of all time, featuring two explosive women’s world championship matches, we have cooked up a mixtape of incredible women’s matches.
Wendi Richter Vs. Leilani Kai
WrestleMania I
I’m sure you know that the first WrestleMania was one of the biggest gambles in wrestling history. Initially, WWE and MTV were collaborating on two cross-promotional events: 1984’s The Brawl to End It All and The War to Settle the Score in February 1985. At the Brawl, Richter, who allied herself with pop icon Cyndi Lauper, defeated the Fabulous Moolah (who was accompanied by Captain Lou Albano), ending Moolah’s decades-long reign as WWF Women’s Champion. Nearly six months later, at The War to Settle the Score, Moolah challenged Richter to fight Leilani Kai, who defeated Richter at the War to set up their WrestleMania I bout. With Lauper in her corner, Richter was ready to regain her championship at WrestleMania I.
Alundra Blayze Vs. Leilani Kai
WrestleMania X
In 1994, WWE decided to rejuvenate the women’s division with one babyface in mind: Alundra Blayze. On the night of WrestleMania X, she took on Leilani Kai, who had entered the semi–main event of the inaugural WrestleMania as the women’s champion. Blayze’s contributions are often overlooked; she played a huge part in bringing back a championship and division that had been deactivated for more than three years.
Sable Vs. Tori
WrestleMania XV
Sadly, after Blayze brought back the women’s championship, the title was not defended on a WrestleMania card again until WrestleMania XV. (Part of that was likely because the title was left vacant after Blayze threw it in a trash can on an episode of rival WCW’s Monday Nitro.) WWE brought the women’s championship back to heat up the feud between Jacqueline and Sable, and Jacqueline was ultimately victorious. Sable, who was at the height of her popularity, then defeated Jacqueline at Survivor Series. Sable also gained a superfan in Tori, who assisted her in her title defense at the Royal Rumble. Their partnership coincided with Sable’s attitude change; she was becoming more arrogant, no doubt because of her appearance on the cover of the April 1999 edition of Playboy. After Sable mistreated her for months, Tori stood up for herself, challenging her former mentor to a championship match at WrestleMania XV.
Chyna Vs. Ivory
WrestleMania X-Seven
When you think of Chyna, you may initially remember her competing against men. In 2000, while her character was in a romantic angle with Eddie Guerrero, Chyna started having more matches with women. Ivory, the women’s champion at the time, was with Right to Censor, a group that stood against the rampant sex and violence in WWE. These two initially squared off at the 2001 Royal Rumble, where Ivory stole a victory after Chyna fell to the floor and injured her neck during the bout. Chyna came back for their return bout at ’Mania, with Ivory’s Right to Censor stable barred from ringside. While you may not initially remember this story, it is interesting that her last WrestleMania match was for the women’s championship.
Trish Stratus Vs. Lita Vs. Jazz
WrestleMania 18
In a move that was typical for WWE at the time, the company vacated the women’s title after someone left. (No one ever defeated Chyna, who won the title at WrestleMania X-Seven, to take the championship from her.) Trish Stratus, who was working as a valet a year prior, became the women’s champion at the 2001 Survivor Series. That night also happened to be Jazz’s debut. Jazz quickly set her sights on the title and chased it for weeks; she finally took it from Trish in February 2002. Yet, heading into WrestleMania, Lita, who was returning from injury, was quickly thrown into the mix. The fact that Lita was in a championship match at WrestleMania wasn’t a shock, but you wouldn’t expect her to be included in this story line when her focus wasn’t on the women’s division until a few months before WrestleMania. She would contend with both of them for the title, even though Trish and Jazz were the ones who had been feuding for months.
During an era when women were fighting for quality match time in WWE, this story was worth paying attention to … even though the crowd had already witnessed the battle between icons Hulk Hogan and the Rock. Despite everything thrown against them, these three women gave it their all at WrestleMania.
Trish Stratus Vs. Mickie James
WrestleMania 22
This match was the payoff for one of Mickie James’s most memorable angles during her WWE tenure. James was first seen in WWE when she saved Stratus from Victoria; later, she confessed to Stratus that she was a superfan of hers. Stratus even said she recognized her name, remembering that she’d gotten a lot of fan mail from James, who would later earn a title match against Stratus at New Year’s Revolution in 2006. Still an obsessed fan, James took it as an honor, but things would take a turn after the mistletoe incident. Stratus finally spoke up about how uncomfortable she was with James’s obsessive behavior, which only worsened things. James constantly pleaded for Stratus’s attention before attacking her at Saturday Night’s Main Event, setting the stage for their long-awaited fight at WrestleMania. This match not only delivered on all of this buildup, but is well worth the rewatch.
