The WWE Women's Championship (1956-2010) was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification with the WWE Divas Championship.
This article is about the historical championship contested from 1956 to 2010. For the championship of the same name established in 2016, see WWE Women's Championship. For other WWE women's championships, see Women's championships in WWE.
The 1956 to 2010 version of the WWE Women's Championship was a women's professional wrestling world championship in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The World Wrestling Federation did not exist in its modern incarnation in 1956, but claim this year for the championship's establishment and do not recognize any title changes from when Moolah became champion until she lost it in 1984, to Wendi Richter, prior to which Moolah sold the rights to the title to the WWF and it became the WWF Women's Championship. Instead of beginning her reign in 1984, the WWF claimed the lineage of her reign from when she first became champion in 1956.
A new WWE Women's Championship was created in April 2016, and although both championships share the same name and the original is considered to be the predecessor, the new championship does not carry the lineage of the original.
The Championship is descended from the original NWA World Women's Championship of the National Wrestling Alliance which is still active today. On September 18, 1956, The Fabulous Moolah became the third NWA World Women's Champion. At that time, WWE did not exist and would not become a company until 1963, when the Capitol Wrestling Corporation pulled out of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to establish the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).
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Moolah, who bought the rights to the championship in the 1970s, defended the championship as the NWA World Women's Champion up until May 19, 1984; by this time, the WWWF had been renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In 1983, the WWF disaffiliated with the NWA and Moolah sold the championship's rights to the WWF in 1984, and she was recognized as the WWF Women's Champion.
The preceding champions and the title changes between 1956 and when Moolah lost it in 1984 are not recognized by WWE (although they are recognized by the NWA).
The Fabulous Moolah's real consecutive number of days as champion for her first reign is 3,651 days. Moolah first lost the championship in 1966, but WWE does not recognize any of the title changes from 1956 until 1984.
In 1990, the Women's Championship became inactive after Rockin' Robin vacated the championship following her departure from the WWF. Then in December 1993, the title was reactivated with Alundra Blayze winning a tournament for the vacant Women's Championship.
However, the Women's Championship became inactive again when Blayze was released from the WWF. After the WWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship was subsequently referred to as the WWE Women's Championship.
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With the WWE Brand Extension in March 2002, the Women's Championship at first was still defended on both the Raw and SmackDown brands, while most titles were exclusive to one brand. In September, the Women's Championship became exclusive to only the Raw brand. The Women's Championship remained the sole championship contested by women, until July 4, 2008, when a counterpart to the championship, called the WWE Divas Championship, was created for the SmackDown brand.
On April 3, 2016, at WrestleMania 32, a new WWE Women's Championship (called the Raw Women's Championship from September 2016 to June 2023) was introduced to succeed the Divas Championship. Following the WWE brand extension on March 25, all titles in WWE became exclusive to either the Raw brand or SmackDown brand.
At Night of Champions, Michelle McCool unified the Divas Championship with the Women's Championship.
Over the championship's fifty-six year history, there were 59 recognized reigns between 29 recognized champions and 4 vacancies (there are 6 reigns and 3 people that are not recognized by the promotion). As per WWE's official title history, the inaugural champion was The Fabulous Moolah, who defeated Judy Grable on September 18, 1956.
Moolah had the longest reign by holding it for 10 years, although the WWE considers it to be longer at 28 years, as title changes between 1956 and 1984 are not recognized by the promotion. The Fabulous Moolah is technically tied with Trish Stratus for the most reigns with 7, but because WWE does not recognize the title changes between 1956 and 1984, Moolah only has 4 and Stratus has the most reigns with 7.
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As per WWE's official title history, the inaugural champion was The Fabulous Moolah, who defeated Judy Grable on September 18, 1956. Moolah had the longest reign by holding it for 10 years, although the WWE considers it to be longer at 28 years, as title changes between 1956 and 1984 are not recognized by the promotion.
The Fabulous Moolah is technically tied with Trish Stratus for the most reigns with 7, but because WWE does not recognize the title changes between 1956 and 1984, Moolah only has 4 and Stratus has the most reigns with 7.
