WWE is the biggest wrestling promotion in North America, and it has a rich history with the company being around for over six decades. Women’s wrestling in WWE has had its ups and downs in different eras and the WWE Women’s Championship was the biggest prize that women could fight for until the title retired in 2010. However, WWE introduced the WWE Divas Championship until that title was retired in 2016. The women’s revolution was in full swing in 2015 with women being called superstars and competing in gimmick matches like their male counterparts.
The Women’s World Championship formerly the SmackDown Women’s Championship and the WWE Women’s Championship formerly known as the Raw Women’s Championship are the current significant titles that women can fight for. Nevertheless, every era in WWE history has seen some brilliant Women’s Champions and others failed to cut the mustard.
14 Golden Era: Worst – Velvet McIntyre
Velvet McIntyre challenged The Fabulous Moolah for the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 2, but she was unable to beat Moolah for the title as she was soundly beaten in under two minutes. Nevertheless, McIntyre beat Moolah for the Women’s Championship on a tour of Australia in July 1986.
McIntyre’s Women’s Championship reign wasn’t memorable as she dropped the championship back to Moolah, just six days later in Sydney. She won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship twice, but her title Women’s Championship run was one of the worst in WWE history.
13 Golden Era: Best – Wendi Richter
Wendi Richter was one of the biggest female stars in the Golden Era, and she won the WWE Women’s Championship twice. The Fabulous Moolah may have held the WWE Women’s Championship for 28 years, but her title defenses in the Golden Era were small in comparison to Richter.
Richter is one of the tallest Women’s Champions, and she defended the title multiple times across both reigns. Richter was robbed when her second Women’s Championship reign was ended in the original Screwjob by Moolah.
12 New Generation Era: Worst – Bertha Faye
Women’s wrestling wasn’t the best in the New Generation Era with only three women holding the WWE Women’s Championship in this period. Bertha Faye stunned Alundra Blayze at SummerSlam 1995 to win the Women’s Championship.
It was a surprising title switch, and Faye’s Women’s Championship reign was forgettable. She held the title for a couple of months with Faye dropping the title back to Blayze.
11 New Generation Era: Best – Alundra Blayze
Alundra Blayze was the best women’s wrestler in the New Generation Era and she single-handedly carried the women’s division. Blayze won the WWE Women’s Championship three times but she had a lack of competition for the title.
Blayze had a fantastic rivalry with Bull Nakano whom she traded the Women’s Championship. Furthermore, Blayze regained the Women’s Championship from Bertha Faye on the October 23, 1995 edition of Raw. Her third Women’s Title reign lasted just 50 days as Blayze put the Women’s Championship into retirement for three years as she dropped it in the trash can on WCW Monday Nitro.
10 Attitude Era: Worst – Hervina (Harvey Wippleman)
Harvey Wippleman winning the WWE Women’s Championship in disguise as a woman called Hervina was disrespectful to the championship. It summed up the state of the women’s division in the Attitude Era with a man winning the Women’s Title.
Wippleman defeated The Kat, who was an untrained wrestler for the WWE Women’s Championship on the January 31, 2000 edition of Raw. Thankfully Wippleman’s Women’s Championship reign was short-lived as Jacqueline beat him on the following episode of SmackDown.
9 Attitude Era: Best – Ivory
Ivory winning the WWE Women’s Championship was one of the best things that happened to the title in the Attitude Era. Ivory was a trained wrestler and she did a good job as Women’s Champion.
Ivory clinched the Women’s Championship three times and no woman in the Attitude Era held the title longer than Ivory. Her third Women’s Championship run was as a member of Right to Censor and she entered a high-profile feud with Chyna, and the Ninth Wonder of the World ended her five-month Women’s Championship reign at WrestleMania 17.
8 Ruthless Aggression Era: Worst – Gail Kim
Gail Kim made an instant impact on the June 30, 2003 edition of Raw as she won the WWE Women’s Championship on her WWE debut in a Battle Royal. Unfortunately, Kim’s Women’s Championship reign and WWE run was a failure.
