WWE: We look at some of the key women's matches in recent years
Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch to meet in a steel cage on Smackdown
Tuesday 17 January 2017 14:39, UK
WWE's women’s division has enjoyed a staggering elevation over the last year or so, with Raw rivals Charlotte and Sasha Banks leading the way.
However, Smackdown grapplers Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch will compete in the next high-profile bout, when they meet inside a steel cage on tonight’s edition of Smackdown, live on Sky Sports 5.
Live WWE Late Night Smackdown
Bliss’ Smackdown Women’s Title, which she pinched from Lynch in December, will be up for grabs when a female championship is defended in a cage on the blue brand for the first time.
So, as Bliss and Lynch prepare to make history, let’s look at some other key women’s matches to have taken place in WWE over recent times…
Beth Phoenix and Natalya v LayCool - 2010
The first women's Tables Match in WWE – Bliss beat Lynch in the second late last year – was contested at the Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view in 2010. Laycool, aka London-born Layla and Undertaker's wife, Michelle McCool, brought a custom-made pink table into the bout, complete with sketches of their faces. That piece of furniture would be shattered, though, after Natalya leapt onto a table-prone Layla and McCool from the turnbuckle to win the match for her team. Phoenix was also involved in a brutal bout at One Night Stand in 2008, defeating Melina in an 'I Quit" clash featuring submission moves galore.
Victoria v Trish Stratus - 2002
Weapons were out in force at Survivor Series as Victoria and Trish Stratus battled for possession of the Women's Championship in a Hardcore Match. Victoria choked Stratus with a broomstick and clubbed her with a bin lid, before the champion responded by hitting the challenger with a kendo stick - but Victoria was able to claim the title after spraying Stratus with the contents of a fire extinguisher. Victoria went extreme again on Raw in 2003 when she met Lita inside of a steel cage, emerging victorious after her opponent's head had bounced off the cage door.
Bayley v Sasha Banks, 2015
The Women's Revolution boomed in 2015 when Bayley and Banks, now established members of the main roster, fought for the NXT Women's Title at TakeOver: Respect. Both competitors pulled out all the stops during a pulsating 30-minute Iron Man Match, with Bayley nicking it 3-2 at the death after turning a Bank Statement attempt into an armbar and forcing The Boss to submit. Banks also came up short in the only Women’s Iron Man Match to take place on the main roster, the Raw favourite pipped by Charlotte at Roadblock last month in sudden death overtime after the rivals had ended the initial 30 minutes locked at 2-2.
Trish Stratus v Lita, 2004
WWE's women's division is burgeoning, just as it was in the early-to-mid 2000s when Stratus and Lita tended to rule the roost. The rivals' main-event match on Raw in 2004 was a classic, with fans in Lita's home state of North Carolina willing her to win and capture the Women's Championship for a second time. They got their wish when the challenger executed a picture-perfect moonsault. It would be 12 years until another women's match main-evented Raw - Banks' epic title win over Charlotte inside Los Angeles' Staples Center in October 2016.
Charlotte v Sasha Banks v Becky Lynch, 2016
Charlotte, Banks and Lynch had been warring over the Women's Championship for months, so it was fitting that all three were involved in a scintillating Triple Threat at the grandest stage of all, WrestleMania 32. Charlotte perhaps impressed the most, retaining her title by submitting Lynch with the Figure Eight Leglock and flooring both of her foes with a spectacular moonsault, but Lynch and Banks also had their moments, proving that the upsurge in the women's division is far from temporary.
Charlotte v Sasha Banks, 2016
With Lynch drafted by Smackdown in July, the Raw Women’s Title picture hinged on Charlotte and Banks in mid-to-late 2016. Their most memorable bout was surely the inaugural Women’s Hell in a Cell Match, in which Charlotte ruthlessly attacked The Boss prior to the Cell being lowered and then won a near 23-minute main event after executing a Natural Selection. The history-making match, the first women’s tussle to close out a WWE main-roster PPV, was a true classic, with Banks using the Three Amigos suplexes and frog splash made famous by her idol, Eddie Guerrero – all after being thundered through the announce desk by The Nature Girl!
Bliss and Lynch are sure to provide another stunner on WWE Smackdown - watch it unfold live at 1am in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
