Women Who Defined Wrestling: 2000-2015

Like the 20th century, early part of the 21st century was a difficult time to be a woman wrestler too. We have seen wrestlers like Jacqueline Moore, Ivory, and Mae Young paving the path for the women's wrestlers throughout the last century, but still, the mindset of the fans had not completely changed as women were still seen as an eye candy for their male audience. Women, who were in the business for proving their wrestling talent had to struggle a lot to be relevant for a long period of time in this male dominating sports. But, we still had many pioneers who showed the whole world that women deserve to be placed at equal footing as their male counterpart.

We are trying to recognize women who took lots of hardships and pain in the different time period to make women's wrestling what it is today. Now, this article is about women who defined wrestling between 2000-2015.

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5. Beth Phoenix

Beth Phoenix

Beth Phoenix is one of the best women's wrestlers in the attitude era having been part of some amazing matches and spots. She is a former Divas Champion and a three-time WWE Women's Champion. Before getting hired by WWE, she spent a good amount of time in the independent circuit in the initial stage of career, which certainly made her bold and strong and helped her in the coming years.

She made a name for herself in promotions like Cleveland All Pro Wrestling and Apocalypse Wrestling, fighting against both male and female wrestlers. In 2002, she was one of the first wrestlers to be part of GLORY, an independent organization for women, and also became the inaugural champion

Beth was recruited by WWE in 2004 and worked in their then developmental territory, OVW, before finally making her television debut in WWE's main roster in May 2006, as Trish's ally. Phoenix has enjoyed a fair amount of success in her career and has been part of many memorable feuds with the likes of Mickie James, Michelle, Melina, and Michelle McCool.

She set the benchmark for other women and showed everyone how to have a successful career in such a global company. Her wrestling style and character have impressed everyone ranging from fans to critics. Beth Phoenix was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017 and became the youngest person to be inducted at such a prestigious ceremony.

4. Gail Kim

Gail Kim

Gail Kim set the whole world on fire in her first match in WWE itself, when she became the first 'diva' to win the WWE Women's Championship in her first match and showed everybody that she means business. Even though her first stint with WWE was small, she made most of her airtime and made sure that her run in the biggest wrestling company won't go waste.

Just after a month since her debut, she turned heel to start a feud with Trish Stratus, which was the highlight of her stint. Kim is mainly known for her work in TNA, where she spent most of her wrestling career. She has had two stints with TNA and both were equally impactful. I think women's revolution would have started a lot earlier if WWE had given her the right platform and respect.

Many talented women wrestlers who wrestled in Attitude Era were keen on building their legacy like their male counterparts but only faced a tough time as the management, especially Vince McMahon was still in the 'diva' phase.

She never got the support from WWE, so in 2005, she joined TNA and as they say, rest is history. TNA recognized Kim's talent and used her wisely. She took complete advantage of the opportunity she got and became the trailblazer for young women wrestlers.

She became a record seven-time Knockouts Champion, including the inaugural champion. She is truly the person that started the women's revolution, for which WWE takes credit. Even after retiring she did not stop breaking the records as in 2016 she became the first women to be inducted in the TNA Hall of Fame.

3. Lita

Lita

During the early 21st century, Lita was the forebearer as far as athleticism in women's roster was concerned. Even though there were many women wrestlers who were better than her when she first arrived in WWE, she stood out for her idiosyncratic presence and high flying skills.

As far as Attitude Era was concerned, it thrived on being violent and hypersexuality for the interest of its male audience, but even then some divas break those barriers and make a place for themselves among true wrestling audience, Lita was one of them. Even though she had to suffer every now and then due to lack of opportunities, she made the most of what she got.

Over the years, she has had some amazing and brilliantly executed feuds with Trish Stratus, Mickie James, Victoria, and Ivory. There hasn’t been a WWE wrestler who was as loved as Lita, when she was a face or as hated as Lita when she was a heel. Her legacy is incomparable as she was part of the first women's steel cage match and first two Raw's main-event featuring women.

Even now she keeps on making part-time appearances on special occasions. Her involvement in a match in WWE Evolution just showed that how much WWE cares and respect Lita even years after retirement. She was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014.

2. AJ Lee

AJ Lee

The actual announcement of AJ Lee leaving wrestling in 2015 left the WWE Universe in shock as she was the most over wrestler at that time and was taking rapid strides to become one of the globally recognized wrestlers. AJ was just a few years ahead of her time if not months.

She was one of the females who first pushed forward the Women's Revolution as a real thing, she was the first woman who denied sexualizing herself for the audience and rejected dressing the way that the management wanted, which did create some enemies for her backstage.

Even though she was in WWE for just around 5-6 years, the amount of success she got in that time frame is fascinating. Fans' love for her kept on going with each passing week, irrespective of whether she was playing Bryan's girlfriend, Raw's General Manager, Paige's partner, or a mental lady’s gimmick. She was in the business for impressing everyone with her wrestling moves rather than her dance moves.

Because of her views towards women's wrestling, AJ had to go through a lot, because, as mentioned earlier, WWE's management was not exactly on board with the women's revolution till 2015. She revealed in her biography that she was made to play a crazy character's gimmick while conjointly struggling with bipolar.

She also mentioned that because of this attitude, she was inserted in some storylines which would not help her character in any way. Having this sort of stress on her mental health was one of the huge reasons for her to retire so early in her career.

1. Trish Stratus

Enter caption

Trish Stratus was AJ Lee of the first decade of the 20th century. Like AJ, she too worked hard to change the mindset of the management and fans towards women's wrestling, which she did achieve to some extent. While her initial entry into the WWE Universe raised the bar in the level of fitness models hired by the management, she deliberately moved away from the shadows formed by the likes of Sable and Sunny to become an esteemed in-ring veteran and create her own legacy.

Her succession from a vamp into an in-ring masterclass paved the way for a bunch of female wrestlers to focus on the technical side of pro-wrestling rather than the allurement quotient. A whole generation of young girls enrolled in wrestling schools just because they wanted to be Trish Stratus after growing up.

Trish achieved everything that a wrestler could ask for in her career. During her run with WWE, she became a one-time WWE Hardcore Champion, a record seven-time WWE Women's Championship, three-time "WWE Babe of the Year" (2001-2003) and was proclaimed "Diva of the Decade".

Even now, she continues to be the part of the history by participating in the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble match and first-ever all women's pay-per-view and is as fit and athletic as ever. Trish Stratus was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, which was just another feather in her crown.