10 Worst Ways The WWE Women’s Championship Has Been Defended
4. Bra And Panties Paddle On A Pole Match (10/10/02)
Pole matches don’t have the best reputation within the confides of WWE; beyond a handful of contrary examples, they generally fall under the category of snarky joke fodder. Long past the heyday of Vince Russo’s Pole Match obsession, WWE set up a Paddle on a Pole match between champion Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler during the inaugural RAW Roulette special.
Stacy was never the greatest worker, though the match was obviously not about in ring action. Essentially an excuse to get both competitors down to their underwear, the match saw Trish pick up the win after Stacy managed to grab the paddle.
Though Trish won the match, she soon suffered a brutal beat down from an interfering Victoria - thus summoning a more intense and believable run with the championship.
In spurning Hardcore matches, Street Fights and Cage matches, this bout may have been intentionally awful in order to play in to the angle’s hands. Though that is debatable, there is no denying that a title match - in which the only story built towards how long fans would have to wait before seeing Stacy Kiebler spanked - was not the way to make people care about a championship.