10 WWE Matches That Prove This Is The Best Era In Women's Wrestling

When WWE Hall of Famer Lita introduced the brand-new WWE Women’s Championship at the WrestleMania 32 Kickoff this past April, the company ushered in an official new wave for female wrestlers.

But truly, the groundwork had been laid for the slow death of the Diva and some of their gimmicky matches — like cat fights — well before that. In fact, the Sasha Banks-Bayley thriller at NXT: Takeover last summer alone arguably put a spotlight on the women’s division like never before.

Corporate brass might have finally reached the realization that, ‘Hey these women can actually wrestle. There’s no reason to objectify them as sex symbols and downplay their in-ring skills, anymore. They’re not Divas … they’re Superstars just like the fellas and in many cases, better.’ Better late than never, Mr. McMahon.

That being said, there’s no doubt that this is the best WWE era in women’s wrestling, period. Sorry to the late great The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young, but it is what it is. WWE Superstars such as Charlotte, Bayley, Natalya and the newly-crowned Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks, cannot and will not be denied. Along those lines, here are 10 matches that prove this is the best WWE era in women’s wrestling history.

If you caught the Emma-Paige match at NXT ArRIVAL back in February 2014, you knew the days of the WWE Diva were going to be put to bed. Made total sense, too, considering that the match involved Paige, who was being trumped as NXT's Anti-Diva.

As the first-ever live streamed event on the WWE Network, these two arguably stole the show via nearly 15 minutes of back-and-forth, heart-racing action. The crowd at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida let them know their appreciation, chanting "this is awesome" as Paige and Emma ripped into each other.

Brutal, yet technical, the bout finally ended when Paige trapped Emma into the PTO to get the submission victory. Suddenly, going away from a pudding match and actually allowing two women to show off their wrestling skills was a flash of brilliance.

Better late that never, right?