For a couple months now,Wrestling Inc. has been putting together Watchlists themed around upcoming PLE/PPV events, and for the most part they have been fairly straightforward. Lately, however, we are experimenting a little bit with form; our Night of Champions Watchlist, for example, was structured like an ideal Night of Champions card, with a different title on the line for every entry. This time around, in honor of WWE finally bringing back Evolution, the entire WINC staff has come together to try and discuss the best women's matches of all time.
Here's how we did it: WINC writers and editors were asked to nominate their personal favorite women's matches of all time. The result was a list of 16 matches, which the WINC staff voted on, ranked choice style, ranking their top five options from first to fifth. The final tabulated result was this Watchlist, which contains five matches that are, at the very least, among the greatest women's matches of all time. It's also a reflection of the taste and fandom experience of the WINC staff. While it's by no means comprehensive, it should be more than enough to get you in the mood to celebrate women's wrestling this Sunday!
The following matches received first-place votes but did not make the top five:AJW Dream Slam 1:Akira Hokuto vs Shinobu Kandori; AJW Doumu Super Woman Great War ~ Big Egg Wrestling Universe: Manami Toyota vs. Aja Kong; AJW Japan Grand Prix 1995: Mima Shimoda vs. Manami Toyota; WWE Raw 12/6/2004: Trish Stratus vs. Lita
The following matches were nominated but did not receive first-round votes:AJW Destiny 1995: Akira Hokuto vs Manami Toyota; WWE NXT Takeover Unstoppable: Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch; WWE Evolution 2018: Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair; WWE NXT Takeover WarGames 2019: Women's WarGames; WWE Hell in a Cell 2020: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley; WWE WrestleMania 41: Rhea Ripley vs. IYO SKY vs. Bianca Belair; STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom 2025: Saya Kamitani vs Tam Nakano
Two iconic adversaries from All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling in the 1990s, Yumiko Hotta and Aja Kong cemented their places in one another's career retrospectives with bloody and stiff battles. A number of bouts from either Kong or Hotta or those contested within AJW could be considered among the very best in history, but it is theirs at AJW's Ota Ward Champion Legend show on January 24, 1994, that deserves special mention.
With what came to be known as the Women's Revolution occurring decades later, Kong and Hotta were among those well ahead of their ahead of time those who embraced the combative and sporting nature of wrestling, selling the idea that this was a fight with a back-to-basics style comprised of striking and logical bumps. Kong did what she continues to do best and dominated over her opponent, using open-palm strikes and a spinning backfist to make for a fairly explosive start to things.
But that also allowed for Hotta to slip into the underdog role, creating windows of opportunity and drawing on the belief that she could dethrone the WWWA Champion on the night. Hotta saw her hand get busted open, painting a crimson red target for Kong to target and asphyxiate the belief, wrenching, stomping, and even punching the hand before using a Greco-Roman lock to further contort the injured limb.
Hotta still tried to fight from beneath, getting substantial offense in and looking for the straitjacket piledriver from the top rope, only to then be reversed into a snap finish for the pinfall; at the end of it, she had only lost by a fine margin, but she result had gone to the better performer on the night. In many ways, this is what wrestling was intended to be. At the very least, it's easily one of the best women's matches in history.
Written by MaxEverett
Taking everything into consideration, the concept of WWE hosting a Premium LiveEvent featuring exclusively female talent truly started with this match.
At the time, NXT TakeOver:Brooklyn was the biggest event in the history of WWE's developmental brand, and the card was stacked with the best that "WWE NXT" had to offer at the time. The PLE debuts of both Samoa Joe and Apollo Crews, the only televised appearance of Jushin Thunder Liger on WWE TV, and a main event between Finn Balor and Kevin Owens, the two biggest stars in "NXT" at the time, fighting over the NXT Championship in a ladder match. However, it was Sasha Banks and Bayley who truly stole the show in the penultimate match of the evening, with Banks putting her NXT Women's Championship on the line.
Bayley was the biggest pure babyface on "NXT" after Sami Zayn was called up to the main roster, but she had never reached the pinnacle of the brand due to a variety of circumstances. At one point or another in the two years leading up to NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, virtually all of her friends took advantage of Bayley and betrayed her trust, which only led to the fans getting behind her more, and the fact that just a few months before the event, Bayley had broken her hand. All of this meant the match with Banks at the Barclays Center seemed like the ideal place to finally crown the most over babyface, not just in "NXT," but in WWE overall.
