10 Biggest Moments In WWE Women’s Wrestling History
5. The Main Event
2004 was arguably the most destructive ever year for WWE Women's wrestling, more so than periods in the 1980s and 1990s where the very concept didn't exist.
Bored of trying to have his cake and eat it - open-mouthed and all - too, Vince McMahon tired of trying to make his wrestlers be bikini models and instead flipped the script entirely with his 'innovative' Diva Search.
Money and fleeting fame welcomed winner Christy Hemme, though the contest's rough edges cutting through weeks of valuable television time infamously set a hope for future female dominance back to square minus one. Sex, sleaze and an anti-feminist agenda flooded WWE programming for an entire summer (as it would do for several years following the alleged success of the original), replacing and reducing the hard work from the likes of Trish Stratus, Molly Holly, Jazz, Victoria and others to give the Women's Title a semblance of prestige.
Its last gasp for a generation came in a choice December 2004 Raw main event between Stratus and longtime foe Lita. The two closed the show (a first for a women's singles match) in a heated brawl notable for Stratus' fabulous heel persona bursting through her obtrusive nose-guard and Lita's frightening botched dive that literally folded her in half at the neck.
It betrayed a damning near future for WWE Divas, but for a split second, they mattered more than most once again.