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Following the women’s revolution, the wrestling from the female division has been taken a lot more seriously than it ever was. There are now two top championships to fight over, one on each brand.
There was a time in the WWE where there wasn’t a women’s championship due to the extremely thin roster and the embarrassment of it being thrown in the bin by Alundra Blayze.
However, there have been many women in the past such as Trish Stratus and Lita, who really put the division on the map, having become multiple time champions during their tenure with the company. There are many women I can think of that would have been great WWE Women’s Champions, but never got the chance or fell short of winning the gold.
This article will take a look at 10 unbelievable talents that you’ll all remember, who never won the top title in the women’s division. They’d be a lot more likely to win nowadays with the unbelievable opportunities now available to the women on the WWE roster.
It was a lot harder back when these women were wrestling, as the focus was on how good they looked rather than their wrestling skills.
We’ve come a long way since these times and the women’s division is now just as entertaining as the male wrestling matches that are produced. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the women who tore it up without gold around their waist!
#10 Ashley Massaro
At 37 years of age, Ashley Massaro is still involved in wrestling as a part of World Independent Ladies Division Wrestling. She currently works as a Manager in the promotion. However, prior to this, she was a part of the WWE, having won the 2005 WWE Diva search.
She jumped into a feud with Vince’s Devils when she joined the company. It might sound hard to believe in this day and age, but the feud culminated in a gauntlet Bra and Panties match which she actually won.
However, to please the audience, she removed her own clothes after the match. It happened at New Year’s Revolution 2005 for those curious about the contest.
Following this, she feuded with current WWE Superstar Mickie James but ended up injured as she fractured her fibula. She would return to TV but would never really pick up the momentum she had and never got to the top of the mountain.
She was still a big part of the Divas division during the Ruthless aggression era but will never be remembered as champion.
#9 Aksana
Aksana, real name Zivile Raudoniene, was a Lithuanian bodybuilder. Sounds like the sort of background that would set her up for a championship run no? Like a modern day Chyna. Unfortunately, she was nothing like Chyna and was quite simply…awful.
After spending time honing her craft in WWE’s developmental promotion FCW, she made her debut in the female season of pre-developmental NXT. She didn’t win it but went on to make her main roster debut shortly after.
Aksana is probably best known for her backstage segments and infatuation with then SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long. Had she been booked properly, they could have become the best power couple since McMahon-Helmsley, but it wasn’t to be.
She then teamed with Cesaro for a very brief time and then Alicia Fox, but both runs were extremely forgettable. She was released in 2014, having never really made a mark in the Divas division.
#8 Kharma
Better known as Awesome Kong, I was so excited when she debuted in the women’s division in 2011. I thought it would really shake up the division. She was not the stereotypical Diva for the time and was a bit like the Nia Jax of her day. Dominant, huge and seemingly unbeatable.
Her debut was amazing as she intimidated Michelle McCool and she also reduced other female talent into quivering messes as she made her way through the talent one by one. It looked like a foregone conclusion that she would become Divas Champion.
Unfortunately, it was not to be, and Kharma pregnancy cut the storyline short as she broke down in the centre of the ring crying. Easily one of the biggest wasted pushes I can think of, especially in the women’s division.
Kharma was released in 2012 having only made an appearance in the 2012 Royal Rumble following the kayfabe breakdown.
#7 Maria Kanellis
Another Diva search contestant, Maria came fifth in the 2004 WWE Diva search. She was initially hired as a backstage talent, interviewing wrestlers and the like. Despite this, she was still given a gimmick as she portrayed a ditzy interviewer, where she annoyed wrestlers by asking wrong questions and being generally quite dumb.
Having been trained in OVW, she did start having matches on television and in 2008 was drafted to SmackDown. It was after this that she actually won a chance to compete for the WWE Divas Championship. However, she would lose this match against the champion Michelle McCool.
She then beat her in a non-title match but never got to be number one contender again, unfortunately. We’ll never know if she would have made a good Divas Champion or not but you can understand them keeping the title on Michelle McCool as she was cooking on gas back then.
She would be released from her contract in 2010 and would join Ring of Honor, leaving any chance of becoming WWE Divas Champion behind her.
However, as we reported earlier, Maria and her husband Mike Bennett have negotiated a deal with the WWE and could possibly returning to SmackDown LIVE. The couple turned down a contract renewal at Impact Wrestling and if all goes well, the Miracle and the First Lady of pro wrestling could be in the WWE soon.
#6 Dawn Marie
It’s most likely that you remember Dawn Marie as an extremely attractive Diva who went after Torrie Wilson’s dad. Very true and it’s probably one of her most famous feuds. However, she was actually well-versed in the wrestling business before making her way to the WWE as she essentially started her career in ECW.
She spent her time in ECW as a Manager and did not really get involved in in-ring competition. However, she was more than a just a manager and when she became a member of the WWE roster she got a chance to show it in the aforementioned feud with Torrie Wilson.
This is one of the most memorable feuds of the Ruthless Aggression era in terms of the Divas division.
