10 Worst Ways The WWE Women’s Championship Has Been Defended

The Women’s Championship and the biggest show of the year have shared a rather checkered past. Between WrestleMania X-Seven and WrestleMania XX, fans were treated to competitive contests where the belt was at least nominally treated as a prestigious commodity.

Unfortunately, in the following years, a lack of competition meant that performers who were simply not ready to perform on such a stage found themselves in the spot light. It happened with Christy Hemme when she took on Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 21, but two years later, WWE proved that they could go one step further. Or backwards.

While nowhere near as exploitative or cringeworthy as some of the other matches on this list, this match simply showcased the lack of depth on the women’s roster, considering that it was meant to be a meeting of its biggest stars.

Melina did become a formidable worker, but it was too early for her to work miracles with the Diva Search winner. She belonged nowhere near a Wrestlemania title match. Said match was a bland excuse to get as many members of the female roster on the card using a Lumberjack stipulation and, after three minutes of botch-sprinkled action, Melina retained the gold.

It would be another seven years before a Women’s Championship was featured prominently at another WrestleMania.