Kevin Eck
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With the Mae Young Classic putting the spotlight on women’s wrestling —the finals of the women’s tournament airs live on WWE Network on Sept. 12 —here’s a list of the top 10 women wrestlers in WWE history.
The list is WWE-centric, meaning that only women who performed in WWE were eligible. For women who competed in multiple promotions, only their WWE accomplishments were taken into account.
Note: Rankings are based on overall impact as an in-ring competitor. Women who were primarily managers/valets rather than wrestlers were not considered.
Sensational Sherri
While Sherrimanaged the likes of Ric Flair, Randy Savage, “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and Shawn Michaels, she was alsoa superb wrestler. In her 1987 WWE debut, Sherri won the WWE Women’s Title from her mentor, the Fabulous Moolah, and went on to hold the championship for 15 months. In 1989, Sherri was a team captain in the first women’s traditional Survivor Series match.
Sherri, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006, died in 2007 at 49.
Alundra Blayze
Better known as Madusa — the name she performed under outside of WWE —Blayze was the centerpiece of the women’s division when WWE reactivated its women’s title in 1993. Blayze, who employed an athletic, hard-hitting in-ring style, held the WWE Women’s Championship three times between December 1993 and December 1995. During that time, she had a memorable title program with legendary Japanese star Bull Nakano.
In an infamous moment during the Monday Night War, Blayze’s final title reign in WWE ended when she showed up on “WCW Monday Nitro” and dropped the WWE Championship belt into a trash can. Blayze was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015.
Wendi Richter
Richter was a key figure in WWE’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling era in the mid-'80s. When pop star Cyndi Lauper feuded with legendary WWE manager CaptainLou Albano, it culminated with Richter (representing Lauper) defeating Fabulous Moolah (representing Albano) for the WWE Women’s Title —thus ending Moolah’s supposed 28-year title reign —in a match billed as “The Brawl to End It All” that was televised live on MTV in 1984.
Richter became a two-time champion when she regained the title from Leilani Kai at the first WrestleMania in 1985. Richter’s second and final reign came to an unceremonious end later that year when she was legitimately double-crossed and pinned by Moolah in a match that has come to be known as “The Original Screwjob.” Richter left WWE shortly thereafter and did not return until 2010 when she was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Sasha Banks
“The Boss” has been among those at the forefront of WWE’s “women’s revolution” the past two years. Banks and arch-rival Charlotte Flair have elevated the women’s division to unprecedented heights as they traded the "RAW"Women’s Championshipback and forth in a series of outstanding matches.
The two main-evented “RAW” multiple times and also became the first women to headline a WWE pay-per-view when they faced each other in the first women’s Hell in a Cell Match at the Hell in a Cell show in 2016. Banks and Charlotte have both held the "RAW"Women’s Title a record four times.
AJ Lee
She rose to prominence in WWE in 2011-12 for her role as a non-wrestling character in main-event angles with the likes of John Cena, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk (who would become her real-life husband) and Kane, but Leelater went on to become a three-time WWE Divas Champion.
Her first reign as Divas Champion lasted a then-record 296 days. AJ had high-profile title programs with Paige, Kaitlyn and Nikki Bella, and at WrestleMania XXX she successfully defended the title in a 14-woman match. Lee abruptly retired in 2015 at 28.
Charlotte Flair
Talk about having huge shoes to fill, but the daughter of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair has become one of the greatest women’s wrestlers in WWE history in just a little over two years on the main roster.
The athletically gifted Flair not only is the best all-around performer in the current women’s division, but she’s also among the best in WWE regardless of gender. She and arch rival Sasha Banks have engaged in a heated rivalry over the "RAW"Women’s Championship that has featured a number of ground-breaking achievements, including the first women’s Iron Man match in WWE history, which lasted 34 minutes.
The Fabulous Moolah
Moolah, who made her wrestling debut in 1949 and wrestled her last match in 2003, was synonymous with women’s wrestling throughout her career. The first of her four official reigns as women’s champion began in 1956 and is billed as having lasted 28 years (she actually lost and regained the title numerous times during that span).
Moolah won the championship for the final time in 1999 at 76, easily making her the oldest WWE Women’s Champion ever. The only reason Moolah isn’t at the top of this list is because women’s wrestling largely was regarded as a novelty act during her era, much like midget wrestling was.
Moolahwas inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1995, died in 2007 at 84.
Trish Stratus
The blonde bombshell began her WWE career in 2000 as the manager of mid-card tag team Test and Albert, who were known as T&A (subtle, right?). Stratus would prove to be much more than eye candy, however. She went on to win the WWE Women’s Championship a record seven times, and only Fabulous Moolah held the title longer.
Stratus engaged in a memorable rivalry with Lita over the championship, including a match in 2004 that marked just the second time a women’s match main-evented “RAW.”
Stratus won her final title in 2006, as she defeated Lita and then retired as champion. She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Lita
With her high-flying lucha libre moves and punk rock look, Lita quickly grabbed fans’ attention after joining WWE in 2000. A member of the hugely popular Team Xtreme along with The Hardy Boyz, Lita won the the WWE Women’s Championship four times. Her rivalry with Trish Stratus significantly raised both the profile and the quality of women’s wrestling in WWE.
Lita participated in the first two women’s matches to main event “RAW” —against Stephanie McMahon in 2000and Stratus in 2004. She also wrestled in the first women’s steel cage match, against Victoria in 2003. Lita, who retired in 2006, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014.
Chyna
“The Ninth Wonder of the World” broke the mold for female wrestlers after bursting onto the scene in WWE in 1997 as the bodyguard for Triple H and going on to become one of the biggest stars of the Attitude Era. Although her WWE career lasted just four years, there’s no denying the impact she made.
Chyna, one of the original members of DX along with Triple H and Shawn Michaels, initially competed exclusively against men. She became the first female Intercontinental Champion, first woman to participate in the Royal Rumble match and first woman to compete in the King of the Ring tournament.
Chyna eventually moved to the women’s division, winning the WWE Women’s Title at WrestleMania X-7 and holding it for seven months before vacating the championship and leaving WWE. Chyna died in 2016at 46.
