411’s WWE 50 Greatest Women Superstars (#5 – 1) Report

-Welcome to the final installment of this countdown that has been stretched over 5 straight days. All totaled this countdown clocks in at just around 4 hours. We are pretty certain we know the 5 remaining names and now we see how they are ranked. Thanks to everyone for the discussion each night in the comments section. I am used to only a handful of comments with Main Event and 205 Live so this has been a fun experience. Let’s get to it!

-As a reminder the WWE set this countdown to only include those from the Modern Era (1993-present).

-Sarah Schreiber welcomes us back for the final time.

5: Asuka
-RAW Women’s Champion; 2 Time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion; 914 Day Undefeated Streak

-Weird, they didn’t list first Women’s Royal Rumble winner. William Regal got the honors of announce Asuka’s NXT signing in the Fall of 2015 and she dominated the divison like nobody has before or since. Asuka murdering women in NXT was great and it was just a matter of time until she took the NXT Women’s Championship. Unfortunately for Bayley she was the champion at the time and Asuka put her to sleep to claim the crown at Takeover Dallas. From there she just continued to win and nobody really even looked like a threat to her. Asuka had her final NXT match in a win over Moon and with the division cleared out she relinquished the title at 523 days and moved on to the Main Roster. The way send off she got from NXT was great and it was something different to let someon leave a “territory” without taking a loss. Asuka ended up on RAW and made history by winning the first Women’s Royal Rumble. This seemingly set up a crowning moment at WrestleMania against Charlotte, but a funny thing happened. After 914 days, Asuka finally lost as Charlotte got the upset win at WrestleMania. Great match, but Asuka should have gone over there even if just to pay off the Rumble win. On top of that they had her tap-out and then shakes hands with Charlotte. Asuka eventualy won the SD Women’s Title at TLC and then formed a great team with Sane where they win Tag Gold. During the pandemic Asuka won the Corporate Money in the Bank which ended up being for the RAW Women’s Title due to Lych’s pregnancy. That was kind of a genius way to work around that actually. Asuka is great and it’s nice to see her in the Top 5.

4: Chyna
-WWE Women’s Champion; WWE Intercontinental Champion; WWE Hall of Famer

-The Ninth Wonder of The World! That was actually a wonderful nickname. Chyna debuted at In Your House Final Four in 1997 as HHH’s bodyguard during his feud with Goldust. She was definitely an upgrade from Mr. Hughes as the dynamic of having a bad ass woman as a bodyguard was a great heater. Chyna soon became an integral part of DX as Shawn and HHH were great playing off her. In an era dominated by men she held her in and became the first woman to enter The Royal Rumble Match. She made history again at No Mercy when she beat Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title in a Good House Keeping Match. Some hated it, but too me it was fine. Chyna finally entered the Women’s division and nobody was a threat as she mauled Ivory to win the Women’s Championship at WrestleMania X-7. I mean there was a point where Chyna winning the WWF Title was tossed around and I think was evenly considered. She took her place in The Hall of Fame with the rest of DX and Shawn gave a wonderful tribute to her. Oh man, her pairing with Eddie Guerrero was tremendous! Rest in Peace!

-Next up they acknowledge the greats from past eras:

–Wendi Richter: The top star of the division during the rise of the WWF in the early 80s.

–Leilani Kai: Part of The Glamour Girls. She held the Women’s Title and Women’s Tag Titles.

–Fabulous Moolah: Longest reigning Women’s Champion of All Time. They included her which will please some and anger others.

–Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki (The Jumping Bomb Angels): To this day I remember watching their match at Rumble and being blown away so obviously they were impressive.

–Sensation Sherri: Most know her as a manager, but before that she was a bad ass in the ring. She has held the AWA and WWF Women’s Championships. Her pairing with Savage was amazing and Shawn will tell you how much she meant to his career. Same with Harlem Heat.

–Rockin Robin: Another mainstay from the 1980s and she won the Women’s Title from Sherri.

–Mae Young: Her run in the Attidue Era made her even more famous and the WWE has honored her with The Hall of Fame and Mae Young Classic. Good stuff!

