The Best Women's Wrestling Matches Of All-Time

What's happening peoples?!  In this world of wrestling now where women are finally asserting their immense and limitless value within the sport, we often times don't recognize just how greatly women have contributed to this artform in terms of memorable matchups.  While we may not hear about these matches very often, please believe there are A LOT of significant matches out there that have really influenced today's generation of lady grapplers, and the aim by the end of this list will be for you to look up, find, and watch these marvelous matches and realize that the women can turn up the thermostat and give us five star matches just like men can.  With that being said, let's get into it shall we?

15. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley/Fatal Four Way/NXT Women's Championship

NXT Takeover: Rival

When NXT was slowly becoming THE brand to watch by the more hardcore, enthusiastic fan as opposed to the main roster shows of WWE, the women were getting fully highlighted by the womens division.  The four biggest names in the NXT women's locker room were Bayley, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte.  Although these four young ladies would later refer to themselves as The Four Horsewomen of WWE, at the time, they were all competing for a very rich prize in the NXT Womens Title.  This match was as hotly contested as you would imagine, as well really saw the potential of each of these ladies.  With matches like this, it's no wonder they would go on and become the stars they ended up becoming.

14. Sexy Star vs. Mariposa/No Mas MAtch

Lucha Underground Season 2

It's not very often we see violence within most women's divisions (save for Japan and occasionally Mexico), but when mixed with a fantastic story being told in the ring, you have a hell of a moment.  Such was the case with Sexy Star and Mariposa during season two of the popular El Rey show, Lucha Underground.  This rivalry had finally hit its apex with a No Mas match (basically an I Quit match), and homie, it brought the goods.  With Sexy Star bleeding profusely underneath her mask, she brought a fight to Mariposa (Cheerleader Melissa in the indies).  This was just a brawl, but the story was Sexy had lost her mojo to Mariposa, being intimidated and fearful of Mariposa due to some unspeakable act that wasn't fully mentioned.  She fought from underneath to present one of the finest matches in the short history of LU.

13. Joey Ryan & Candice LeRae vs. The Young Bucks/Guerilla Warfare Match/PWG Tag Team Championship
PWG Eleven

Holy hell! The only intergender match in this list may be the greatest in North American history.  The team of Joey Ryan and Candice (The World's Cutest Tag Team) faced the most revolutionary team of our generation, The Young Bucks for the belts in a Guerilla Warfare Match (subsequently a street fight).  While this match alone was crazy, it was Candice that made the news here.  Not only did she take a beating with the rest of the guys, she was busted WIDE open.  A completely bloody mess, Mrs. Johnny Wrestling showed more heart and balls than most men would in her position.  Her unrelenting toughness was on full display, especially towards the end and this served as virtually an inspiration to women who ever wondered how good intergender wrestling could go. At times, it was visibly disturbing to see the type of punishment Candice would take from these grown men (that superkick with tacks was just chilling), but she took it all. Not to mention, the horribly bloodied Candice WON the belts for the team in a match many consider to be one of the greatest matches in PWG history.

12. Natalya vs. Charlotte/NXT Women's Title match

NXT Takeover

When Paige, the inaugural NXT Womens Champion, left to go to the main roster, it was time for a new Womens Champion to lead the division.  A young, charismatic, highly athletic Charlotte faced off against former WWE Divas and Womens Champion, Natalya, in the finals.  Both ladies are second or third generation wrestlers and had their family members in their corners. Bret Hart was in his niece Natalya's corner, and the iconic Ric Flair was in his youngest daughter's corner.  This match was very important, as we saw just how good Charlotte could hang with the veteran Natalya.  This was an absolutely great match and one that really showed the world how very good Charlotte could become, and it definitely did.

11. Ember Moon vs. Asuka/NXT Women's Title Match

NXT Takeover Brooklyn III

One of the brightest upstarts in the NXT Women's locker room was Ember Moon, a student of Booker T in Texas and was definitely known throughout the indies as the highly regarded Athena.  She emerged in NXT and took over the brand by storm.  She has ambitions to become the Womens Champion, but that meant going through the unstoppable Asuka.  This match at NXT Takeover III was passionate and intense.  Both excellent in-ring workers, these two women gave it their all, and while Ember went down to the "Empress Of Tomorrow", Ember gained even more respect and fandom than she did coming in, and she scared Asuka the most by not just becoming new champion but putting a blemish on her undefeated streak.