A month later, Gail dropped the Women’s Championship to Molly Holly. Gail should have been a bigger deal in WWE but for whatever reason WWE dropped the ball with Gail.
7 Ruthless Aggression Era: Best – Trish Stratus
The women’s roster in the Ruthless Aggression Era was strong with the likes of Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria, Molly Holly, and Jazz enjoying multiple runs as the WWE Women’s Champion. However, it was Trish who stood tall as the best Women’s Champion in the Ruthless Aggression Era.
Trish beat Lita for her sixth Women’s Championship reign at New Year’s Revolution 2005 and she went on to hold the gold for 448 days. Trish was involved in several major feuds, and it took Mickie James to halt her dominance at WrestleMania 22. Trish won the WWE Women’s Championship for the seventh time from Lita at Unforgiven 2006 and she retired from professional wrestling.
6 PG Era: Worst – Jillian Hall
Women’s wrestling wasn’t the best in the PG Era, and Jillian Hall had been on WWE’s main roster for a few years as the worst singer with dreadful vocals. Nevertheless, Jillian upset Mickie James to win the Divas Championship in October 2009.
Jillian’s Divas Championship reign was short-lived as she dropped the Divas Championship to Melina on the same night, who moved from SmackDown to Raw. Her Divas Championship reign was one of the worst title reigns in the 2000s.
5 PG Era: Best – Michelle McCool And Beth Phoenix
The Divas Championship was introduced in the tail-end of the Divas Championship with Michelle McCool becoming the first woman to hold the title. McCool made history as she became the first woman to win both the Divas and WWE Women’s Championship at The Bash 2009.
McCool had a stellar 216-day reign with the WWE Women’s Championship. One of McCool’s main rivals Beth Phoenix was another dominant Women’s Champion in the PG Era. Phoenix held the WWE Women’s Championship twice in the PG Era and she won the Divas Championship at Hell in a Cell 2012 and she held the gold for six months.
4 Reality Era: Worst – Paige
Paige shocked the world when she beat AJ Lee on the Raw after WrestleMania 30 for the WWE Divas Championship. Paige held the Divas Championship simultaneously with the NXT Women’s Championship.
Paige won the Divas Championship twice and she held the title for a total of 121 days. Paige feuded with AJ Lee who was her frenemy and AJ ended both of her Divas Championship reigns. Paige’s Divas Championship runs were average in the Reality Era, but several titleholders held the title longer than Paige.
3 Reality Era: Best – AJ Lee And Nikki Bella
The two longest reigning Divas Champions in WWE history are AJ Lee and Nikki Bella. AJ was way ahead of her time as the competition she had to contend with in the Reality Era wasn’t the strongest, but she could only beat what was in front of her.
AJ held the Divas Championship for 296 days which was a record until Nikki Bella broke it. Nikki ended AJ’s third Divas Championship reign at Survivor Series 2014 to begin her 301-day reign as Divas Champion. Nikki did a superb job as Divas Champion and she deserves a lot of credit as she improved in the ring massively.
2 New Era: Worst – Nikki A.S.H.
Nikki A.S.H. was a surprising choice to win the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match in 2021. 24 hours later, she successfully cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on Charlotte Flair to become Raw Women’s Champion for the first time.
The New Era had some very good Women’s Champions with the likes of Bayley, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch holding the gold. Nikki’s title reign was inevitably cut short with Charlotte reclaiming the championship from her in a triple threat match at SummerSlam 2021.
1 New Era: Best – Becky Lynch And Charlotte Flair
It’s hard to look past Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair’s efforts as they are the greatest WWE Women’s Champions in the New Era. Both women are Grand Slam Champions, and Becky Lynch is a six-time Women’s World Champion. She won the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships in the first women’s main event at WrestleMania 35 to become the new Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Lynch’s former close friend Charlotte Flair will go down in history as the greatest female wrestler in WWE history. The Queen is a record-setting 14-time Women’s World Champion and she brings prestige whenever she holds a championship. Both Lynch and Flair are major stars and they have been involved in some exceptional storylines and matches involving the WWE Women’s Championship.