When looking at the WWE women's division today, it is full of fantastically talented wrestlers, both as athletes and as characters. This era might be the best time in history for women's wrestling based on the talent and in-ring skills of the competitors. However, there have always been some great wrestlers in the women's division.
Even in the '90s, when women's wrestling was dying, there were names like Alundra Blayze and Sherri Martel, proving that they could tell stories and put on matches equal to or better than most men. This fact was also true in the 2000s, even after the WWE Women's Championship gave way to the Divas title. Here is a look at the five best women wrestlers to hold the original WWE Women's Championship in the 2000s, and the five worst.
10 BEST: LITA
Two women were the face of the women's division in the 2000s before the company created the Divas Championship. Both of these women are WWE Hall of Fame superstars and best friends, and the first is Lita.
The high flying superstar started as a manager and then moved on to a full-time superstar. Lita held the title four times for 158 total days, and her feud with Trish Stratus was arguably the best women's feud of the 2000s.
9 WORST: HERVINA
The worst WWE Women's Champion in history was a man. On an episode of Raw is War, there was a lumberjill snowbunny match. The lumberjill was just the female version of a lumberjack match. Hervina was former WWE manager Harvey Wippleman in drag, and he beat The Kat for the women's title.
Jacqueline beat him for the belt two days later. Wippleman was the first man to hold the women's title and was proof that WWE, at the time, didn't care about the division at all.
8 BEST: TRISH STRATUS
Trish Stratus and Lita were connected during the women's era of the '00s, and they remain connected to this day. However, it seemed throughout their career, that it was Stratus that always stayed on top.
Despite that, without Lita, Stratus wouldn't have shined, and the same is true for Lita. Stratus held the title more times than any other woman, with seven reigns, for 821 days. She also retired as the champion.
7 WORST: GAIL KIM
Gail Kim did something few people had done before in WWE. She made her debut and won a championship in her first television match for the company. Kim showed up on an episode of Monday Night Raw and won the title from Jazz in a battle royal.
However, WWE ended her reign at 27 days. She lost the title to Molly Holly on an episode of Raw, and she never won another championship in WWE. Kim moved on to TNA and became a legend and Hall of Fame wrestler there, but was a flop in WWE.
6 BEST: MICKIE JAMES
When Lita and Trish Straus retired, it was Mickie James who picked up the division and carried it on her shoulders. James made her debut as a stalker for Stratus, and then she beat Lita in her retirement match.
It was James's division, and she was a legitimate champion through her tenure there. She won the title five times for a total of 366 days as the champion, from 2006-2010.
5 WORST: CHYNA
Chyna was the WWE Women's Champion for a nice long title reign. However, there was one huge problem when she was champion. Chyna had previously had two Intervontinetnal Championship title reigns, beating men to win and carry that title.
When she won the women's title in 2001, it seemed that no one could compete with her. That was how also her reign needed. Chyna beat Ivory at WrestleMania X-Seven and held the title for 231 days before she quit the company.
4 BEST: IVORY
Ivory is another WWE Hall of Fame superstar who held the WWE Women's Championship in the 2000s. Ivory also has the reputation as being one of the most successful members of the original GLOW roster in the '80s before becoming a star in WWE years later.
Ivory won her first women's title in WWE in 1999 when she best Debra. By the 2000s, she had much better competition. She beat Lita in a fatal dour-way in 2000 and held the title for 149 days before dropping it to Chyna.
3 WORST: THE KAT
When the century turned over, and 2000 began, the WWE Women's Champion was The Kat. She holds a spot as an infamous member of the WWE roster for a couple of reasons.
There was the moment that she flashed the crowd, and she was also the reason Jerry Lawler, her husband at the time, quit WWE when they fired her. Her only title reign lasted for 49 days, and she lost it to a man in drag.
2 BEST: BETH PHOENIX
Beth Phoenix made a significant return to WWE in the last year and is currently serving as a commentator for NXT. In WWE, she made her debut as a bodyguard for a then heel Trish Stratus.
She was similar to Chyna, a very muscular female WWE superstar who overpowered her opponents. Unlike Chyna, Phoenix was a great wrestler too. By the time she retired, Phoenix had won three WWE Women's Championships for a total of 367 days.
1 WORST: CANDICE MICHELLE
Before the Bella Twins caused fans to turn on women wrestlers that many felt were not talented in-ring competitors, the venom was saved for a wrestler from the 2000s named Candice Michelle.
She was below average in the ring and was the perfect precursor for the Divas Era, where the sex appeal was more important than wrestling skills. She won the title from Melina and held it for 104 days before Beth Phoenix beat her for it.