Women's wrestling in the WWE has experienced a massive evolution since the late '90s, to say the least. Gone are the days when female wrestlers were limited to brief matches or relegated ringside eye candy, thanks in large part to trailblazers like Chyna, who stepped into the ring with male competitors and even took home championships traditionally reserved for the guys. Then there was Trish Stratus, Lita, and Jazz, who kept that momentum alive in the 2000s by fighting their way to major titles and main-event matches,

Arguably, the evolution hit a new peak in 2021, when Bianca Belair and Mercedes Moné became the first Black women ever to headline WrestleMania. Their groundbreaking achievement was unquestionably the direct result of years of battles fought by women whose legacies transformed not only the WWE but the entire fabric of wrestling culture. With that in mind, here are 11 women who shaped the WWE into what it is today.

1. Bianca Belair

Bianca Belair etched her name into wrestling history at WrestleMania 37 by becoming the first Black woman to headline WWE’s biggest event, where she also walked out as the SmackDown Women’s Champion after defeating Sasha Banks. Just a few months earlier, she delivered a star-making performance at the 2021 Royal Rumble, in which she lasted nearly an hour after entering third, which, by the way, had never been done before.

2. Mercedes Moné

Mercedes Moné, formerly known as Sasha Banks, was instrumental in spearheading WWE’s Women’s Revolution. She notably appeared in the first women’s Iron Man and Hell in a Cell matches, with her feud with Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Respect being the first time ladies headlined a major WWE event. With six WWE Women’s Championship reigns under her belt, there’s no doubt Moné helped permanently push women’s wrestling into main-event territory.

3. Chyna

Chyna cemented herself as WWE’s ultimate disruptor by becoming the first woman to capture the Intercontinental Championship by defeating Jeff Jarrett in the late ‘90s. Not to mention, the New York native’s entry in the 1999 Royal Rumble — another first for women — saw her going head-to-head with legends like Triple H and Kane, to name a few.

4. Jacqueline Moore

When WWE revived the Women’s Championship in 1998, Jacqueline Moore was the obvious choice to hold the title first. After all, she defeated Sable in a moment that reset the standard for women’s wrestling after years in the shadows. Already a trailblazer who regularly wrestled men in the USWA, Moore went on to score an even more impressive victory in 2004 when she pinned Chavo Guerrero clean on SmackDown, making her the first (and only, as of 2025) woman to win WWE’s Cruiserweight Championship.

5. Jazz

Arriving during WWE’s massively hyped 2001 “Invasion” storyline, Jazz almost immediately proved women’s wrestling was the main event. She held the Women’s Championship twice, notably forcing fan-favorite Trish Stratus to tap out at Backlash 2003 in one of the era’s most intense rivalries. Plus, Jazz’s intensity matched — and at times even surpassed — many of the male headliners, which certainly pushed the division toward the recognition it had always deserved.

6. Trish Stratus

Before Trish Stratus clinched seven Women’s Championships, women in the WWE were mainly seen as eye candy. She flipped that script, having evolved from a fitness model and valet into arguably the company's first real female superstar. Her 2004 feud with Lita, for example, peaked with the first-ever women’s match to headline Raw and essentially laid the groundwork for a women’s division. Stratus hung up her boots two years later, landed herself a Hall of Fame induction in 2013, and finally made her brief but full-time comeback in 2023.

7. Naomi

Naomi’s second SmackDown Women’s Championship victory at WrestleMania 33, which took place in front of her hometown crowd in Orlando, was a massive victory both for her and Black representation in wrestling. It goes without saying that her in-ring presence spawned several iconic moments along the way, including winning the first-ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal and becoming the first Black woman to hold the SmackDown Women’s title.

8. Kharma

Kharma’s tenure in WWE was short-lived but no less impactful. Already famous in TNA as Awesome Kong, she immediately crushed every stereotype of what a WWE Diva was "supposed" to look like when she arrived. She made her entrance by flattening Michelle McCool at Extreme Rules, followed up by taking out Layla El, and even crashing Kelly Kelly and Brie Bella’s match. Kharma was arguably the first woman since Chyna who fans truly believed could take on — and absolutely obliterate — any wrestler, male or female, a point that was proven by her surprise return in the 2012 Royal Rumble.

9. Queen Sharmell

In WWE, charisma counts just as much as in-ring skill, and Queen Sharmell had it in spades. When she started managing her real-life husband, Booker T, the former Miss Black America turned what could've easily been another forgettable sidekick gig into one of the organization’s most unforgettable acts of that era. In 2022, she secured a well-deserved spot in the WWE Hall of Fame, which just goes to show that making an impact doesn't always require stepping in the ring.

10. Layla El

Layla El may have kicked off her WWE journey as the winner of the 2006 Diva Search, but she quickly proved she was far more than just a contest winner. In 2010, she became the first British woman ever to win the Women's Championship. Meanwhile, as half of LayCool with Michelle McCool, the two revitalized women's tag-team wrestling with a number of memorable feuds, most notably their rivalry with Mickie James.

11. Alicia Fox

Alicia Fox quietly made history as the first Black woman to capture the WWE Divas Championship when she defeated Eve Torres in 2010. Despite often flying under the radar, her decade-plus career made her an indispensable part of the company's ever-evolving women's division.