When you look back at the history of Survivor Series, the evolution of women’s matches on the pay-per-view is quite stunning. The women actually had the spotlight in the first-ever match in 1987, but as time passed by, so did the presence of women’s matches on the card.

But we’re currently living in a generation where some of the best female wrestlers are finally being given the opportunity to deliver more than short and forgettable elimination bouts at the big pay-per-view. That doesn’t mean that all women’s matches have been terrible throughout the show’s history and this list narrows down the five best in WWE.

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Hardcore match for the WWE Women’s Championship: Trish Stratus vs. Victoria (Survivor Series 2002)

A great match that was in the early stages of their rivalry. Victoria was always a great heel who didn’t particularly get her flowers for pioneering a new era of women. The “Psycho Chick” angle has been done countless times before, but it felt fresh during this time and the former WWE Women’s Champion did so well with the character. 

Trish held her own in this match and it proves that she was more than just a pretty face holding the most prestigious women’s belt in wrestling. Trish’s rivalries against Jazz and Victoria really brought out stiffness and toughness in her matches making her a very dynamic performer. A strong match, though it would’ve been better if Victoria beat her with Widow’s peak instead of a snap suplex. 

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WWE Women’s Championship match: Lita vs. Mickie James (Survivor Series 2006)

Lita is coming off having the best women’s match of the year against Trish Stratus and she had an excellent contender with Mickie James. Granted, the chemistry between these two wasn’t as great as Lita’s match with Trish, but the passing of the torch really helped push the division into a new era.

The kick-out of Lita’s moonsault was great. And it ended Lita’s incredible heel run by putting over a future star. It’s a shame that WWE decided to give her a classless exit following the match, but the heel got her comeuppance, which was very important. 

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Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (Survivor Series 2018)

The subsequent years following Mickie/Lita usually had forgettable matches and rushed elimination tag team bouts. Originally scheduled to be Becky vs. Ronda, Flair and Rousey had amazing chemistry in their very first encounter.

The ending was disappointing. Charlotte Flair was fresh off her feud with Becky Lynch and she turned heel because…she represents blue? Terrible ending aside, the early counterchains of submissions were great. But this match was physical. Very physical with Rousey being busted open within the first five minutes. The match felt more like a fight, and these women carried themselves throughout the bout.

The play on both of their submission finishers was great, as were moments like Flair pulling the spear out of nowhere. The disqualification itself wasn’t bad, but it surely felt as if this was a heel turn for Charlotte. It wasn’t, and if WWE didn’t want either of these women to lose then they shouldn’t have put the match together. Still, easily better than their other matches in Ronda’s return.

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Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (Survivor Series 2021)

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a bad match between these two. It helped that the rivalry for their latest chapter was built on the silly title-switching concept. Becky was a heel, but she still managed to get the crowd to side with her because she’s so darn good at promos. This was another physical bout, but the personal story going into it really added juice that these RAW vs. Smackdown matches tend to lack.

My only criticism was the anti-climatic ending. Clearly, it was supposed to be an eye for an eye as Charlotte tried cheating minutes before. However, the roll-up just felt flat because the match felt like it was in second gear before the abrupt ending. Still, a great match that had the spice of storyline support to boost the interpromotional contest.

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Women’s WarGames Match: Team Belair (Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Mia Yim, and Becky Lynch) vs. Team Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky, Nikki Cross, and Rhea Ripley) (Survivor Series 2022)

The biggest issue with these matches is that the actual match doesn’t start until the final competitors are in the ring. Creative managed to cover that well in the men’s match, but the women’s bout was sorely lacking. That isn’t to say that it didn’t have its moments, but the bout didn’t really kick into high gear until Ripley entered last. 

Nikki and Iyo diving off the top rope was cool. The first encounter between Asuka and Iyo was exciting. And keeping away Becky and Ripley for a good portion of the match was smart. But the story of Becky wanting revenge against Damage CTRL really did help anchor the final portions of the match. There was some clunkiness and the way Ripley was written out before the pinfall was a bit weak, but the good outweighed the bad in this match.