20 Greatest WWE Women's Matches Since 2000

In recent times, women's wrestling has consistently evolved and grown into an art form unrecognisable to fans who grew up watching beautiful women roll around in their bras and panties. Gone are the demeaning matches devoted to T&A and in their place are matches featuring unrivalled athleticism, storytelling and some of the most emotional moments in modern professional wrestling.

Women such as Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria and Molly Holly laid the groundwork for the revolution early in the 2000s while the bright young stars of NXT, including Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Bayley and Becky Lynch have carried the mantle for aspiring young competitors everywhere.

The has resulted in some of the best, most inspired matches featuring female talent in the long and illustrious history of sports-entertainment. From basic singles bouts to epic championship clashes, Fatal 4-Ways to Iron Man matches, the female talent that currently populates Raw and SmackDown and the others who have taken their rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame have forever changed the perception of what women's wrestling can be in the 21st century.

Relive the strides made by the brave, revolutionary and industry-changing women now with these, the 20 best women's matches WWE has produced since 2000.

On September 14, 2015, Nikki Bella became the longest-reigning Divas champion in WWE history by defeating Charlotte, though not without controversy. Using a little Twin Magic, and assisted by sister Brie, she defeated the second-generation star to sustain her run atop the women's division.

It would prove to be short-lived.

Six days later at Night of Champions, Nikki again defended against Charlotte. This time, the reality TV star would not benefit from the interference of her sibling. Though, that did not stop her from showing the world why she was champion in the first place, wearing Charlotte down throughout the heart of the match, including trapping her in a Figure Four leg lock around the ring post.

Charlotte made her comeback with a few boots, eventually setting up a spear and the Figure Eight for the submission win that would spawn a reign of her own, which continues today. From a match structure perspective, this was fairly straight-forward.

The heel controlled, the babyface fought her way back into the match and ended the villainous titleholder's oppressive run.

What it did, though, was put an end to one era of women's wrestling in WWE and kick off another. The importance of the match, and the finish, cannot be denied when reliving the integral moments of the women's revolution.