5 Ways The Raw Women's Title Is The Most Prestigious (& 5 Ways It's The Smackdown Women's Title)
On the August 21, 2000, edition of Raw, the first all-women main event occurred with Lita winning the WWF Women's Championship from Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. No one could have predicted back then that by 2020, the women would not only have more main events with the title but the main event of WrestleMania would revolve around the women's championship.
RELATED: The 10 Longest WWE Women's Championship Reigns, Ranked By Length
Both Raw and SmackDown's Women's Championships originated in 2016 with each brand receiving a unique title through the brand split. Although both titles, like all in WWE, have gone through ups and downs, each has a strong argument for why it happens to be more prestigious than the other.
10 Raw: Show-Stealing Origin & Influence
The Divas Champion Charlotte Flair was scheduled to defend the title against Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 32. On the pre-show, Lita announced the Divas Championship would be replaced that night with the new WWE Women's Championship which became exclusive to Raw soon after.
The first match in the Raw Women's Championship's existence was seen as the best match of WrestleMania 32 and would earn main event status later. This was a case where the performers made the title, not vice versa. Since its debut, the ladies have been able to shine bright in show-stealing competition for the Raw Women's Championship.
9 SmackDown: Launching Pad
The SmackDown Women's Championship came into existence after the 2016 brand split when the WWE Women's Championship became exclusive to Raw. A six-pack challenge was held at Backlash 2016 to crown the inaugural champion, which was Becky Lynch; her first championship in WWE.
Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Carmella all won their first championships in WWE through the SmackDown Women's Championship. Bliss would later win the Raw Women's and WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. Naomi would win the inaugural WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal, as would Carmella, and all become fan favorites.
8 Raw: Hall Of Champions
The list of alumna for the Raw Women's Championship is full of modern-day Hall Of Famers. Some former women's champions, prior to the Raw and SmackDown titles, are not necessarily seen as first-ballot Hall of Famers but that is not to say they are not worthy.
RELATED: The 10 Most Dominant WWE Women's Champions, Ranked
Even though the Raw's women's title has existed for a handful of years, the hall of champions are basically all future Hall Of Famers. In this class above those mentioned in the last entry are Bayley, Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, and UFC Hall Of Famer "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey.
7 SmackDown: Lineage Of Champions
The most popular performer in professional wrestling being the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion sets a very high bar, though in retrospect. Becky Lynch at the time did not have the mega-stardom popularity she has now but she was still heavily respected and is surefire future Hall Of Famer.
As noted earlier, fan favorites Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Carmella are also former champions as well Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Asuka, and Natalya who are also all surefire Hall Of Famers. Although more champions mean more title changes, the title is treated with respect and not like a hot potato like the 24/7 Championship.
6 Raw: Celebrity Status
Ronda Rousey can be entirely credited with bringing celebrity status to the Raw Women's Championship. Although WWE has partnered with various mass media outlets to promote the women's division, the big publicity gain did not occur until the 2018 Royal Rumble when Ronda debuted in WWE.
RELATED: The 10 Best WWE Women's Champions, Ranked
Although Rousey had an unsuccessful opportunity beforehand, her title win at SummerSlam 2018 brought about the same mass media coverage that her debut got. When it was announced that the Raw Women's Championship would main event WrestleMania for the first time and Rousey was involved, it was a worldwide headline.
5 SmackDown: Credibility Earned For The Show
SmackDown was never really known for its women's wrestling during the Attitude, Ruthless Aggression, and (early) Universe eras. This was very noticeable during the first brand extension post-2002 where the WWE Women's Championship was exclusive to Raw.
The quality of women's wrestling on SmackDown began to rise around 2013-2014 but really took off 2016 thanks to the group of ladies drafted to the blue brand in the second brand extension. SmackDown fans began to see that women's wrestling was no longer Raw exclusive and that the red brand was no longer WWE's lone showcase for women's wrestling.
4 Raw: Legacy Of War
The legacy built for the Raw Women's Championship is one of battle and war. Months after its debut, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch were competing in groundbreaking Falls Count Anywhere, Iron Man, and Hell In A Cell matches.
Lynch had a combative defense against Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania 36. When Ronda Rousey was champion, the fights put up by Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks were very noble. You also cannot forget Bliss winning the first women's Elimination Chamber Match for the Raw Women's Championship.
3 SmackDown: Exciting Specialty Matches
The women of SmackDown make a hell of an effort to steal the show. It does not have to be in a gimmick match; the ladies can bring it in normal one-on-one contests. However, SmackDown's women's division has given fans memorable specialty matches such as Alexa Bliss winning the SmackDown Women's Championship in a Tables match.
Asuka won her title in a TLC match. The first women's Money In The Bank Ladder match in 2017 was for a SmackDown Women's Championship opportunity, won and later cashed-in successfully by Carmella. Becky Lynch also won the first-ever Last Woman Standing match on the main roster to retain the SmackDown women's title at Evolution in 2018.
2 Raw: WrestleMania Main Event Value
The Raw Women's Championship has been in the main event of numerous notable shows. The women's gold started becoming a fixture of pay-per-view main events beginning at the 2016 Hell In A Cell event and as noted earlier, has been featured in the main event of Raw sporadically dating back to August 2000.
Although it was not until 2016 that the women's championship was portrayed as a true wrestling championship, the culmination came in 2019 by being the main event feature of WrestleMania for the very first time which fans thought would NEVER happen. The Raw Women's Championship has earned legendary value.
1 SmackDown: WrestleMania Main Event Value
It may have been a last-minute addition in conjunction with the Raw Women's Championship but the SmackDown Women's Championship also holds the prestigious value and honor of being the prize of the main event of WrestleMania (35). Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Ronda Rousey were set to fight for the Raw Women's Championship.
On SmackDown a week before WrestleMania, Charlotte won an unannounced SmackDown Women's Championship match to win the title, which was then added to the main event of 'Mania to make it Winner-Take-All. A promotional tactic, but legendary value earned.
NEXT: Becky Lynch's 5 Best Main Roster Matches (& Her 5 Best In NXT)
