The Magnificent Seven: The Top 7 WWE Women’s Matches

Over the last four years, NXT has emerged as not only WWE’s developmental property, but also a distinct brand in its own right. It’s a brand that quite arguably features more consistently strong in-ring performance and booking than the WWE main roster itself. And it’s a brand that revitalized women’s wrestling on the national scene in the United States.

Sasha Banks. Bayley. Becky Lynch. Charlotte. Paige. Emma. Asuka. The women’s roster in NXT has been truly remarkable, and has put on truly remarkable matches. Most of these performers have advanced to the main roster, and unfortunately have not been as successful there (I’d argue this has more to do with booking and opportunities given than any limitations of the performers themselves). This got me thinking about great matches in the history of women’s wrestling in WWE—when it has worked and why.

So, this week I’m counting down the top seven women’s matches in WWE history, which includes matches from NXT and when WWE was known as the WWF. My focus was on stand-alone match quality, with far less weight on storyline or long-term ramifications.

Author’s Note: Due to constraints, this column was written and submitted before WrestleMania 32 weekend, when I fully expect Bayley vs. Asuka may challenge for a spot on the countdown. Please note that that match (in addition to Charlotte-Sasha Banks-Becky Lynch at WrestleMania) were not in consideration because they hadn’t happened yet when this list was assembled.

#7. Paige vs. Emma at NXT Arrival

For our first entry in the countdown, we go back to the original NXT special on the WWE Network, which in many ways set the tone for NXT specials to follow and the brand of women’s wrestling that NXT would offer for years to come. This was a rematch after Paige defeated Emma to become the first NXT Women’s Champion, and saw Emma as the aggressor, focusing on brutal submission holds to wear down Paige and tease tap outs.

At the climax of the bout, Paige rallied to hit the Paige Turner, which Emma became the first woman to kick out from. From there, Paige applied what would become known as the PTO to capture the victory at the end of an emotional, hard-hitting match. This match tends to get overlooked given the stellar work of NXT’s Four Horsewomen and the years to follow, and given that neither Paige, or particularly Emma has put on a match of this caliber on the main roster. Just the same, it’s an outstanding bout it in its own right that put down the foundation for even better NXT women’s matches to follow.

#6. Charlotte vs. Natalya at NXT Takeover

In just the second NXT live special, Charlotte and Natalya put on a worthy successor to Paige-Emma that I’d argue just bested its predecessor. The match remains, quite arguably, the best of Charlotte’s career, and a real showcase for what Natalya is capable of without tight time restrictions and poorly trained opponents. The story of this match was two skilled competitors—one a veteran, the other still new, each desperately grasping for her signature submission hold to put the other away.

Some additional bells and whistles that put this match over the top: in contention was the vacant NXT Women’s Championship, meaning the winner would lead the way for the next stages of the NXT women’s division. In addition, WWE shrewdly placed Charlotte’s father Ric Flair in her corner, and Natalya’s uncle Bret Hart in her corner to draw additional eyes and gravitas to this bout. Fortunately, the legendary old men remained pieces of background staging rather than active participants in the match and Charlotte and Natalya shone brightly in a very good technical bout, capped by Charlotte picking up the win with the Figure Eight.

#5. Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James at WrestleMania 22

During The Attitude Era, women’s wrestling in the WWF came into its own, seeing the rise of acts like Lita, Victoria, Ivory, Jacqueline, Molly Holly, Jazz, and, of course, Trish Stratus. Each of these women had distinctive identities and they went on to produce some solid feuds and matchups for their time.

In the aftermath of Attitude, things looked to trail off a bit. While some of the major players were still around, Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle, Stacey Keibler, and other women who never exactly mastered their craft as in-ring performers were starting to take hold and foretell a less auspicious class of female performers to come.

And then there was Mickie James.

WWE turned to the old stand-by of a crazy lesbian obsession angle to position James as Stratus’s ally-turned-rival in the build to WrestleMania 22. The two collided at the show in a terrifically odd atmosphere, in which James was finally working full-blown heel, but also getting cheered by the Chicago crowd—in appreciation of James’s fine work, in celebration of a promising new act, and, probably, just to be a contrary.

This was a solidly worked, heated match, with an unforgettable climax (unforgettable despite, or maybe in part because WWE edited it out of the DVD release and Network version) in which James—ahem—took advantage of Stratus and then licked her fingers. This was one of Stratus’s last great performances as a full-time performer, and a star-making outing for James, who unfortunately also seemed to peak at this moment.

#4. Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano at SummerSlam 1994

In the early-to-mid-1990s, the WWF took a stab at reviving women’s wrestling in the mainstream. I don’t know that they could have chosen any better face to anchor the division around than Alundra Blayze; the former Madusa was a legitimately great, seasoned in-ring performer, with a high impact move set. Moreover, I don’t know that WWF could have chosen any better arch-nemesis for her than Bull Nakano—a powerful, athletic, technically savvy, insane-looking monster heel. Together, the two assembled a terrific string of hard-hitting matches, the likes of which had never been seen in mainstream American women’s wrestling up to that point, in a rivalry that ultimately saw Blayze drop her Women’s Championship to Nakano in Japan, then win it back in the States.

Their first televised bout, and the one that garnered the most attention, though, came at SummerSlam 1994. Nakano came across as nary unbeatable with all manner offense that was fresh to the American audience—particularly that inverted sharpshooter with double chickenwing hold that Paige later adopted as the PTO, and her vicious-looking guillotine leg drop off the top rope.