10. Trish Stratus vs. Lita /WWE Womens Championship

WWE Raw 12/6/04

Trish Stratus and Lita are definitely two of the greatest competitors in modern womens wrestling history, at the very least, among the most influential and successful.  Their rivalry was called the female Rock/Stone Cold of their era, and that's not at all a far-fetched comparison.  While many matches they've had against each other are important and defining, it was their history-making match on Raw of December 4, 2016 that made them icons for their time.  This was the first time a womens match was the main event of the flagship show of the mainstream wrestling business, Raw.  This had never happened before, but based upon their incredible storytelling and athleticism, this match served as the benchmark for future womens matches to main event Raw, and there weren't two better ladies that could accomplish that.

9. Double Inoue vs. Mayumi Ozaki & Cuty Suzuki

AJW Dreamslam 4/2/93

Off to All Japan Women Wrestling where we see this PHENOMENAL tag team match between the Inoue sisters of Takako and Kyoko against the very formidable Cuty Suzuki and highly talented Mayumi Ozaki.  At a time where All Japan was the company for both men and women, this match is among the most treasured tag team matches of the decade, as these four women made magic against each other.  This was athletic but was also stiff as hell, as these women held nothing back and they showed the rest of the world how awesome Japanese women wrestling could be in tag team action.  Did I mention this match got the coveted five stars from Meltz??

8. Kairi Hojo vs. Io Shirai

STARDOM 5 Star Grand Prix

Arguably two of the very best women in-ring workers on the planet are Kairi Sane and Io Shirai.  Their rivalry has been compared to legendary male rivalries like Tanahashi/Okada or Cena/Orton.  Before these two got signed to NXT (Hojo is now Kairi Sane in WWE), they were tearing it down in japan and presenting some of the best matches in modern history.  Both of their styles are similar and both possess amazing in-ring psychology to tell fantastic stories.  While Charlotte vs. Sasha was the women's rivalry to beat in the States, this was that rivalry in Japan and the only word that comes to mind when it comes to this match is MAGIC.

7. Dynamite Kensai & Nayumi Ozaki vs. Toshiyo Yamada & Minami Toyota/2 Out Of 3 Falls

AJW Dream Slam 2

Listen folks, there's no such thing as a bad Minami Toyota match. Not one such thing.  Toyota has been acclaimed as the greatest women's wrestler, bell to bell, of all-time.  This was another example of her greatness, only in tag team action.  Along with the super tough Toshiyo Yamada, they face an equally badass team in Kensai and Ozaki.  Ladies and gentleman, this is one of the greatest tag team matches in wrestling history, regardless of gender.  These four women gave masterful performances and for nearly thirty minutes, these women showed the world, they can deliver a masterpiece.  Boy did they!

6. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte/WWE Raw Women's Championship

WWE Raw 7/25/16

There were no two hotter talented women in WWE at this time than Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks.  Banks had received enormous acclaim from her historic rivalry with Bayley in NXT. Charlotte at this time was on her way to realizing the overwhelming potential of living up to the legacy of her legendary father Ric Flair.  Since NXT, these two had been battling each other, but once they both made it to the main roster, these two got even better.  On a 2016 episode of Raw, Charlotte defended the belt against a red hot Banks, and the story they told in this match ranked among the best in the history of the division.  These two would exchange the belt a number of times throughout this rivalry, but this was arguably the best of their encounters, which was saying a ton.

5. Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong/TNA Knockouts Championship

TNA Turning Point '97

The Knockouts division of TNA (Impact Wrestling nowadays) was very competitive and doing some breakthough things in mainstream wrestling.  Arguably the heart of the division was former WWE prospect turned TNA star Gail Kim.  Undeniably one of the hardest workers this generation regardless of gender, Kim had a hell of a rivalry with monster heel Awesome Kong.  Before there was Nia Jax as the huge six-foot near three hundred pound athletic beast, there was Kong.  This was a classic David vs. Goliath fight that showed Kim's impeccable heart taking it right to this powerful Kong.  Much like today's Braun Strowman, Kong was virtually unstoppable, but Kim's resilience against her made this match perhaps the greatest Knockout match to exist.

