The WWE Divas championship has a somewhat blemished history that some would like to forget. However, for those who don’t – here’s a countdown of the Top 10: Best Divas Champions – Ever!
10. MELINA
Winning the butterfly strap twice in her career, Melina always showed her athleticism during her matches, and her unmatched personality & charisma, which made her a great champion.
Winning the title for the first time against Jillian Hall on RAW, Melina held onto that title for 84 days, retaining it over the likes of Alicia Fox & Jillian Hall, but a knee injury would take all of that away from her as she vacated the title and went into surgery.
A few months after that, Melina returned to WWE and won the title for the second time against Alicia Fox at SummerSlam. She retained the title once again over Hall & Fox, but ultimately lost the belt in a unification match against Michelle McCool at Night of Champions.
While her reigns weren’t booked the best, Melina always showed in and showed out when it came to performing and that is one reason why she is makes the list ahead of many others. 5/10
9. KELLY KELLY
One of the most over babyfaces of her time, Kelly’s time finally came as she defeated Brie Bella to win the WWE Divas Championship on a Power to the People’s episode.
She held that title with grace and managed to end her feud with Brie Bella at Money in the Bank. Afterwards, Kelly would be in a storyline with a newly turned heel Beth Phoenix where they would feud for the rest of the Summer and the beginning of Autumn.
Kelly would manage to defeat Beth on several occasions but would fall victim to the glam slam at the Hell in a Cell PLE ending her reign at 104 Days. Kelly showed amazing improvement during her title reign, managing to get even more fans behind her. A top-tier baby face champion Imo.
6.5/10
8. MARYSE
Being the first ever 2x WWE Divas Champion, Maryse won the title for the first time against Michelle McCool on the last episode of SmackDown in 2008 after previously feuding with the former champion for months.
An injury would slow Maryse’s reign for a bit, but after she came back the French-Canadian Diva was unstoppable. Retaining the title in a rematch against the former champion, Maryse would take down the returning Gail Kim on SmackDown, before being moved to RAW on the WWE Draft.
On RAW, Maryse would find herself feuding with Kelly Kelly for a few weeks which resulted in Maryse going 2-0 against the girl that is so nice they named her twice. After defeating Kelly several times, Mickie James would take the lead and end Maryse’s record reign that was held for a while at the Night of Champions PLE.
But this wouldn’t be the only time Maryse won the belt, as in the WWE Divas Championship tournament finals, she would get one more win over Gail Kim and would become the first ever 2x divas champion. Holding the title for just a few weeks, Maryse would walk into WrestleMania 26 victorious and as Divas Champion, but ultimately would lose the title a week later to Eve Torres.
A sassy & classy champion, Maryse showed fierce & style while holding the title, also improving tons during her reigns.
7.5/10
7. PAIGE
Paige’s title victory is arguably the best out of every title change on the Divas Championship franchise.
Winning the title in her debut match on the RAW after WrestleMania 30, ending Aj Lee’s iconic 295 Day reign, Paige’s reign was a breath of fresh air to the division. She defended the title over several women that didn’t usually get a title shot at the time, facing the likes of Tamina, Alicia Fox, Naomi, Cameron and many more.
Interestingly, she also features on this list too.
Ultimately after a great run, her reign would come to an end to a returning Aj Lee after 84 days. At SummerSlam, Paige would once again win the title on her birthday for that matter but would immediately drop it back to Aj Lee a month later in a fantastic triple-threat match involving Nikki Bella.
8/10
6. MICHELLE MCCOOL
Michelle was the first ever WWE Divas Champion defeating Natalya at Great American Bash.
Her reign started off feuding with Maryse for a few months, where Michelle would always come out on top. She would have a few weeks of miscommunication with Maria which resulted in her defeating Maria on SmackDown.
Her reign would be over by Maryse on SmackDown after a great series of matches between the two, which solidified Michelle as a top woman on the roster – she even led SmackDown to a Survivor Series traditional elimination match.
Her next reign would come in 2010, after defeating Melina in a unification match at Night of Champions. This reign would serve as a grounded feud with Natalya where Michelle & Layla would bully Natalya and defeat her in several PLE’S until she lost the belt to the Queen of Hearts at Survivor Series.
Michelle truly showed her charisma & athleticism during both of her reigns, which is why she is considered as one of the best champions in WWE Women’s History.
8/10
We are half-way through our countdown of the Top 10 Best Divas Champions – Ever! Ready for some more? Here we go…
5. EVE TORRES
Being a record time 3x WWE Divas Champion, Eve won her first title against Maryse on RAW in 2010 but after retaining the title against her at Over the Limit, she would lose it to Alicia Fox at Fatal-4-way.
