Review: WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches To See Before You Die: #85 Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley (NXT Women’s Championship Match, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn)

(Here’s the link for the match on the WWE Network: http://network.wwe.com/video/v400412483/?contentId=&contextType=wwe-show&contextId=wwe_nxt

According to the WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches…List, this is the best women’s wrestling match on the WWE Network. There are only two women’s matches on the list, by the way. In an ideal world, there’d be far more women’s matches on the list. But wrestling has been dominated by men for a long time, and it’s only in the past couple of years (in the Western wrestling world) that women have risen in wrestling stature. Sure, you can point to Trish Stratus, Lita, etc, but they existed in an era where a women’s assets meant her breasts. Now, women regularly main event Raw and Smackdown (if not PPVs). And, in my humble opinion, Sasha Banks vs Bayley is the peak of modern women’s wrestling. Yes, they may have moved onto the big leagues, but nothing gets better than this match.

Review: WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches: #97 Charlotte vs Natalya (NXT Women’s Championship, NXT: Takeover)

(Click here for the link to the match on the WWE Network: http://network.wwe.com/video/v33396365?contextType=wwe-show&contextId=wwe_nxt&contentId=78122256&watchlistAltButtonContext=series )

Charlotte vs Natalya is the first of two Women’s match in the WWE Network’s 100 Best Matches…List,  which is a shame. For example, back in the early 2000s, Lita and Trish had some great matches. Maybe some of those matches were deserving of being in the Best 100 list. However, the brains behind the 100 Best Matches…List obviously thought there was only room for two women’s matches. And, quite frankly, Charlotte vs Natalya puts anything that Lita and Trish did to shame (my memories of watching Lita wrestle are always punctuated by a fear of her injuring herself or her opponent. No doubt, she put everything into her matches, but she was dangerous in the ring).