Every WWE Royal Rumble Women's Match - Ranked From Worst To Best

13. Mickie James Vs. Ashley (2006)

becky lynch charlotte
WWE

A crushingly disappointing chapter in one of the most engaging WWE women's storylines in company history, the match pitting Mickie James against Ashley Massaro featured the real star wearing stripes, as Trish Stratus began her final year as a WWE full-timer refereeing the contest between the 2005 Diva Search winner and an increasingly unravelling James.

Having attacked Stratus' on-screen friend and trainee Massaro on Raw during a jealous rage, lovesick Mickie took the character down a darker path as her affections for the Women's Champion began to spiral out of control.

Cornering her before the match, James shockingly declared her love for Trish face-to-face, but without time to hear an appropriate response from Stratus, James turned aggressive in the match itself, taking out the frustrations of her unrequited love on Massaro.

Despite the compelling story, the match was useless, with the utterly inept Massaro frequently (and loudly) calling spots on camera and struggling to keep up with James before succumbing to highly dangerous powerbomb after earning boos from the crowd for her weak-looking offence.

Fortunately, James continued to look competent despite this stinker, with her character work with Trish being rewarded with the spotlight it deserved at WrestleMania 22.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett