10 Female Wrestlers Ignored In WWE's Revisionist History
7. Jacqueline
The women’s division in WWE has had far more than its fair share of lowlights.
Between the bra-and-panties matches, the fetishistic
Halloween segments, and a crossdressing Santino Marella winning a “Miss
WrestleMania” battle royale, the list goes on and on. At the same time, it’s
fair to say that among the worst times for WWE’s women’s division was when
there wasn’t a division at all! After Alundra Blayze (and don’t worry, we’ll
get to her) left the company in 1995, the division collapsed and the title was
declared vacant.
Enter Jacqueline.
Already 34 years old and with a background
in taekwondo and kickboxing, Jacqueline seemed “legitimate”, especially
compared to her first rival, Sable. She was an excellent choice as a first
champion for the revived Women’s title, which also made her the first
African-American Women’s Champion in WWE. Sadly, Jacqueline’s championship reign
lasted only two months, before Sable beat her at 1998’s Survivor Series. She
got a second run with the belt in 2000, but again, had only a brief
transitional reign, before losing the strap to Stephanie McMahon.
Jacqueline floundered around the women’s midcard while Trish and Lita flourished, but she was to have one more crowning achievement. On the 6 May 2004 episode of SmackDown, Jacqueline answered Chavo Guererro’s Open Challenge for his Cruiserweight Championship and defeated the champion to become one of only a handful of women to hold a men’s championship in the company. Her victory was announced to a deafening pop and crowd chants of “Jackie”. The following week, she lost a match against Chavo Classic due to interference, and then went on to lose the belt back to Chavo at Judgment Day. Less than a month later, she was released by the company.
Jacqueline did her best to add legitimacy and class to the late 1990s women’s division, and stands out as a bright spot in an otherwise dark time. Though she finally made it into the Hall of Fame in 2016 and appeared at the Women’s Royal Rumble, she hasn’t been afforded her proper place in WWE canon.