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Over the past few months, WWE fans have been anticipating the fallout between Sasha Banks and Bayley. The Role Model attacked The Legit Boss following their loss in a rematch for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. Banks and Bayley could potentially produce one of the most intense WWE women's rivalries of all time.
In the past, it wasn't unusual for the women of WWE to act as the romantic interests of their male counterparts and routinely compete in brief matches. Stars like Trish Stratus, Lita, and Chyna broke the mold for other WWE Superstars in the past, and today's women's stars continue to break boundaries in the wrestling world. There have been some amazing rivalries in WWE's women's division. Here are five of the biggest so far.
#5. Paige and AJ Lee feuded over the WWE Divas Championship
During her first outing on RAW, Paige made an immediate impact on the WWE women's division. When the British-born star made her debut on the red brand, she won the Divas Championship from AJ Lee, who boasted a dominant and record-setting 296-day reign.
Paige shook AJ Lee to the core as she unexpectedly became the youngest Divas Champion at 21 years old, and set off a rivalry that would span over the next year and beyond. The stars traded the Divas Championship back and forth and eventually worked together as reluctant frenemies.
Between their battles over the title, the pair worked together against The Bellas at WrestleMania 31, dubbing themselves the Anti-Divas. As the moniker suggests, they were notably different from the other women in WWE at the time. Lee's comments about the treatment of women in WWE during the Divas Era later led to acknowledgment from Stephanie and Vince McMahon and helped to usher in the Women's Revolution.
#4. Mickie James and Trish Stratus's rivalry for the WWE Women's Championship
In 2005, Mickie James made her debut on RAW. The new star often claimed to be Trish Stratus' biggest fan. At the time, Stratus was a multiple-time WWE Women's Champion.
Stratus took on James as somewhat of a protege, bringing her to matches as a tag team partner and giving her advice. However, this admiration started to grow into an obsession as Stratus started to notice that Mickie was dressing up as her and copying her moves in the ring. James even attempted to plant a kiss on her mentor under the mistletoe.
Stratus' rejection sent James off the rails, leading her to attack her idol. Mickie James went to great lengths to try and get the Trish Stratus' attention. She even resorted to kidnapping Ashely Massaro in the build-up to their match for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 22.
After James captured the championship at Showcase of the Immortals, Stratus seemingly snapped and decided fight fire with fire. Stratus started to dress like Mickie James and attempted to play mind games with her. Unfortunately, this didn't quite go to plan, as Stratus wasn't able to regain the WWE Women's Championship from James at Backlash.
#3. Bayley battled with Sasha Banks numerous times throughout their WWE careers
Bayley and Sasha Banks have been engaged in an on-and-off rivalry over many years with WWE. The feud between the two goes all the way back to 2015 when The Boss was NXT Women's Champion. At the time, Banks portrayed arrogant heel and Bayley was a loveable underdog.
Bayley won the NXT Women's Championship from Banks at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in a match that has since gone down as a modern classic. At the event, Bayley hit Banks with a reverse franksteiner followed by her signature Bayley-to-Belly to become champion on the black and gold brand.
The rivals later reunited on RAW. After feuding with different opponents for a few years, the pair formed the Boss 'N' Hug Connection and became the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Champions at Elimination Chamber 2019.
Following their loss at WrestleMania, Banks went on a break from the company until August of that year. The former champions allied when Bayley helped The Blueprint attack Becky Lynch with a steel chair, laying the foundations for her eventual heel turn.
Banks and Bayley became the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions again as the Golden Role Models on the June 5 episode of SmackDown. However, they dropped the titles to Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax at Payback 2020.
This caused Bayley to turn on Banks after they lost in their rematch, and claim that she was just using her the whole time to remain SmackDown Women's Champion. The rivalry between the longtime friends has ramped up again following Bayley's vicious assault on Banks. Their recent program has the potential to be one of the greatest women's rivalries in WWE history.
#2. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey headlines WWE WrestleMania 35
2018 marked the birth of The Man persona as Becky Lynch transformed from a plucky underdog into a force to be reckoned with in the WWE women's division. Up until thing, Lynch and Charlotte Flair were best friends and teammates as a part of PCB alongside former Divas Champion, Paige.
However, Lynch ended their friendship when she turned on Flair following her loss at SummerSlam 2018. The Man rose to the top of the women's division with her firey promos and won the SmackDown women's title from Flair at Hell in a Cell. Lynch successfully defended her title against The Queen in a Last Woman Standing match at WWE Evolution, one of the defining bouts of the WWE women's revolution.
Former UFC star, Ronda Rousey enter the fray in the build-up to Survivor Series later that year. As the respective women's champions of their brands in 2018, the pair were set to face off at the pay-per-view.
On the go-home episode of RAW, Lynch attacked Rousey and suffered an injury after a rogue punch from Nia Jax left her concussed. Nevertheless, The Man still created the now-iconic moment where she stared down Rousey from the arena steps covered in blood that night.
After losing the SmackDown Women's Championship, Lynch unsuccessfully challenged Asuka for the title at Royal Rumble 2019. Later, she entered the women's Royal Rumble match and threw Flair out of the ring to earn a title shot. Lynch decided to face Rousey, but Vince McMahon later added Flair to the WrestleMania match, making it a Winner Takes All triple threat match.
In the weeks leading up to The Show of Shows, the trio called each other out and often ended up brawling, which also led to their kayfabe arrest on WWE RAW. The huge three-way rivalry came to a head at WrestleMania 35, where Becky Lynch pinned Ronda Rousey to win both women's titles.
#1. Trish Stratus and Lita's ongoing rivalry throughout their WWE careers
Trish and Lita will both go down in history for their roles in WWE's women's division. The WWE Hall of Famers helped to usher in progress for future Superstars. Both stars started as managers in the early 2000's before they became champions in their own right.
After they previously teamed up, a rivalry between the two women started to bubble under the surface. In 2004, Trish turned heel as the reigning WWE Women's Champion, and the pair began a feud over the title. Leading up to their title match at Survivor Series, Trish wore down Lita with constant abuse over her relationship with Kane, which caused Lita to lose her cool during their match and get disqualified.
On the Dec. 6, 2004 episode of Monday Night RAW, Lita earned a rematch in the main event, the first time in history that women headlined the flagship show. Lita managed to defeat her nemesis in what has become one of the best of the WWE women's matches of all time.
In 2006, the women switched roled as Lita became one of the most hated heels in the company and Stratus grew into a beloved babyface. The pair took part in a six-person tag team match where Lita teamed up with Edge and Randy Orton, and Stratus worked with Carlito and John Cena. On the Sept. 4 episode of RAW, Lita pinned Stratus to earn the win, adding more fuel to the fire.
Their rivalry came to an end with another match over the WWE Women's Championship in Status' hometown of Toronto. The pair put on a great showing as Trish used fellow Canadian, Bret Hart's, Sharpshooter to defeat Lita and earn her seventh WWE Women's Championship win. Shortly afterward, Stratus announced her retirement from full-time in-ring competition.
