From “Bathroom Break matches” to headlining pay-per-view events, the women of professional

wrestling have fought for their respect in the profession and earned it tenfold. Keep reading for
four stunning displays of talent from the women of the world of professional entertainment.

4. AJ Lee & Paige vs The Bella Twins, Wrestlemania 31

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbog41VdZEI

AJ Lee, Paige, and The Bella Twins are perhaps the most memorable stars to emerge
from their sometimes unmemorable 2010s Diva era of women’s wrestling. This match had them
cast in the roles they are best at: AJ Lee as the crazy geek girl, Paige as the loudmouth goth
misfit, and The Bella Twins as the beautiful celebrity success stories. Before the match, the
group gives a ​great promo​ to set the fight up: Paige and AJ Lee represent the misfits and
oddballs, and The Bellas represent the archetypal popular girls. Who can’t relate to that?

It’s Paige’s first Wrestlemania moment and AJ Lee’s last (explaining the very emotional
“Thank you so much” Paige tearfully murmurs to AJ at the end of the match. She gives her last
ever match at the next show without announcing it, quietly bowing out of the company without
the fanfare her tenure would’ve earned.) This match gives the viewer everything they want. It’s a
comfort match with nothing on the line because a women’s tag belt didn’t exist yet. It punctuates
the era of women’s wrestling when they ran the show. Some might say it soared to greater
heights afterward with likes of the Four Horsewomen, but these women helped lay the
foundation that today’s stars could stand on.

3. Bayley vs Sasha Banks: NXT Takeover Brooklyn

https://www.wwe.com/videos/sasha-banks-vs-bayley-nxt-womens-championship-match-nxt-take
over-brooklyn-full-match-wwe-network-exclusive

This match needs no introduction. One of the most iconic women’s matches of all time,
and it’s not even on the main roster for the general public to view. Bayley is a classic babyface
heroic underdog, and Sasha is the classic villainous, cocky-but-competent reigning champ.
Bayley is beloved, but has never gotten the title, and Sasha is respected and admired for her
skill, but playing a villain who literally makes children in the audience cry. Their feud is long and
intense, but in real life, the two are best friends, making it even sweeter that these two get to
have this iconic match together that cements them in history. As memorable as the match itself
is the celebration at the end, with Bayley standing triumphant and Sasha Banks blurring the
lines between reality and character to get up to hug her in front of the crowd that loves them
both. How often do you have a match with the crowd loving both the underdog hero and the
conniving villain? And then, Charlotte and Becky Lynch, that other half of the four horsewomen,
get in the ring to celebrate with them, throwing up the number 4 to the crowd--They are the Four
Horsewoman, who aim to elevate women’s wrestling. The rest is history. Women’s wrestling is
forever changed.

2. Sasha Banks vs Charlotte: Raw Women’s Title, Falls Count

Anywhere

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TezwU7Hccs
Charlotte wins the championship 3452345 times, and Sasha keeps coming back to
challenge her. At this point, pretty much everyone on earth wants Sasha Banks to win the
championship, and for some reason that befuddles me to this day, the creative team just
refuses to let her have a proper title reign. How often is a whole crowd completely supporting
one woman like this? Why didn’t they capitalize on that? It seems that their idea of capitalizing
on it at the time was drawing this feud out for a really long time, and disappointing Sasha fans
over and over. But Sasha and Charlotte are indisputably great at their job, and perhaps no one
could have done more with this long feud than them. The feud was touted as revolutionary and
history-making and women’s rightsy, and even if you were one to be annoyed by the
self-congratulatory promotional material, it’s hard to watch these women wrestle and decide
their skill doesn’t demand it. Despite maddening creative decisions, Sasha and Charlotte
themselves brought their A-game every. Single. Time. This match in particular is selected for the
list because it is the least maddening in terms of storyline. Sasha wins the title by a unique
signature submission, and the crowd is psyched for her. (She loses it on the first defense every
time she wins it, including in front of her hometown and tapping out with one second left, but
we’re ignoring that because it’s silly.)

1. Ivelisse, Angelico, and Son of Havoc vs The Crew: Trios

Championship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRWZbLrGJIo

Kind of cheating since there’s only one woman here, and she’s too injured to take any
huge bumps. However, her contributions to the storyline up until her injury, and even during this
match, a true landmark of athletic storytelling, still justify the inclusion on this list.
Lucha Underground was a beacon of story-driven hope in a world of questionable
wrestling storylines (see the above Sasha vs Charlotte rant.) On Lucha Underground, story was
king, although sometimes delightfully ridiculous, men and women could wrestle each other for
the same titles, and it was all backed with a wrestling style famous for being flashy and
over-the-top. All these ingredients came together in the storyline of Ivelisse (left), Angelico
(right), and Son of Havoc (middle but not a referee.)
In the storyline up to this match, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc had previously dated,
Angelico playfully flirted with Ivelisse during matches to throw her off, much to everyone’s
irritation, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc broke up, and then the Villainous Wrestling Boss forced the
three of them into a team-up under the impression it wouldl devolve into delightful chaos. It’s
certainly a dysfunctional team-up, but the group somehow starts winning matches, and the
crowd adores them. (They’re also good wrestlers to boot.) Fast forward, and they win what is
supposedly a championship match, only for the boss the come out and proclaim they have one
more match to go, releasing The Crew (basically the equivalent of nameless NPCs unless I just
never caught their names) to prevent them from winning the title. Ivelisse has gotten injured (in
real life) and hobbles around the ring as the group tries to escape this ambush. It’s a classic
underdog tale complete with found-family dynamics, underlying romantic tension, and the
classic friendship-conquers-all moment where they finally learn to work together. The moment at
6:16 in the video may be the most romantic gesture I've ever witnessed and is perhaps the
greatest wrestling spot of all time. Sadly, it’s not a WWE match, and will probably never be
remembered as great as it is, if anyone remembers it at all.
Injuries and hiatuses kept this group storyline from continuing for much longer, which is a
shame. What’s more frustrating than an unfinished romantic storyline? Now, I’m just left to yearn
for the day when a man will finally jump off a roof to save me from bodily harm.