10 Best Matches From The First Five Years Of WWE’s Women’s Evolution
5. Charlotte Flair Vs Asuka (WrestleMania 34)
A glorious battle lost to the precedent of its result, the first of many exceptional clashes between Charlotte Flair and Asuka stripped back the sense of promotional necessity that still quietly hung over the two women's championships. This had nothing to do with a Revolution, an Evolution or making moments. Like others that would follow in its path, this was simply a sh*tkicking title fight on 'The Grandest Stage'.
That's not to say it wasn't full of fantastic WWE pomp that paid tribute to the increasingly distant past. Flair emerged from a golden throne, flanked by three masked NXT prospects just as she had been alongside contemporaries Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss when Triple H entered for his battle with Daniel Bryan in the same arena four years earlier.
She wept buckets at the end of this match - in keeping with Flair WrestleMania tradition - due in-part to the response the result received. Asuka saw her near 1000-day undefeated streak burned to a cinder, but 'The Empress Of Tomorrow' had wrestled another banger that would (eventually) see her rewarded with sustained creative attention. It's a decision that always generates debate pending Asuka's position at the time. At time of this writing, she's doing just fine, making this WrestleMania rewatch all the more satisfying.