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

17. Melina Vs Ashley (WrestleMania 23)

Mickie James Trish Stratus
WWE,com

The WrestleMania 23 Women's Title match between Melina and Ashley had a lot going against it, and sadly succumbed to nearly all the disadvantages. However, whilst bad, it was at least an attempt at a competitive match.

Working alongside Playboy for the penultimate time, WWE chose 2005 Diva Search winner Ashely Massaro for the prized cover spot, and placed her in a Women's Title match against Melina to help shift copies.

The defending champion was actually one of the form superstars in the division, having defeated Mickie James for the title after splitting from teammates Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro in 2006.

In there with a fellow pro, Melina offered plenty, but she wasn't quite capable of carrying the dangerously under-trained cover girl to something passable in the three minutes they were allotted.

Blown spots included a prematurely ended giant swing, a useless missed flying elbow and rolling prawn hold finish that couldn't even be completed before the referee counted three.

The entire remainder of the division were reduced to literal cheerleaders as 'lumberjills', screaming empty encouragement from ringside, and were permitted brief involvement at the conclusion as the women broke into catfights with one another for absolutely no reason.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 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 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, 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