While Blayze was already reasonably popular and over with WWF fans of the day, this match cemented her, and by extension the women’s division, as very, very serious for a short spell, before a Blayze’s program with Bertha Faye (a neutered version of Ronda Sing) and Harvey Wippleman put an end to all of that.

#3. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover: Respect

Something strange happened in 2015. After two years of steadily gaining momentum, the cream of the crop of NXT’s women’s division arrived as not only some of the greatest female wrestlers of all-time, but arguably the greatest performers regardless of gender in the wrestling world. Bayley and Sasha Banks were the deserved beneficiaries of this situation, as they were ultimately awarded the first women’s main event for a WWE Network live special-caliber event, headlining NXT Takeover: Respect in a thirty-minute Iron Man Match.

Iron Man Matches can be tricky. I’m actually a sucker for the gimmick, but will be the first to admit that if such a match is not carefully plotted, or if the performers at hand are not in the appropriate condition to thrive across the time limit, the result can be one of the most boring match-types in wrestling, which have a tendency to leave viewers counting down to the final minutes when a meaningful sequence will take shape to declare a winner.

Fortunately, Bayley, Sasha Banks, and whoever else contributed to putting this match together were on point. The action never faltered and the action told a brilliant story of Banks as the desperate, unethical heel, willing to stop at nothing to pick up falls, while Bayley valiantly battled back. The match played on the history of the rivalry, including Banks tormenting Bayley’s little fan Izzy, Bayley working over Sasha’s hand, and the final fall seeing Bayley kick at Banks’s headd while she had her trapped–not unlike the way Banks had kicked Bayley’s hand while she was in the Banks Statement in their previous bout—to pick up the submission.

While this match wasn’t quite as good as the Bayley-Banks match to precede it, it’s a memorable piece of business for running the full thirty minutes in a main event spot, and continued to demonstrate just what today’s top female stars are capable of in a WWE ring.

#2. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

When Sasha Banks and Bayley squared off for the NXT Women’s Championship in Brooklyn, it was not the first time they wrestled. Moreover, the outcome of the match was fairly predictable. Banks had already moved up to the main roster and Bayley was far and away the best qualified performer to anchor the NXT women’s division from there.

So how does a rematch with a predictable outcome become an all-time classic? In this case, it’s a confluence of two performers each playing her part to a tee. Banks, the ruthless heel. Bayley, the never say die face. While it’s a bit of a stretch, you could argue that this was a modern-day reimagining of Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair. By no means did this match have quite that gravitas or level of promo work behind it, but when it came to athleticism and building in-ring drama, I’d argue these two women came alarmingly close. This was main event level material (as these two women getting the main event spot at the next NXT special would attest) and really did have the feel of a passing-the-torch/coronation moment.

Perhaps best of all, this match created doubt as to its outcome. As Banks took apart Bayley—in particular stomping on her hand—I considered that Banks may actually retain her title and WWE might string along a longer storyline of her straddling NXT and the main roster, or maybe challenging to unify each of the titles. But just as that doubt took hold, Bayley fought back to hit a reverse super-rana, en route to one last Bayley to Belly to pick up the win.

There are plenty of folks who would argue that this was the match of the year for 2015, and by extension that it ought to top this countdown. I can totally understand and respect that perspective—particularly given the dramatic finish that paid off months, if not years of storylines and afforded the fans an awesome feel good moment. I do, however, have just one match that I place above it.

#1. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable

Here’s where personal opinion is unavoidable in these countdown columns, and I’ll own it. I saw Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks at the end of a very long day of work, after it had already been spoiled for me that Samoa Joe debuted at the end of the show. In truth, I decided to watch the show that night first and foremost to catch a glimpse of Joe on the WWE Network.

Then Lynch-Banks happened.

I was up to date on the NXT specials, but rarely watched NXT outside of that. While the women’s matches at these shows had impressed me leading up to this show, I still maintained my decades-long WWE-taught skepticism about how good a women’s match would ever be under the company’s banner.

Lynch vs. Banks blew me away. The psychology of each of them working the other’s arm was so effective and sold brilliantly by each performer. I totally bought on the false finishes of submission hold after submission hold. I loved the dynamic of Lynch being the bigger, stronger of the two, and Banks being the smarter, meaner, more conniving heel. I loved the finish, and all the more so I loved Banks’s smirk as she walked up the ramp and Lynch beautifully selling the devastation of coming so close to winning, only to have submit to your arch-rival, as she cried in the ring.

I haven’t doubted NXT women’s wrestling since.

This was the kind of match that demonstrated women can put on every bit as entertaining, hard-hitting, and well-executed of a match as their male counterparts, furthered by a level of emotional resonance that so few male performers have proven themselves capable of replicating. While I suspect that this, and every other bout on this countdown, may need to watch its back as the world readies itself for Bayley-Asuka in Dallas, for now, it Lynch-Banks stands tall as my pick for the all-time best women’s match in WWE.

Which matches would you add to the list? The women’s elimination tag match at the 1987 Survivor Series, the WrestleMania 18 and 19 triple threats, the women’s fatal fourway from NXT Takeover: Rival, Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon at SummerSlam 2014, and both Emma vs. Asuka and Bayley vs. Nia Jax at NXT Takeover: London were among my top runners up. Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Read more from Mike Chin at his website and follow him on Twitter @miketchin.