Mickie James has the shortest reign, while in Paris on April 24, 2007. James defeated then-champion Melina and Victoria in a Triple Threat Match. However, Jonathan Coachman, the Acting General Manager for Raw said that since Mickie pinned Victoria, Melina deserved an immediate rematch in which she won by having her feet on the ropes.
Layla was the final champion after she defeated Beth Phoenix in a two-on-one handicap match, on the May 11, 2010 taping of SmackDown, which aired on May 14. It was announced on the August 31 edition of Raw that the championship would be unified with its counterpart, the Divas Championship, at the Night of Champions event.
The Women's Championship was unified with the Divas Championship at Night of Champions 2010, as then Divas Champion Melina faced then-self-professed co-Women's Champion Michelle McCool (as part of LayCool with Layla) in a lumberjill match, which McCool won.
Throughout its history, women have served in various onscreen roles in the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. At WrestleMania 32 in 2016, WWE announced their discontinuation of the "Diva" branding for its female performers, as part of a move to present them in an athletic manner more in line with their male counterparts, rather than in a means based around sex appeal. The promotion began to refer to them using the "Superstar" title it uses for male performers, and established a new WWE Women's Championship to replace the WWE Divas Championship.
Subsequently, women's matches were featured more prominently across their programming, which included more frequent main event positions.
The ENTIRE History of Women's Wrestling in WWE (seriously)
The following year, music artist Cyndi Lauper began a verbal feud with her manager "Captain" Lou Albano; this brought professional wrestling into mainstream culture in a storyline that became known as the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection". When it was finally time for Lauper and Albano to settle their differences in the ring, a match-up was scheduled with Albano's represented wrestler Moolah against the challenge of Lauper's protégé, Wendi Richter.
Moolah lost the title at The Brawl to End It All, broadcast live on MTV. Richter then lost the title to Leilani Kai the following year, but won it back at WrestleMania I on March 31, 1985.
In the summer of 1985, the WWF did a storyline where all established managers in the promotion competed to offer their services to Randy Savage. Savage revealed his new manager to be Miss Elizabeth on the August 24, 1985, edition of WWF Prime Time Wrestling. In real life, Savage and Miss Elizabeth were married, but this was not mentioned on television. Miss Elizabeth's first major angle was during Savage's feud with George "The Animal" Steele in 1986. In the angle, Steele fell in love with Miss Elizabeth, angering Savage and leading to a series of grudge matches between him and Steele. She also figured prominently in Savage's 1986 feuds with Hulk Hogan and Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat and his 1987-1989 feuds with wrestlers such as The Honky Tonk Man, Andre the Giant, Bad News Brown, Big Boss Man and Akeem.
In 1988, Miss Elizabeth was given the title "First Lady of the World Wrestling Federation" due to her being the first woman in World Wrestling Federation history to manage the World Wrestling Federation champion. When Savage-who had formed an alliance with Hogan-turned on Hogan in early 1989, Miss Elizabeth was a major factor, and she eventually sided with Hogan.
Sherri initially debuted on July 24, 1987, by defeating The Fabulous Moolah for the WWF Women's Championship. Renaming herself 'Sensational' Sherri, she reigned as champion for fifteen months before losing it to Rockin' Robin; after losing several rematches, Martel took a short leave of absence in early 1989 before being repackaged as Savage's manager. The first Survivor Series pay-per-view saw the first female elimination match.
In February 1989, the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship was deactivated and The Glamour Girls (Leilani Kai and Judy Martin) were the final title holders. Sapphire debuted in November 1989 on Saturday Night's Main Event XXV as a 'fan' cheering on Dusty Rhodes at ringside in his match against Big Boss Man. Sapphire began to manage Rhodes, and adopted Rhodes' gimmick, as she adorned black outfits with yellow polka dots. In 1990, Sensational Sherri remained with Randy Savage, while Sapphire worked with Dusty Rhodes.
Sapphire later departed from the company in mid-1990. Miss Elizabeth worked primarily with Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire between WrestleMania VI and SummerSlam (1990). Miss Elizabeth returned in 1991 and was a key player in Randy Savage's retirement match with The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII; Miss Elizabeth left the company for good in April 1992; shortly after her departure, Savage and Miss Elizabeth divorced in real life.