For the match itself, quite simply, it's a masterpiece. A classic face/heel dynamic in front of a red hot crowd who, much like the rest of the wrestling world in 2015, were eager to see women's wrestling be taken seriously and given the platform that they thoroughly deserved. The two girls gradually advanced through the gears to hit their big spots, and even at this stage of their careers, Bayley and Banks could hear a loud reaction from the crowd and maintain that volume to the point where the closing stages of the match sound almost deafening through the TV screen. If it was that loud for me watching it 10 years later, god only knows how loud it was to be there in person.
I will die on the hill that has a sign on it which reads "The Bayley-To-Belly is one of the worst finishers of all time," but when she landed the second one on Banks after delivering an avalanche Poisonrana, it was a moment of sheer euphoria that you can still feel nearly a decade on from when it happened. The embrace between Bayley and Banks after the match, all while Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair came to join them, was a moment that symbolized women's wrestling in the United States being a force to be reckoned with that will always make you smile. So while you're enjoying Evolution 2 on July 13, thank Sasha Banks and Bayley for making it possible.
Written bySam Palmer
"This is a historic moment," Michael Cole called. "For the first time ever, two Black women have a title match in the main event at WrestleMania. Banks versus Belair, for the title!"
Sasha Banks (now-known as Mercedes Mon) and Bianca Belair's WrestleMania 37 main event contest for the "SmackDown" Women's Championship is a match that has gone down in the history books. WWE has called it the 19th greatest WrestleMania match to date, and the match has gone on to receive acclaim and awards from netizens, critics, and the ESPYs and for good reason. Banks and Belair's intense in-ring chemistry and emotional performances have marked this match as not just one of the greatest women's wrestling matches to date, but an example of everything wrestling should be.
Belair and Banks' in-ring chemistry cannot be understated. Banks tends to work well with powerhouses, but where most powerhouses may suffer from slowness in the ring, Belair was able to keep up with Banks' experienced agility. Their compatible work speeds allowed for their moves to flow together, so that their match felt like cohesive piece rather than a collection of spots pieced together. Even moments that should have ground the match to a halt, like Banks' double-arm wear-down on Belair, did not feel slow or out of place. Their in-ring compatibility made this match as good as it was.
Their in-ring chemistry is made even better by the trust between the two women, which was put on display in the match's unique spots. Belair's hair was used as both a weapon and a weakness several times in the match, and the match's most iconic moment saw Belair brutally whip Banks across the ribcage with the end of her braid. Another iconic moment relied wholly on trust, as Belair precariously marched up steel steps with Banks military-pressed above her head. Their strong displays of trust add to the seamless nature of the contest: Belair and Banks moved together smoothly, with no notable clunkiness.
Belair and Banks also provided a strong emotional performance. They embodied the heel/face dynamic, with Banks being the egotistical, mean-spirited tyrant to Belair's resilient, underdog babyface character. Banks' cackles and taunts made Belair's win even more satisfying, as it instills a sense of hope in the average viewer. It is a classic feel-good story: the rookie overthrows the powerful, cocky veteran to take home the symbol of power: a world title. Banks and Belair's story invokes the emotional highs that wrestling performances should strive for; wrestling should be about eliciting these strong emotions through performances of the resilient human spirit.
Belair and Banks' WrestleMania 37 match was the first WrestleMania title contest between two Black women, but that is not all that it is. Belair and Banks created magic in Tampa that WrestleMania night, and it is a combination of their in-ring prowess and emotional connection to their work that makes this match one of the best women's contests in all time, and a definitive entry on your women's watchlist.
Written byAngeline Phu
Watching night one of WWE WrestleMania 39 in real time was a magical experience, with Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair being a big contributing factor. Watching it again in 2025 was no different.
Before "The Eradicator" and "The Queen" even locked up on the grand stage, many fans and pundits, including us Wrestling Inc. staff, called for this WWE SmackDown Women's Championship match to be fitted in the night one main event slot. The reason? Storytelling and star power.
Ripley and Flair previously squared off at "The Shows of Shows" in 2020, albeit in the smaller and much quieter space of the WWE Performance Center. Still, the WWE Universe heavily pushed for the younger, "WWE NXT" version of Ripley to make a mark by defeating Flair, who came into their NXT Women's Championship match with more experience and more titles to her respective name in WWE. WWE instead went the opposite route as Flair bested the rookie in a 20-minute affair to add yet another championship to her collection.
