TJR Blog React: WWE Top 10 Video on Greatest Title Victories by WWE’s Female Superstars
It is WWE Evolution weekend (check out our Evolution preview here) and with that in mind, WWE chose to release a Top 10 video on their Youtube page celebrating the Ten Greatest Title Victories by WWE’s Female Superstars.
I think WWE usually does a pretty good job on their top ten videos that they release every Saturday and Monday, so from time to time I plan on writing about their choices.
What I’ll do is go over this top ten list, offer my take on the moment and then at the end I’ll let you know where my order might have looked different. The video runs 4:31 and I’ll post it at the bottom of this post.
10. Mickie’s Moment (James over Stratus at WM22 in 2006)
This was WrestleMania 22 when Mickie won her first Women’s Title by beating Trish Stratus. It is one of the best women’s rivalries in WWE history. When you think of the mind games in the build up to the match and how it took them six months to get them to this point, that helped this match a lot. The match was good aside from a few mistakes at the end, but as a moment it’s pretty awesome. I would put it in a better spot than ten.
9. Clincher for Chyna (Chyna over Ivory at WM17 in 2001)
Chyna’s first and only Women’s Title was a win over Ivory at WrestleMania 17. Chyna did a big injury leading up to the match and then came back to win this match easily. She was gone soon after when she found out Triple H cheated on her with Stephanie, so WWE released her because Princess Stephanie was probably scared of her. WrestleMania 17 is the greatest WWE PPV ever, but it’s definitely not because of this match.
8. The First ‘Mania (Richter over Kai at WM1 in 1985)
Wendi Richter beat Leilani Kai for the Women’s Title at WrestleMania 1. I rated the match a DUD in my WM1 review because it was awful, but I guess it deserves a spot as a title change at the first Mania. I’d probably put it at #10 on this list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TezwU7Hccs
7. Hail to the Boss (Banks over Charlotte at Raw 2016)
Charlotte (not using the Flair name yet) and Sasha Banks had a long feud in the second half of 2016 with six title changes between July 2016 and December 2016. It was ridiculous, but the matches were good. This clip showed Banks winning the Raw Women’s Title in a Falls Count Anywhere match on November 28, 2016, on Raw that ended with Banks doing a Bank Statement submission against a railing while they were in the crowd. Also, it was fitting that this match was in the city of Charlotte…funny how that works huh?
6. Blayze-ing A Trail (Blayze over Nakano at Raw 1995)
This was the second Women’s Title win for Alundra Blayze when she defeated Bull Nakano for the title on the April 3, 1995 edition of Raw. Blayze won with a bridging German Suplex. Blayze left the title later that year and jumped to WCW where she famously (or infamously) dropped the WWF Women’s Title in the trash. It wasn’t until the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015 when she was welcomed back into the WWE family.
5. First Smackdown Champ (Becky Lynch at Backlash 2016)
Following the second WWE brand split in 2016, a new Smackdown Women’s Title was created. The original champion was to be determined in a six-woman elimination match that was on by Becky Lynch when she slapped the Dis-Harm-Her submission on Carmella to win the match and her first title in WWE at a Smackdown only PPV called Backlash 2016. The ovation for the title win was pretty huge for Lynch. Big moment for her.
4. Main Event Magic (Lita over Trish at Raw 2004)
The first ever women’s match to main event Raw took place on December 6, 2004 when Trish Stratus defended against Lita. This clip showed Lita hitting a modified Twist of Fate neckbreaker followed by a moonsault off the top for the title win. That also drew a massive ovation from the crowd. I’m surprised this wasn’t in the top three since WWE puts it over as a huge moment in women’s wrestling history, which it was. I think four is where it belongs.
3. Paige’s Debut (Paige over AJ Lee at Raw 2014)
I was at this one the night after WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans. Paige did great in NXT and she was really popular. She challenged Divas Champion AJ Lee to a match right there, which led to AJ accepting and Paige won the title in a quick match with the Paige Turner. Paige was only 21 years old at the time of the match. It was a great moment to be at live and watching it again brought back some fun memories. I don’t know if I would put it in the top three, though.
2. Grandest Triumph (Charlotte over Becky and Sasha at WM32 in 2016)
This is another match that I was at. It was WrestleMania 32 in Dallas when WWE finally got rid of the “divas” name and rebranded the title as the Women’s Title with Charlotte defending against Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. Charlotte was already champ going in, but it felt new since it was a Women’s Title again. I thought it was the best match at that WrestleMania and is probably the best women’s match at any WrestleMania. I rated it at **** out of five. There was a controversial finish with Charlotte slapping on tFigureere Eight on Becky while her dad Ric Flair held Banks to prevent her from breaking it up. Those Flairs are good at cheating!
1. Happy Homecoming (Trish over Lita at Unforgiven 2006)
The retirement of Trish Stratus gets the top spot, which is understandable because it was a big moment. The event was Unforgiven 2006 in Trish’s hometown of Toronto. It was against Lita, but this time the roles were reversed with Lita as the heel champion and Trish as the face challenger. Trish slapped on the Sharpshooter (Bret Hart’s finisher that Canadian fans love more than anybody) and it didn’t look as good as when Bret, Owen or Natalya do it, but it got the job done because Lita tapped out. The crowd loved it too, so that’s what matters. Good choice for the number one spot.
My Reaction to WWE’s List
The biggest omission to me is Bayley beating Sasha Banks for the NXT Women’s Title at NXT Takeover Brooklyn in 2015. Maybe this is a main roster list only, so perhaps that is why they left it off.
The most shocking thing about this list is that WWE didn’t include Ronda Rousey winning the Raw Women’s Title at SummerSlam this year. There’s also no sign of Nikki Bella, who is main eventing Evolution against Ronda Rousey. I thought maybe Nia Jax at WrestleMania this year would be in here too. She’s not like most girls, after all. A lot of great women’s wrestlers are not on here either.
Here’s how I would order the ten choices that WWE came up with.
10. The First ‘Mania (Richter over Kai at WM1 in 1985)
9. Clincher for Chyna (Chyna over Ivory at WM17 in 2001)
8. Blayze-ing A Trail (Blayze over Nakano at Raw 1993)
7. Hail to the Boss (Banks over Charlotte at Raw 2016)
6. Paige’s Debut (Paige over AJ Lee at Raw 2014)
5. First Smackdown Champ (Becky Lynch at Backlash 2016)
4. Main Event Magic (Lita over Trish at Raw 2004)
3. Mickie’s Moment (James over Stratus at WM22 in 2006) – I don’t think I’m biased because Mickie is my favorite. It was the best story of any match on here and it was an incredible moment at a WrestleMania.
2. Grandest Triumph (Charlotte over Becky and Sasha at WM32 in 2016) – Clearly the best match on here in terms of quality, so it has to be top three.
1. Happy Homecoming (Trish over Lita at Unforgiven 2006) – I’m fine with it being number one because it was Trish’s retirement as a full-timer.
Let me know what you think about WWE’s list, then my list and feel free to offer up your own choices.
Thanks for reading. My contact info is below. Go Los Angeles Rams, Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs.
John Canton
Email mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport