Mickie James recently returned to WWE to battle Asuka for the NXT Women's Championship at TakeOver: Toronto as a babyface, but she ended up making her way to SmackDown and siding with Alexa Bliss as a heel.
Her main gripe with the new generation of women in WWE is how they are acting like they have changed the face of women's wrestling when there were trailblazers who paved the way for them from the past generations.
Despite being the villain, James actually has a good point. Many women have come through WWE who were able to put on matches that were not only as good as the men's but were often times better. And It doesn't just go back to the Attitude Era.
Women have been fighting inside the ring for decades, but some stand out from the crowd for their level of skill and willingness to put their bodies through hell for the sake of entertaining the fans. This slideshow will look at five women who made it possible for today's generation of female wrestlers to succeed.
#5 Molly Holly
Before Bayley was running around hugging everyone, Molly Holly was the underdog everyone loved to cheer for. Whether she was in a storyline with Bob and Crash Holly or she was wearing a cape and having fun with The Hurricane, Molly was a true professional.
Her dedication was so high that she even shaved her head just for the sake of a storyline. A guy can get away with shaving his head because baldness is more common among men, but a woman with no hair will draw stares. She was willing to put up with this because it helped the company.
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With WWE beginning to induct women from her era into the Hall of Fame, it would be a crime if Holly wasn't given the nod in the near future. She is often overlooked because of Lita and Trish Stratus dominating the scene for so long, but every wrestling fan should take the time to watch some of her work on the WWE Network.
#4 Victoria
Lita and Stratus are the two most talked about names when people discuss women's wrestling from the attitude era, but Victoria's name cannot be kept out of the conversation.
Her risk-taking style endeared her to hardcore fans, and in later years she was able to show off her sense of humour when WWE's product became less risque.
Her matches against the other women of her era were always a little more brutal than everyone else's, and that is probably why WWE chose her to compete in the first women's cage match in the company's history.
Victoria ended up spending some time in TNA as Tara, but her run there didn't come anywhere close to what she had accomplished in the WWE.
#3 Medusa
Debrah Miceli wrestled as both Medusa and Alundra Blayze during her career. Regardless of which name you know her by, you likely have fond memories of watching her work.
She had it harder than a lot of the women's wrestlers because WWE's women's division was almost non-existent when she was wrestling. She had some memorable matches against Bull Nakano and Bertha Faye, but there was very little competition.
She ended up going back to WCW, and while she barely spent two years with the company, she had one of her most memorable moments on an episode of Nitro when she dropped the WWE women's title in the garbage.
She spends her time driving monster trucks these days, which is just another way she found success in a male-dominated profession.
#2 Lita
Lita's contributions to the world of pro wrestling have been well-documented. She is a multi-time champion and earned her spot in the Hall of Fame in 2014.
Her image and wrestling style were very different from anyone else in the women's division when she debuted, and this is just part of why she stood out from all of the blonde supermodels on the roster.
She came along at the perfect time because her alternative look was what fans were gravitating toward. She was great as a babyface, but she really took off when she turned heel.
Lita recently left WWE after serving some time as a pre-show panellist and trainer at the Performance Center. Hopefully, we haven't seen the last of her on WWE television.
#1 Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus is the greatest example of how someone with no wrestling background can turn into one of the most popular and skilled pro wrestlers of all time.
She started out as a manager, but the itch to get inside the ring was too powerful. Stratus quickly rose through the ranks and won her first Women's Championship, but she didn't stop there.
Stratus ended up joining an exclusive club of women who have won men's titles when she claimed the Hardcore Championship. Her reign lasted less than a day, but it's still in the record books.
She currently runs a successful yoga empire in Canada, but she occasionally pops up on WWE television. She has even wrestled a couple of matches since retiring in 2007.
Few women have had as many memorable moments inside the squared circle as Stratus, and her feud with Lita is what defined the women's division during that time. Along with the other women on this list, she helped make it possible for today's generation of women’s wrestlers to be taken seriously.
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