The 8 Biggest Upsets in Women’s Wrestling History
Last updated on May 8th, 2022 at 11:18 am
Over the past few years, women’s wrestling progressed tremendously from the conventions of the previous years. Ever since graduating from NXT, the Four Horsewomen played a crucial role in putting the women’s division on the map. While the impact of the Four Horsewomen on women’s wrestling cannot be overlooked, other wrestlers such as Naomi, Nikki, Brie Bella have also played their parts as well.
On top of that, it is equally important to point out that this is not the first-time women wrestlers emerged on top. The Ruthless Aggression and The Attitude Era also featured some highly talented superstars who were able to put the division on the map. With that said, here are the 10 biggest upsets in WWE Women’s wrestling history.
8. Cameron Defeats Naomi-Battleground
After their untimely breakup, the former members of the promising The Funkadactyls would once again meet up at Battleground, but this time as foes. For many pundits and critics, this was a failed experiment. Apart from being considered the worst match of the year, Cameron managed to record a win over Naomi.
While Naomi took the loss against Cameron, she would go ahead and have a more successfully career in the WWE. Unlike Naomi, Cameron’s career in the WWE was shortlived as the company eventually released her after placing her on it’s developmental program NXT, for some time.
7. Shayna Baszler Defeats Kairi Sane (Evolution 2018)
Prior to this match-up, Kairi Sane was quite dominant against a number of opponents, and thus many expected the superstar to pick up a win in her match against Shayna Baszler at Evolution. With the celebration of the progress made by the women’s division taking centre stage at Evolution, many fans expected that Kairi Sane would pick up an easy victory here.
However, the ever-aggressive Shayna Baszler would have none of that, as she would pick a convincing win via submission. A Shayna Baszler win would mark the superstar’s impressive and dominant run as the NXT women’s champion.
6. Bayley Defeats The Undefeated Charlotte Flair (Fastlane 2017)
Prior to this match-up against Bayley, Charlotte Flair, the Women’s champion successfully defended her championship title on several occasions. On top of that, Charlotte was yet to lose a single’s match on any pay per view.
This, in turn, made it a no brainer that Charlotte would easily defend her title and progress her streak to Wrestlemania since it was just around the corner. However, Bayley would cause one of the biggest upsets of the year by getting the victory and becoming the new women’s champion thereby ending Charlotte Flair’s winning streak.
5. Sasha Banks Defeats Nia Jax
While Nia Jax was still new in the WWE, her ability to dominate matches saw her easily cruise past many of her opponents. For many pundits, it was quite clear the WWE was giving Nia Jax the monster push.
With Wrestlemania only a month away, a Nia Jax win was quite within the reach, as many expected Nia Jax to walk into Wrestlemania with a win over Sasha Banks. However, Sasha Banks would end up claiming the night by pinning Nia Jax at the centre of the ring, in one of the biggest upsets in WWE’s women’s wrestling history.
4. Asuka Becomes New Smackdown Champion (TLC 2018)
Stepping into this match, Asuka was undeniably the biggest underdog in the women’s division as she went toe to toe with two of the biggest names in the WWE. To get a victory here, Asuka would have to go through one of the most decorated female superstars, Charlotte Flair, as well as one the most influential names on the roaster, Becky Lynch.
What many fans and pundits missed out was that Asuka’s inclusion in this match was already a red flag and that the WWE was already thinking about a title change. Asuka would defeat both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair to become the new Smackdown women’s champion.
3. AJ Lee wins title-Night of Champions
Heading into the night of champions, Paige was the WWE women’s champion. However, to retain her title, she had to win her three-way match against AJ Lee and Nikki Bella. Looking at all her three previous matches, Paige had come up on top against AJ Lee. Thus, there was no way she was going to lose this match.
The match featured a combination of several impessive suplex powerbombs. With Nikki out cold after being tossed out by AJ Lee, AJ would lock Paige in the Black Widow, ultimately picking up the win, marking her third reign as the Divas Champion.
2. Charlotte defeats Asuka (Wrestlemania 34)
For many years, whoever emerged the winner at Royal Rumble always went ahead to pick up a victory at Wrestlemania 34. Hence, a title change at Wrestlemania was not a new concept. However, at Wrestlemania 34, both matches involving the women’s and the men’s division would see Royal Rumble winners lose their respective matches.
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The women’s main event match had Asuka take on Charlotte Flair. From the recent happenings in the WWE this appeared like the perfect opportunity for Asuka’s narrative to come to fruition as the newest champion in the women’s division. However, Charlotte would pick up the win and retain her title in the process.
1. Bayley wins NXT Women’s Championship
Despite getting many title shots, Bayley always fell short. At NXT Takeover, Bayley got another short at proving the critics wrong when she went head to head with the NXT women’s champion, Sasha Banks. With the crowd already fired up, the two superstars would begin exchanging words for a few seconds before an unexpected takedown from Bayley.
During the contract signing session, Bayley mentioned that this fight was going to be quite different. Despite being the underdog, Bayley would pick up the win and in the process winning her first ever WWE Women’s championship title. For many WWE fans, this was one of those heartwarming moments in sports history.