Paige and AJ Lee Vs. the Bella Twins
WrestleMania 31
AJ Lee and Paige were not the traditional divas. They didn’t want fans to focus on their bodies, but on their in-ring ability. You can say they walked so that the current women’s division could run. Lee and Paige started as rivals. In her debut the night after WrestleMania 30, Paige ended Lee’s 295-day reign with the Divas Championship, and they went on to battle back and forth for months. On the opposite end of the division were Nikki and Brie Bella, who represented the “divas” personae that WWE was focusing on; even though the twin sisters were feuding, they continued to be the division’s main emphasis. Lee and Paige decided to align to loosen the Bellas’ stranglehold over the division. While Brie and Nikki didn’t see eye to eye, they reminded Lee and Paige of their familial bond, linking up to settle the score in a bout that showcased the future of women’s wrestling in WWE.
Charlotte Flair Vs. Sasha Banks Vs. Becky Lynch
WrestleMania 32
WrestleMania 32 solidified the positive change that was happening in the women’s division. After years of short “bathroom break” matches, the women would finally get something they deserved: time. On NXT, Flair, Banks, and Lynch not only put on banger matches, but regularly stole the show. Now on the main roster, they were given the same opportunities and a focus on their in-ring ability over their looks. On the preshow, the Divas Championship that Charlotte had held was retired, and WWE Hall of Famer Lita introduced the brand-new WWE Women’s Championship, which had a belt that looked similar to that for the men’s WWE Championship. Each woman in this bout would go on to have epic WrestleMania matches in their careers—even main-eventing the show—but this was truly the beginning of a new era.
Charlotte Flair Vs. Asuka
WrestleMania 34
WrestleMania 34 was the first WrestleMania event after the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble. The winner, Asuka, earned the right to select her opponent at WrestleMania. However, she took the advice of Stephanie McMahon and waited until after both the Raw and SmackDown women’s championships were defended at Elimination Chamber and Fastlane, eventually choosing Flair.
Back in 2017, the year before WrestleMania 34, Asuka’s 510-day run as NXT Women’s Champion had been cut short by injury. Instead of returning to NXT when she recovered, Asuka went to the main roster and continued her dominance. WrestleMania 34 would serve as her biggest test yet as she faced Flair, putting her undefeated streak on the line.
Charlotte Flair Vs. Becky Lynch Vs. Ronda Rousey
WrestleMania 35
WrestleMania 35 was the culmination of the work WWE had put into the women’s division, starting with WrestleMania 32. The women on the WWE main roster were firing on all cylinders, and now the baddest woman on the planet, Ronda Rousey, was a WWE Superstar and the Raw Women’s Champion in 2018.
The story truly began when Lynch caught fire and became “The Man.” She was simply must-see TV. After getting hurt, Lynch selected Flair to replace her and compete against Rousey at Survivor Series. When Lynch recovered, she won the Royal Rumble and then chose Rousey as her opponent at WrestleMania due to their unfinished business. Meanwhile, Flair regained the SmackDown Women’s title, and because she had unfinished business with Rousey, WWE placed the three women in a triple-threat match, winner takes all. Because of Rousey’s star power, Flair’s natural ability and crossover appeal, and Lynch’s hot streak, this match officially became the main event of WrestleMania 35, just four years after the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance went viral.
Sasha Banks Vs. Bianca Belair
WrestleMania 37
WrestleMania 37 was the first WWE show in front of a live audience after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The final match of Night 1 featured something many of us thought we would never see: two Black women who main-evented for a women’s championship. Banks had seen a resurgence in her career after she returned from the hiatus she took in the spring of 2019. Sporting blue hair, she was on a different level. Banks and her best friend, Bayley, had played vital roles in keeping the world entertained during the pandemic, winning tag team gold. However, Bayley soon turned on Banks, who got redemption by taking the women’s title away from her former partner.
Bianca Belair, who was called to the Raw roster the night after WrestleMania 36, had a year to establish herself as a contender, and she capped it off by winning the 2021 Royal Rumble. Belair chose Banks as her WrestleMania opponent. This match was not based on a blood feud; Banks was looking for her first WrestleMania win, while Belair was looking for her first WWE title (the SmackDown Women’s title that Banks was holding at the time). Belair started the match feeling the emotion, and once they started working, Banks and Belair exceeded expectations, winning an ESPY later that year for Best WWE Moment.
Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
WrestleMania 39
There were many complaints about the lack of buildup for Flair vs. Ripley. But understand one thing: This match delivered. Many had hoped that Ripley, who had won the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble and was already on a path to dominance, would be the main event on Night 1 of WrestleMania 39, but that didn’t happen.
Flair and Ripley had previously faced each other for the NXT Women’s Title at WrestleMania 36, after Flair had won the Royal Rumble. WWE built the WrestleMania 36 match around Ripley’s lack of experience in stadium shows. (The irony was that that year’s WrestleMania had to be held in the WWE Performance Center instead of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa because of the COVID-19 pandemic.) But WrestleMania 39 would be different for Ripley, the 2023 Rumble winner. Her stage presence had entirely changed, and nothing Flair said about her in 2020 held water four years later. Ripley and Flair locked horns and had one of the hardest-hitting matches in Hollywood that weekend, setting the stage for (spoiler alert) Ripley’s continued dominance throughout 2023 and her upcoming bout against Lynch at WrestleMania XL, in keeping with the modern tradition of putting on the best women’s matches on the grandest stage of them all.