Her second reign would come rather as a surprise as she was inserted into the match at Royal Rumble between Lay Cool & Natalya where she would pin Layla and win the belt. Holding it for a few months after retaining it over Natalya & Nikki Bella, Brie would be the one who would end Eve’s second reign on RAW.
Two rather disappointing and not memorable reigns for Eve wouldn’t do her much justice, but her third one is where she shone the most and showed great improvement. At the 2012 Night of Champions PLE, Eve would win the title against Layla.
She would feud with the likes of Layla & Kaitlyn for months which even took place at PLE’S such as Hell in a Cell & Survivor Series.
Her heel persona was rather a delicious touch to the lineage of the diva’s champions, while being in a never-ending feud with Kaitlyn she also interacted with other women, defending the strap against Naomi at TLC as well. After a great 130 days run as champion, Eve’s reign would come to an end by Kaitlyn on RAW, she left the company later.
8.5/10
4. CHARLOTTE FLAIR
Charlotte’s victory was rather a slap to the face to the storyline The Bella Twins had a year prior where Brie should’ve dethroned Nikki instead of Charlotte. Either way, Charlotte’s reign was filled with fun matches and interesting storylines where every title defense Charlotte had was more than 10-minutes – the Divas championship was finally getting respect that it deserved.
Her storyline with Paige was messy, but it provided some interesting stuff and some fun matches between the two. Becky was the perfect underdog but when Charlotte turned heel she snapped. She was the last ever WWE Divas Champion and had a fantastic match with Natalya to officially close the lineage of the Divas Championship matches.
This reign helped Charlotte get the foot on the door even more and helped her boost her confidence and she got even better afterwards.
9/10
3. BETH PHOENIX
Beth Phoenix won the Divas Championship from Kelly Kelly at Hell in a Cell after months of being unsuccessful to finally win the belt.
She had a series of fun matches with Eve and her match vs Tamina at Elimination Chamber was a battle of dominant forces and helped Tamina showcase her talent and build up Beth even more as a credible champion.
The only downgrade from this match is the fact that she lost the title on a random RAW to Nikki Bella of all people who wasn’t a credible threat at the time. Nonetheless, Beth was a great champion, she showed strength & beauty which was very much needed.
9.5/10
2. AJ LEE
AJ Lee is also tied with Eve Torres for most reigns at 3, but it’s the first reign that solidified Aj Lee as one of the greatest champions in WWE Women’s History.
Punk’s better half won the title against Kaitlyn in a fantastic match at Payback after months of intense feuding with her former best friend and she went on to defend the title at almost every PLE against girls like Natalya, Naomi, Brie Bella and Cameron.
She is the first & only woman to defend & retain the WWE Divas Championship at WrestleMania. She defeated every diva on the roster at the time and kept the title, but the following night she lost it to the debuting Paige in an amazing moment.
In this reign AJ showed her amazing acting skills and tons of personality, she was untouchable on the mic to be honest. Her next two reigns came as a courtesy of defeating Paige on RAW & at Night of Champions where she spent majority of the Summer & Autumn feuding with her so-called frenemies Paige and they played hot potato with the title, which at the time was never done before for the women at least.
A great champion in her own right, AJ will forever be remembered as the best.
10/10
1. NIKKI BELLA
A former 2x Divas Champion and the longest reigning one of all time for that matter, Nikki won the title for the first time against Beth Phoenix on RAW in a lumberjill match, but quickly lost it to the returning Layla 5 days later at Extreme Rules.
This reign left a lot to be desired since she couldn’t do anything with the belt, however when she won the title for the second time against AJ Lee at Survivor Series, we knew we were in for a big road. Nikki managed to end her feud with AJ in a rematch at TLC, then she went on to win a tag match at the Rumble against Paige & Natalya which resulted in Paige going solo and fighting for the Divas Championship.
Nikki would win every match against Paige for the title, but at WrestleMania 31 she would fall victim to AJ & Paige in a tag team match. Afterwards, Nikki & Paige would still continue feuding with Naomi also joining the mix and them fighting each other for a while.
Team Bella was formed in the process with Alicia Fox joining them and they ruled the division until Stephanie McMahon announced the Divas Revolution which introduced the NXT Divas to the main roster, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch!
We got a series of fun matches with them, but after Charlotte won at SummerSlam and the first ever Beat the Clock challenge she was aiming at Nikki and her title, so she managed to defeat her at Night of Champions. Nikki’s reign ended at a record-breaking 301 Days and this reign solidified her as the IT Girl of WWE, and she will forever be remembered in the history books.
10/10
Top 10 Best Divas Champions – Ever!
There we have it! The countdown is in and please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. I have linked here another fantastic article regarding the Divas champions.
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