At WrestleMania IX, Luna Vachon debuted and initially aligned herself with Shawn Michaels. Later, she aligned herself with Bam Bam Bigelow to feud with Sherri and Tatanka. In 1994, WWF signed Sunny as a manager for Chris Candido, becoming considered as the first WWF Diva. Between 1996 and 1998, several valets debuted in WWF: Marlena, Sable and Debra. Following Blayze's controversial exit from the company, the women's division became inactive during this time. At first, the characters were a continuation of the WWE female manager, but became more sexualized as time progressed.
In 1996, Sunny was awarded as the manager of the year and her immense popularity expanded beyond professional wrestling when she was regarded as AOL's most downloaded woman, solidifying herself as one of the preeminent figures within WWF. In February 1997, Chyna joined WWF as an antithesis to the rest of the women, a masculine bodybuilder whose sexual identity was the subject of early storylines. Sable's eclipsed popularity and her feud with Marc Mero and his new manager, Jacqueline led to the reinstatement of the Women's Championship as well as the promotion's hiring of more female wrestlers. Jacqueline won the title and became the first African-American Women's Champion. Sable became the first WWF female talent to refer to herself as a "Diva" during the April 19 episode of Raw Is War in 1999; the term shortly thereafter became the official title for WWF's female performers.
During the August 9, 1999, episode of Raw Is War, Chyna became the first woman to main event a pro-wrestling prime time show when she defeated Triple H and The Undertaker in a triple threat match to become the number one contender for the WWF Championship, the only woman to ever do so. Veteran wrestlers The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young returned to WWF, mostly used as comedic roles. In 1999, Chyna became the first woman to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship when she defeated Jeff Jarrett. She would win the title one more time in 2000 when she defeated Val Venis and Trish Stratus in a mixed tag team match.
She also became the first woman to participate in a Royal Rumble match, entering in the 1999 and 2000 editions, as well as participating in the 1999 edition of the King of the Ring tournament. She also was on the cover for Playboy. The year 2000 saw the debuts of Lita, Trish Stratus and Molly Holly. Lita performed higher-risk moves than the divas before her, such as moonsaults and diving hurricanranas. Trish Stratus debuted as an overtly sexualized valet.
Finally, the spring of 2001 saw the WWF's purchase of its chief competitors, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and the consequent entry of former WCW and ECW female talent, such as Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson, Jazz, and Sharmell. WWF Women's Champion Chyna left the WWF towards the end of November due to real-life issues between herself, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon.
In the autumn of 2001, Trish Stratus was trained by Fit Finlay, who was the road agent responsible for the women's matches, and drastically improved her in-ring ability. She worked her way up to the top of the division and eventually won the Women's Championship at Survivor Series.
Since May 5, 2002, the women's division saw an expansion including a departure and a return of a former talent when the WWF officially changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as the company first began to hire more female talents than ever before, including female winners of the reality television show Tough Enough, which featured contestants aspiring to be professional wrestlers (Nidia in 2001, Linda Miles and Jackie Gayda in 2002). Debra departed the company in June along with her then-husband Stone Cold Steve Austin. Sable returned to WWE on the April 3, 2003, episode of SmackDown! for the first time since controversially departing from the company in late 1999; her first storyline returning to the company for several months was with new Playboy covergirl Torrie Wilson.
The WWE women's division competed in more match-ups previously contested only by men (including for the Women's Championship), such as street fights and hardcore matches. The debuting Gail Kim would go on to become the first woman of Asian descent to have held the WWE Women's Championship after winning a battle royal.
Numerous Divas competed in contests ranging from "Pillow Fights" and "Bra and Panties" match-ups to "Bikini Contests", which were based more on the sexual appeal of the women involved. Women's trainer Fit Finlay said he was embarrassed to explain to the women how to strip during bra and panties match. WWE eventually re-introduced the Diva Search, in which Christy Hemme became the inaugural winner.
In December 2004, Lita and Trish Stratus main-evented Raw for the Women's Championship, making it the second time in history for female talents to main event one of WWE's main shows. On the March 5, 2007, episode of Raw, Mickie James and Melina competed in the first Falls Count Anywhere match to be contested between Divas. It was also the first time that the Women's Championship was contested in this type of match.