Fast forward to 2023, Ripley returned to Flair, seeking not only retribution, but also the SmackDown Women's Championship a title she guaranteed herself a shot at by winning the 2023 Women's Royal Rumble (with a then-record-setting outing of 1 hour, 1 minute and 8 seconds, by the way). This go around, Ripley approached Flair with even more strength, experience, and determination. She could have even come along with her Judgment Day stablemates as well, but she shined bright on her own, and in doing so, catapulted her career to the next level.
The SmackDown Women's Champion match itself, situated in the semi-main event of WrestleMania 39, can best be described as a back-and-forth slugfest laced with near falls, timely counters, and an open invitation to beat the s*** out of each other. Flair extended the emotional invitation after Ripley kicked out of a spear, exclaiming that if Ripley wanted her spot in the WWE hierarchy, she'd have to bring forth her best strikes. Ripley did as such, with Flair also firing off a series of elbow strikes and a big boot that put the Australian in position to then be locked into a Figure Four.
Showing her growth and ring awareness, Ripley pulled herself to the nearby bottom rope to break Flair's submission hold something that proved pivotal in finally setting Ripley up for the match-winning pinfall. Though exhausted, Flair followed Ripley to the corner for what she hoped to potentially be an avalanche fallaway slam. Ripley, again displaying her ring awareness, instead bounced Flair's head off the ring post and shouted "It's my time!"What followed was an avalanche Riptide that left the crowd buzzing with joy, Rhea Ripley as the new champion, and Charlotte Flair's face plastered with a proud smile. And I have to say: same, Charlotte, same.
In that moment, Ripley solidified herself as a premier star in WWE. Meanwhile, Flair, a frequenter of aerial moves and submissions, showed fans a more physical side of herself, which honestly came as a breath of fresh air. The cherry on top? Flair reportedly pushed for the match to go way longer than planned, leading to a truly must-see, 24-minute performance.
Written byElla Jay
Every other brutal women's match in history where the competitors were fighting for women's professional wrestling to be taken seriously led up to the Hollywood Ending match at AEW Revolution in March 2025. AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm and former best friend-turned-arch nemesis Mariah May had the rubber match to their feud in a no disqualification, falls count anywhere match that quickly turned into a bloody gorefest.
AEW has put on many hardcore matches involving women, including a "Lights Out" bout pitting Britt Baker against Thunder Rosa, and many notable street fights, such as Willow Nightingale versus Kris Statlander at All Out, but nothing in the company compared to the Hollywood Ending. That was due to the emotional backstory of May and Storm. May debuted in AEW as a crazed fan of Storm's and went through the champion's previous eras as a character arch. Storm treated May as her muse and protege throughout it all. That was, until May wonthe Owen Hart Memorial Tournament in 2024 and turned heel on her former friend, a woman she was often alluded to have romantic feelings for, in the quest for gold. May attacked her with the heel of Storm's own shoe.
Prior to the Revolution match, Storm defeated May for the women's title at Grand Slam Australia after May initially took the title from her at All In 2024 in May's home turf of London. The Hollywood Ending bout would settle their differences for good, and would also be May's last match in AEW before leaving for WWE.
The brutal match started on the stage when May charged her former mentor. Storm sent May through a table off the stage with a powerbomb early on, settling the tone for the rest of the 15-minute bout. Storm started gushing blood first and back in the ring, both women grabbed buckets filled with broken champagne bottles and taped their hands before going after each other with fists of glass. Storm bloodied May and she herself was left with a crimson mask akin to Eddie Guerrero's botched blade job at Judgment Day 2004.
The pair went back and forth until Storm sent May through a table on the stage with a Storm Zero after brutally beating her opponent with the symbolic high-heeled shoe to win the match. "The End" appeared on the tron as the final shot after the bout showed Storm holding a fallen May on the stage. The sight of two beautiful women battered and covered in blood, their own and each others, was something not many had been exposed to in women's wrestling prior to the Hollywood Ending.
It wasn't just the women's in-ring ability that made this gorefest great. It was also their acting ability. When May began taping her hands to arm herself with a fist of glass, you could see the emotion on her face. Mariah May and "Timeless" Toni Storm had a feud for the ages that was perfectly capped off by the Hollywood Ending match.
Written by DaisyRuth