3: Becky Lynch
-3 Time SmackDown Women’s Champion; RAW Women’s Champion; 2019 Royal Rumble Winner

-The Man! Becky debuted in NXT and wore a bunch a green and did some Irish dances. Yep! The fans in NXT loved her though and a makeover thanks to Steam Punk helped greatly. She tore it up in NXT as part of the Horsewomen and a match with Sasha put her on the map. She was called up to the Main Roster along with Charlotte and Sasha Banks. With those two she stole the show at WrestleMania 32 in a match that ended the Divas Era and started the Woman Superstars Era. After the brand split Lynch became the first SmackDown Women’s Champion. Even with all that nobody could have predicted what was to come for Becky. She turned heel on Charlotte, except the fans didn’t want to boo her. She became a cocky, ass kicker and the fans only cheered her more. No mention of the Nia punch, but they do show the now famous video of her celebrating with fans as blood poured down her face. Becky wins the Royal Rumble and its seems Lynch vs Rousey is set for Mania, but Charlotte gets shoehorned into the feud and then the SmackDown Women’s Title is factored in as well. No matter as the end result was Lynch pinning Rousey to win both Championships to close WrestleMania.

2: Charlotte
-4 Time RAW Women’s Champion; 5 Time SmackDown Women’s Champion; 2 Time NXT Women’s Champion

-Well, we know who #1 is now. I am sure Charlotte will get there at some point though because she has a lot of years left in the business. The daughter of the legendary Ric Flair and while the name alone would have gotten her far, she proved herself over and over. I know there is some hate out there for how much she is always in the title scene, but she brings the goods in the ring and has been in the work. Charlotte, like the rest of the Horsewomen, made her name in NXT and everyone was wondering if they would ever be given the chance on the Main Roster. The Divas Revolution began when Charlotte was moved to the Main Roster with Becky and Sasha. Charlotte ended Nikki Bella’s moster reign as Divas Champion and she ended up being the final Divas Champion as at WrestleMania 32, The Women’s Champion was reintroduced and Charlotte took him that title in a great match against Banks and Lynch. That probably should have been Sasha’s night, but I can see why the wanted Charlotte being the first person to hold that title. Charlotte and Sasha participated in the first Women’s Hell in a Cell Match and then Charlotte ended the undefeated streak of Asuka. As noted earlier, that probably shouldn’t have happened. Charlotte then Main Events WrestleMania the following year with Rousey and Lynch. Charlotte won The Rumble in 2020 (probably should have been Shayna) and knocked off Ripley at WrestleMania for the NXT Title. Charlotte has lived up to her famous last name!

1: Trish Stratus
-7 Time WWE Women’s Champion; WWE Hall of Famer; Diva of The Decade

-I am totally fine with this selection. What makes Trish amazing is that she started out as just eye candy for Test and Albert in 2000. She wanted to be more though and made the transition to full time wrestler. She worked hard to turn herself into a heck of wrestler and to get people to buy into a Women’s Division that was more than just bras and panties matches. Trish won her first Women’s Title at Sruvivor Series 2001 and then had the unfortunate task of following Rock/Hogan at Mania X-8. That had to suck! Trish became a mega star and we can’t forget the heel turn that made me a fan for life. She was named Diva of the Decade at RAW X which was kind of bogus as he had only been in the company for 3 years and probably should have been Sunny or Sable, but getting annoyed at WWE’s awards is silly. Trish then won her final Women’s Title in her hometown in what was her retirement match against Lita. Great match and moment! As I mentioned in the last episode, Trish vs Lita as awesome. Trish took her plac ein the Hall of Fame and I remember the crowd booing the crap out of her husband. I mean, boo him all you want, but he gets to go home to Trish every night. Trish came out of retirement for the first Women’s Rumble, Evolution PPV, and had a wonderful match in a passing of the torch kind of moment with Charlotte at SummerSlam. That match also showed Trish would have more than held her own in this current era. Again, I feel they got the top choice right.

-That concludes this 5 night Countdown and I found it enjoyable and a great trip down memory lane. It has made for some great discussion and hopefully introduced a newer audience to some women that paved the road for the current Women’s Division. I am hoping they do more of these as you can always go back to the men (last one they did years ago was a joke as they had Hogan in the 20s) or one for tag teams. Thanks for reading!