4. Minami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue

AJW Wrestlemarinepiad '92

In North American circles, the name Minami Toyota isn't incredibly known, but in eastern culture, Toyota is considered the best women's wrestler there's ever been.  Toyota could easily be ranked up there with many male counterparts such as Flair, HBK, or Ricky Steamboat.  In '92, she faced a practically equally great Kyoko Inoue.  This match was ahead of its time for women's wrestling for its day and clearly ran laps around most matches during this time period regardless of gender.  These ladies put on a breathtaking display of storytelling and athletic mastery and if you're a fan of today's NJPW, NOAH, or AJPW style, this match stands up with anything of today's era.  This is the highest rated women's match of all-time, receiving a 5.5 star rating from the Wrestling Observer, and after watching, you may very well agree.  Just brilliance.

3. Minami Toyota vs. Aja Kong

AJW Queendom '95

Earlier, we mentioned Gail Kim and Awesome Kong and their fantastic match was of David vs. Goliath storytelling.  There was perhaps no women's match that exhibited this style of match then Toyota vs. Aja Kong.  No relation to Awesome Kong, Aja Kong is as badass as it gets.  This was once again a match that showed that Toyota could truly do anything in the ring and make you become completely enthralled in any match she was involved with.  Meanwhile Kong was an animal in this one, and established herself as one of the most imitated big women in the business, not to mention highly successful.  These tw, complete with at times unsettling stiff shots, was a milestone in women's wrestling.

2. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks/NXT Women's Championship/30 Minute Ironman Match

NXT Takeover: Respect

Before they were becoming big stars on the main roster, Bayley and Sasha were having one of the most amazing rivalries in not just NXT, but the sport overall.  Hoping to continue to momentum off their exceptional match at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, they went one step further to break barriers for women in wrestling (or at least WWE) with a 30 Minute Ironman Match at NXT Takeover: Respect.  While the card itself was decent, it was all worth it to witness a truly magnificent wrestling match between two up-and-coming NXT stars.  Many have argued which was the better match: their first one or this one.  There's not really a bad answer here, as just like in Brooklyn, these two women set a new standard in WWE for the women and this match, complete with emotion from everyone involved including a then seven year old Bayley superfan Izzy, was simply marvelous.

1. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks/NXT Women's Championship

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

Why this match wasn't considered a five star match, I'll never truly know.  This match truly had it all.  Not since the history that Trish and Lita made throughout their rivalry had we seen a rivalry that had all the greatness of a Thanksgiving dinner.  The cocky, yet highly talented, Sasha defending against the happy-go-lucky yet hungry underachiever Bayley.  Going into this match, Bayley was seen as the one who couldn't "win the big one", and with this match, she was DETERMINED to show up and show out.  This match was as close to perfect as you can possibly get, and changed the landscape of women wrestling for this era.  Bayley finally won the match, thus winning the title, but the major moment happened afterwards when her and Sasha embraced, and was joined by Charlotte and Becky Lynch as they publicly declared themselves as The Four Horsewomen of WWE.  This was a game changing match for this generation and may be truthfully the greatest WWE Women's match of all-time.

Honorable Mentions

Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte/WWE Hell In A Cell '17

Asuka vs. Nikki Cross/NXT TV Taping 6/28/17

Bayley vs. Asuka/NXT Takeover: Brooklyn II

Sasha Banks vs. Asuka/WWE Raw 1/2018

Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano/WWE Summerslam '94

Akira Hokotu vs. Shinobu Kandori/AJW '93

Gail Kim vs. Teryn Terrell/Slammiversary IX

Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks/NXT Takeover: R Evolution

Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler/NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III

Bull Nakano vs. Kyoko Inoue/AJW Queendom '95

Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks/NXT Takeover: Unstoppable

Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks/WWE Wrestlemania 32

Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani/Stardom '16

Indi Hartwell vs. Kellyanne/PCW Slam 150

Combat Toyada vs. Megumi Kudo/FMW '96
Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Naomi vs. Charlotte/Smackdown Live 6/27/17
Emma vs. Paige/NXT Takeover '14
Trish Stratus vs. Lita/WWE Unforgiven '06
Rebecca Knox (Becky Lynch) vs. Daizee Haze/Shimmer '06
Women's Royal Rumble/Royal Rumble '18
Cheerleader Melissa vs. Lexxus/Women Superstars Uncensored '11
Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. HHH & Stephanie McMahon/WWE Wrestlemania 34
Beulah McGillicutty vs. Bill Alphonso/ECW Hardcore TV '97

There has never been a better time for women's wrestling and now is the time to seize the moment.  Here's to more special moments for women's wrestling.