With the exception of possibly Trish Stratus, Lita is the female most responsible for revolutionizing women's wrestling in North America. She brought an exciting, lucha libre influenced style and an athleticism that was uncommon among the performers of her era. She was a large part of the renaissance that the divas experienced in the late 90s and early 00s. But it's not her fantastic moonsault (totally not a euphemism) or the honor of being in the only women's match to main event Raw that she will be most remembered for. It's her scandalous love affair with her lover's best friend. When Matt Hardy went public that his longtime girlfriend had been cheating on him with his best friend, Edge, one of the most popular performers in the company quickly became a pariah. WWE seized the opportunity for some real life heat and let the love triangle play out on the air in a wrestling feud. The Lita/Edge relationship became the hottest heel act the sport had seen in a while and drew some pretty impressive ratings, with their "live sex celebration" of Edge's championship win being one of the highest viewed segments ever. She's admitted in recent interviews that she was never comfortable with the role she was playing on television, which speaks to her ability as a performer because she excelled at it. Over time it became apparent that Matt Hardy was a bit of a loon and the public sentiment began to sway in a little in her favor. She was able to overcome the stigma of being the cheating girlfriend that she was labeled as for years. Wrestling fans are a forgiving lot and her brief appearances for WWE since her retirement have been met with a favorable response. There's no denying that Lita deserves her spot in this year's Hall of Fame class.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
