The Five Most Legendary WWE Diva Feuds Of All Time

WWE

The WWE “Divas” era has crept into the background of wrestling lore thanks to the “Women’s Evolution” and the eventual return of the WWE Women’s Championship replacing the butterfly-style Divas title, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t several memorable feuds from that time period. For many fans, the era is remembered less for its in-ring achievements and more for the way it packaged women as personalities rather than athletes. Matches were often short, storylines were underdeveloped, and the championship itself—with its bright pink design—became shorthand for how far women’s wrestling was from truly being taken seriously. Still, performers endured to break through limitations, carving out rivalries that carried real emotion, fan interest, and crowd reactions. Those moments are the reason the Divas era remains worth revisiting, even after the company moved on to rebrand and rebuild its women’s division.

With an eight-year existence littered with plenty of forgettable segments and matches that weren’t quite up to par with the action we see from the women’s division today, several standout rivalries would actually fit in quite smoothly in the present era. Certain feuds managed to strike the right balance of character work and in-ring intensity, proving that when given the chance, the women then could deliver not just on par with their male counterparts, but also with their present-day peers. In hindsight, some of those rivalries feel like previews of the future in which we now live, reminding us that even in an era often criticized for style over substance, there was plenty to speak of in terms of memorable matches, feuds, and storylines.

Michelle McCool vs. Maryse

WWE

As the first-ever Divas Champion, Michelle McCool was always going to have a spot on this list. The WWE Hall of Famer captured the title at The Great American Bash in 2008, defeating Natalya after the two had qualified for the match by winning their respective “Golden Dreams” matches on prior episodes of “WWE SmackDown.” Effectively, those matches were multi-woman “object-on-a-pole” contests, in this case, featuring stars hung above one corner of the ring (because of course, they had to girl-ify things back then). In any event, McCool’s championship win sparked a rivalry with Maryse that sparked four title matches between the two over the course of the next six months. McCool’s win over Maryse at Unforgiven 2008 was her first title defense, securing the win with her once-criticized “Wings of Love” finisher, but the war was only just beginning.

Though McCool would repeat her victory over Maryse a few weeks later on “SmackDown,” the challenger would get her comeuppance before year’s end, besting McCool in a match featuring Maria Kanellis as special guest referee. Displeased with Maria’s refereeing abilities, frustrations got the best of McCool who, when distracted, was blasted with a kick from Maryse to set up the pinfall. This led to a heel turn for McCool, taking out her disappointment on Maria, and McCool and Maryse would tag together for a short period of time, against Maria with a mix of tag partners before the champion defended her title once more, effectively putting an end to the first real long-term feud in the Divas division.

Melina vs. Beth Phoenix

WWE

Establishing herself as the stalwart of the division, Phoenix brought a new element to a Divas division wrought with smaller, more gymnast-type athletes, while “The Glamazon” (as if the nickname itself didn’t give it all right away) was more of a powerhouse. While the pair had tagged together for some time in late 2007 to early 2008, their first competition against each other came by way of a Triple Threat match for the Divas Championship, also featuring Mickie James, on an episode of “Raw.” Phoenix, the champion, would retain in that bout, but the trio would run things back at Judgment Day six months later, and in that match, as James escaped with the title, Phoenix vs. Melina spun off on its own, beginning with an I Quit match at One Night Stand that saw Phoenix prevail.

The friends-turned-foes would continue their feud into the following year, with Melina toppling the once-and-again champion at Royal Rumble 2009 and retaining twice thereafter to cement her legacy. Though their only in-ring interactions from that point forward would come in the form of multi-women matches that were less memorable than their singles feud (outside of a negligible tangle on “WWE Superstars” in 2011), the rivalry goes down as one of the Divas division’s best of all time. Phoenix would win a Divas Championship Number One Contender’s Battle Royal in August of 2011 in the same match that served as Melina’s last for the company until an appearance in the 2022 Royal Rumble. “The Glamazon” would enjoy two more Divas title runs before exiting WWE in late 2012, returning as a 2017 Hall of Fame inductee, and then for sporadic appearances in the years since. After teaming with real-life husband Adam Copeland (as Edge) a few times under the WWE umbrella after his return, Phoenix was seen most recently coming to his aid at AEW’s All Out earlier this year.