You would think that coming off a feud of this calibre, she would be destined for more. Alas, it was not to be, as she had a few unimportant feuds with different Divas before eventually being released in 2005.
#5 Luna
When I first started watching wrestling, Luna was managing Goldust and had a great feud with Sable. She was not the stereotypical Diva and had strange hair, a croaky voice, veins drawn up the side of her head and some questionable attire. She was the perfect fit for Goldust.
A few years earlier, she had a run that almost led her to the title which began when she valeted Shawn Michaels to his match against Tatanka at WrestleMania IX. Shortly after, she aligned with Bam Bam Bigelow and a short revival in the women’s division in the WWF resulted in a slew of matches with Alundra Blayze.
She failed to capture the title and was released from the WWF.
When she came back for her feud with Sable, she came close to the title yet again but with Sable’s popularity sky-rocketing, she never really had a chance and the Playboy model captured the title she had supposedly been promised and Luna was left out in the cold.
She had one more shot in early 2000 as she faced Jacqueline for the Women’s Championship but failed once again and was eventually released.
#4 Terri Runnels
Terri Runnels had 8 long years with the WWE but never once captured the Women’s Championship. That provocative little she-devil was never far away from someone successful and aligned herself with some of the best Superstars of whatever era she happened to be in.
She began managing Goldust who was actually her real husband at the time. Called Marlena, she would walk round ringside smoking a cigar, and helped bring about a more risqué edge to WWF programming. She parted ways with Goldust after a storyline with Brian Pillman had to be cut short due to Pillman unexpectedly passing away.
She joined the Hardyz, the Radicalz, and eventually became Raven’s manager. She never really competed in the ring properly, nor did she have any mind-blowing feuds which is probably why she never got a shot at the women’s title. I am aware she won the hardcore title during her run in WWE, but who didn’t? Plus she only held it for a few seconds.
She was released in 2004 having been off TV as a talent for a while. She was a host of Excess. She never looked back and never came back to take her chance at the WWE Women’s Championship.
#3 Torrie Wilson
Torrie Wilson arrived in the WWE as a part of the 2001 invasion of WCW and ECW. As one of the most attractive Divas on the roster, Torrie Wilson was in many matches you’re likely never to see in WWE again. Lingerie matches, Bra and Panties, Playboy Evening gown matches and the like.
She was extremely influential in bringing the male demographic to carry on watching the product following the decline after the Attitude Era. Her feud with Dawn Marie took the WWE by storm and was one of the most interesting Diva feuds from that particular era.
She appeared in Playboy with Sable which led to a feud with the former women’s champion.
Despite staying with the WWE until 2008, she never really had a chance to win the top title in the division and was eventually released from her contract so she could tend to a nagging back injury. She is now retired so it’s unlikely she’ll come back to challenge Bliss or Naomi for the title.
#2 Stacy Keibler
The Duchess of Dudleyville Stacy Keibler never won the Women’s Championship in WWE! I could have sworn she had done, but the title of Women’s Champion eluded her in her whole career in WWE. She is possibly one of the most famous Divas there has ever been, not to clinch the top prize in her division.
Just like Torrie Wilson, she was not really utilised due to her skill in the ring, it was more down to her never-ending legs and unmatched sex appeal. Pairing her with the Dudley Boyz was a great decision as it got her over with the crowd and allowed her to spread her wings and fly through the company following the conclusion of this storyline.
She had several matches throughout the Ruthless Aggression era and eventually became Randy Orton’s girlfriend and manager. That was until he RKO’d her to show his ruthless streak.
Stacy then asked for time off from WWE to compete in Dancing with the Stars. She then left WWE in 2006 to pursue other things, like dating George Clooney. She never got the chance to capture the WWE Women’s Championship, though I feel they could have built the whole division around her.
She did however, win WWE Babe of the Year in 2004.
#1 Sunny
Sunny, the original Diva, the woman who pretty much paved the way for all the other Divas and women to follow, has never won the Women’s Championship in WWE. She actually got her break in Smokey Mountain Wrestling before making her way over to the WWF to revolutionise how women were utilised and portrayed in the company.
Despite being a WWE Hall of Famer, she has never won the Women’s Championship. Just like Stacy Keibler, she could have been built to be the top of the division for years, but it was Sable that had the opportunity to do this once Sunny had lost her shine.
She managed many teams and wrestlers to championship reigns. She started with the Bodydonnas who won the Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania XII. She then switched to the Godwinns when they won and then the Smoking Gunns. Essentially, she managed three teams with championship gold.
She then managed LOD 2000 to WrestleMania XIV but was released shortly after for backstage issues, including her addiction to painkillers.
She only returned for one-off appearances following this and has had many personal issues we won’t go in to here. She was never one for wrestling and more of a manager, making the teams she managed that much more dangerous.
Had she have been trained to be an in-ring star, she could have been a multiple time champion and the woman’s division would have looked a lot different.
That being said, other than her Hall of Fame achievement, she’s a two-time Slammy Award winner and also won Best Buns in 1996.
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