In March 2008, Mae Young became the third woman to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. At The Great American Bash 2008, Michelle McCool defeated Natalya to become the inaugural holder of the WWE Divas Championship, a championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand.
In January 2009, Victoria lost to Michelle McCool in her last match, leaving WWE shortly after. At Wrestlemania 25, several female WWE legends including Sunny, Molly Holly, Victoria and Torrie Wilson, alongside former Divas Joy Giovanni and Jackie Gayda made a one-night return to participate in the 25-Diva Battle Royal, which was won by 'Santina' Marella. The match was heavily criticized by several wrestling news outlets for its degrading booking of Divas in WWE.
During the 2009 WWE draft, the championships switched brands after Women's Champion Melina was drafted to the SmackDown brand and Divas Champion Maryse was drafted to Raw. Beth Phoenix made history by becoming the second woman to compete at the Royal Rumble event that year and managed to eliminate The Great Khali. In March 2010, Wendi Richter was inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of the 2010 class, making her first appearance on the promotion in over 20 years.
NXT replaced ECW programming in 2010. Originally existing as a seasonal show which was presented as a hybrid between reality television and WWE's scripted live event shows, selected wrestlers from WWE's then-developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) participated in a competition to become WWE's next "breakout star". On July 9, 2012, Eve Torres and AJ Lee became the first Divas to main event Raw since Trish Stratus and Lita in 2004, in a tag team match alongside CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.
During mid-2012, AJ became involved in various relationship storylines with several male wrestlers such as CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Kane, John Cena and Dolph Ziggler, including a stint as the General Manager of Raw. In the summer of 2012, the WWE hired veteran independent wrestler Sara Amato as a trainer for the women. AJ Lee tied Eve Torres at three in September 2014. She is the second longest reigning WWE Divas Champion at 295 Days.
The 20th anniversary of Raw on January 14, 2013, saw Kaitlyn defeat Eve Torres for the Divas Championship. Eve departed the company later that night after her contract expired. The Bella Twins returned to WWE on the March 11, 2013, episode of Raw. Kaitlyn lost her Divas Championship to her former tag team partner AJ Lee on Payback, ending her reign at 153 days.
The first in-ring Divas contract signing took place on the July 12, 2013, episode of SmackDown between AJ Lee and Kaitlyn, as part of buildup for a rematch of the Divas Championship at Money In the Bank. In August 2012, WWE ceased operating FCW, its developmental promotion in Tampa, Florida, deactivating FCW titles, and began running all of its developmental events and operations at Full Sail University under the "WWE NXT" banner. In April 2013, Summer Rae made her main roster debut, becoming the first Diva to be called up from the rebranded NXT.
In July 2013, the first season of the Total Divas reality television show starring WWE Divas premiered. On the August 26 episode of Raw, AJ Lee cut a worked shoot promo on the cast of Total Divas, stemming again, but partially from the controversial issue of what makes a "true" WWE Diva and the theme of the show leading towards a feud between Lee and the cast. At the 2013 Slammy Awards show, the Diva of the Year award was won by Brie and Nikki Bella.
On the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw on April 7, 2014, Paige made her debut on the main roster and defeated AJ Lee for the Divas Championship ending her record reign at 295 days. At the time, Paige was also the reigning (and first) NXT Women's Champion, having won the belt on June 20, 2013, after defeating Emma in the tournament finals to crown the inaugural champion. With her Divas Championship win, Paige became the first wrestler to simultaneously hold both titles, as well as becoming the youngest Divas Champion in WWE history at the age of 21.
Lana also made her debut as the manager of Rusev, aiding him his first victory on the main roster against Zack Ryder. On the February 23, 2015, episode of Raw, The Bella Twins faced Paige and Emma in a widely criticized match that lasted around 30 seconds. On the July 13 episode of Raw, Nikki Bella claimed that there were no challengers for her championship. As a result, Stephanie McMahon proclaimed a revolution in the women's division and introduced Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and the NXT Women's Champion Sasha Banks as the newest additions to the main roster.
In the following weeks, a three-way feud began between Team B.A.D. On July 29, WWE announced that Layla would depart from the company and retire. On the August 31 episode of Raw, Nikki introduced the Bellatron timer which counted down the remaining time until she surpassed the record for the longest-reigning Divas champion of all time.
