'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Over the weekend at WrestleMania 37, the women of WWE battled it out in some huge matches.
On Night One, the tag team division fought to become No. 1 contenders for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. Natalya and Tamina won the elimination match, but then failed to dethrone Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax on Night Two.
Also on Night One, the SmackDown Women's Championship match between Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks was the main event in a historic match-up. After a grueling match, Belair took home the gold.
Night Two saw Rhea Ripley dethrone Asuka to become the new RAW Women's Champion. The pair put on one of arguably the best matches of the weekend.
WrestleMania events in the past have seen many firsts for women. Here are five times women made history on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
#5 First-ever women's match at WrestleMania I
For some years, there have been no matches at all on the card at WrestleMania. However, in the first ever event, the original Women's Championship was on the line, with Wendi Ritcher going up against Lelani Kai.
Just like this year's event, there was celebrity involvement in this match. Cyndi Lauper was present as the manager of Ritcher. Former champion The Fabulous Moolah accompanied Kai to the ring. The match was the only women's bout on the card, and was on just before the main event.
The match ended with Ritcher becoming the new Women's Champion. Throughout the match, both Moolah and Lauper got involved with the action, and Ritcher rolled up Kai to get the pinfall.
There was another Women's Championship match on the card a year later, but following that the women would be absent from the card until WrestleMania VI, three years later.
#4 Lita introduces the new Women's Championship, inaugural champion crowned - WrestleMania 32
WrestleMania 32 ushered in a new era for the WWE women's division. In 2008, WWE created the Divas Championship as a second women's title alongside the WWE Women's title. The titles were later unified in 2010, with the Divas Championship becoming the only women's title to compete for in the company.
Many fans of WWE had been critical of the company's treatment of women, and the use of the term "Divas" to describe them. This, partnered up with the #GiveDivasAChance movement on Twitter, prompted WWE to make changes. Women finally began to get more screentime, and multiple stars were called up from NXT.
At WrestleMania 32, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch were set to fight it out in a Triple Threat match for the Divas Championship. However, at the start of the show, Hall of Famer Lita appeared.
She revealed that the Divas Championship was to be retired and replaced with a new Women's title which would be on the line for the first time that night.
In the announcement, Lita also noted that the term "Divas" would be retired, and that from now on they would be referred to as Superstars, just like the male members of the roster. That night at WrestleMania 32, Charlotte Flair became the inaugural WWE Women's Champion.
#3 First-ever women's WrestleMania Battle Royal - WrestleMania 34
Since 2014, WWE's men have battled it out on the WrestleMania pre-show to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The women on the roster didn't have the same opportunity from the start. However, this changed in 2018.
At WrestleMania 34, the first-ever women's battle royal took place. In the match, 20 women from across the RAW, SmackDown, and NXT rosters took part to earn a chance at becoming the inaugural winner. In the end, it was former SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi who won by last eliminating Bayley.
The women's battle royal returned in 2019 at WrestleMania 35. This time, 17 women took part, and it was won again by a former SmackDown Women's Champion in Carmella.
The women's battle royal wasn't on the card for WrestleMania 36 due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemi, and now the future of this match is uncertain.
Despite there being an Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the go-home edition of SmackDown this year, the women's equivalent was not on the card.
#2 First ever women's main event - WrestleMania 35
Hot on the heels of WWE's Women's Revolution, history was made once more at WrestleMania 35. In a move that felt a long time coming, women finally main evented WrestleMania in 2019.
After 35 years, the women of WWE finally made it to the top of the WrestleMania card. In possibly one of the most high profile feuds in WWE in recent years, regardless of gender, 2019 Royal Rumble winner Becky Lynch challenged RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey to a WrestleMania match.
The stakes were then upped when SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair, who also had bad blood with both women, was added to the match, making it a Triple Threat.
Becky Lynch went on to win at WrestleMania 35, and became the first-ever woman to be RAW and SmackDown Women's Champion at the same time.
She is also the only ever Irish woman to hold either title, and still holds the longest-ever reign with the RAW Women's Championship, lasting 398 days before she relinquished to Asuka after announcing her pregnancy.
#1 First African-American wrestlers to main event; first wrestler born in the 90s to main event - WrestleMania 37
History was made once again at WrestleMania 37. In the main event, Bianca Belair challenged Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women's Championship after earning the right to do so when she won the Royal Rumble back in January.
Bianca Belair's Royal Rumble win was also historic - she is the first and only African American woman to win the match, and was also the Iron Woman of the match for the second year in a row.
It was uncertain whether Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks would main event WrestleMania 37. It was something that prompted quite a movement online, with fans using the #MainEventBanksvsBelair hashtag on Twitter. This came to fruition, with Sasha Banks revealing a few days before WrestleMania that they would headline the Saturday night show.
The match between Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair felt like a very significant moment. At the beginning of the match, both women were visibly emotional.
As well as being the first African-American wrestlers to headline WrestleMania, this was only the second time that women has been in this slot. As well as this, Sasha Banks is the first-ever performer born in the 1990s to main event, being born in January 1992. This also makes her the youngest female headliner so far.