AJ Lee vs. Paige

WWE

It’s hard to find a rivalry from the Diva era that struck a chord with fans much more deeply than that between AJ Lee and Paige. As Divas Champion, on a record-setting 295-day run with the title, Lee posed an open challenge on the “Raw” after WrestleMania in 2014, which was answered by Paige, then-NXT Women’s Champion on a 300+ day run of her own as champ, to the shock and awe of the crowd. The first-ever NXT Women’s Champion wasn’t done with the shock factor just by showing up, defeating Lee to become the youngest Divas Champion and springboarding a WWE run for the ages.

Hard to believe is the fact that these two only shared a ring together on-screen for less than a year, to the tune of 16 matches, but that also speaks to how much the feud resonated with fans. Six of those bouts were for the title and the duo would pair together several times toward the end of Lee’s first WWE run, including, and fittingly, in her final match in March of 2015 when Lee, Paige, and Naomi defeated Natalya and The Bella Twins on an episode of “Raw.”

In the years since, Lee departed, and Paige suffered an unfortunate neck injury, thought to be a career-ender, but she eventually returned to wrestling as Saraya for a two-plus-year run in AEW before her contract expired earlier this year. Of course, Lee has since returned, teaming with her husband CM Punk against Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch at WrestlePalooza, and naturally, fans have since clamored for her and the potentially once-and-again Paige to run things back in WWE before too long.

Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch

WWE

Much like Michelle McCool as the first Divas Champion, you can’t put together a list like this without including the last, which was Charlotte Flair in 2016 before the title was renamed as the WWE Women’s Champion. “The Queen’s” first order of business? To defend the championship in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 32 against two of her fellow Four Horsewomen, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. Flair would retain at Mania, setting the stage for a main roster rivalry that endures to this day, perhaps on- and off-screen.

But to talk of Becky and Charlotte has to include that shared beginning in NXT alongside Banks and the Fourth Horsewoman, Bayley (which, thankfully, is not an official moniker, since she’s put together quite the career herself). These four were intertwined throughout their developmental run, either as adversaries or on the same side, and their careers will forever be linked, no matter where they go (which, so far, is all WWE, save for Banks’ evolution into Mercedes Moné in AEW).

Championship matches and on-screen feuds are one thing, and Flair and Lynch have had plenty of battles over a title over the years (11 to be specific, including the NXT Women’s Championship and the Divas Championship), but thing seemed to reach a breaking point in 2021 when, in a goofy moment of WWE creative, due to brand switches that may or may not have actually made sense, the two were made to switch their “Raw” and “SmackDown” titles, only for things to get awkward when Flair tossed her belt to the mat and Lynch flung hers at her counterpart. Since then, rumors have swirled about continued tension between the two, though they’ve been on the same side once or twice in the time since, but one thing can be certain, there is nothing settled from an in-ring perspective for this pair of all-time greats.

Lita vs. Trish Stratus

WWE

We’re taking liberties here, because technically, these two worked a combined total of eight matches during the “Divas” era but, no matter what you call it, any stretch of women’s wrestling since the beginning of time would be hard-pressed to match the influence that Lita and Trish Stratus had on the business. Ask just about any woman wrestling at present about their influences and 999 out of 1,000 will reference one or both of these legendary competitors. Both now WWE Hall of Famers, Trish and Lita were the first females to main event an episode of “WWE Raw” in 2004, and oh, did they ever deliver. While Lita would prevail in the match, it was far from the end of the feud, which continued through Stratus’ (then-)retirement match in 2006 at Unforgiven in her hometown of Toronto.

The “besties” began competing against one another while still refining their skills alongside male allies; the most notable being T&A for Trish and of course, The Hardy Boyz for Lita, and ultimately involving her in some legendary group encounters against The Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian. The pair would come together at Invasion in 2001, defending the honor of WWE in the only way it knew how back then, in a Bra and Panties match (which, for some reason, had Mick Foley serve as special guest referee), warding off the challenge of former WCW valet/pseudo-wrestlers Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson (who would soon prove formidable in their own right, given an actual chance to showcase their in-ring talent). 

While they’d have to endure the pre-Women’s Evolution nonsense, either directly or with a view from afar during their respective time away from the ring, each would return for the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble in 2018, and team up again at the original Evolution later that year, defeating Alicia Fox and Mickie James. While Lita has only seen the ring a handful of times since, Stratus enjoyed a lengthy run as recently as 2023 and even challenged Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women’s Championship at Evolution 2025.

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