Credit: WWE.com
It’s nearly time for WWE to start announcing the 2019 inductees into the Hall of Fame, and I always get anxious to see which woman will be chosen for the special night. That’s because WWE always seems to select just one female inductee, despite the copious amounts of women who have contributed to the company’s success over time and still haven’t been honored.
There are a lot of women from decades past who still deserve an induction to the WWE Hall of Fame; the absence of Miss Elizabeth, for example, really hurts.
But the Attitude era, specifically, was home to some of the industry’s most influential women. Considering WWE’s reputation for sexist stories and characters during that time that might be hard to believe, but there’s a seemingly endless list of deserving women from the wildest period in wrestling still being left out in the cold.
Credit: WWE.com
Molly Holly
There’s a reason Molly Holly is seen as one of the most underrated performers in the history of women’s wrestling. Molly – whose real name is Nora Greenwald – has remained largely out of the public eye since retiring from the ring nearly fifteen years ago, but her fans and peers remember her as a wrestling machine in her heyday.
Having joined the World Wrestling Federation during the Attitude era, it was really a coin flip whether or not she’d ever get the opportunity to show her true potential as a professional wrestler.
The era served as a conflicting amalgamation of representation of women in sports; while much of the time women were used as eye candy, the Attitude era also played host to what is known as the “Golden Age” of women’s wrestling. Molly would go on to become one of the most pivotal parts of that moment in time.
Molly Holly debuted as the “cousin” of Hardcore and Crash Holly and would spend the next couple of years as a bit of a comedy act, even putting on a cape, joining the Hurricane and calling herself Might Molly for a time. However, eventually she would lose the smile and every time we saw her strut to the ring with clenched fists and an angry grimace we knew business was about to pick up.
Without a doubt, Molly Holly and her contemporaries helped influence an entire generation of women to get into pro wrestling, and we see many of those women competing in today’s awesome WWE women’s division.
While Molly wasn’t always a marquee star like Trish Stratus or Lita, it was her raw talent and ability to make everyone she wrestled look like a star that ensured she would be remembered. The fact that Molly Holly is yet not in the WWE Hall of Fame as 2019 rolls in is a crime.
Credit: WWE.com
The Kat
As I mentioned, the Attitude era was a time when some women were respected as athletes, but others were used for their sexuality to draw in the straight male demographic. Stacy “The Kat” Carter was the epitome of the latter perspective on women’s wrestling in the late 1990s, but she also managed to leave behind some of the era’s most memorable moments.
I guess it’s up in the air whether those moments are seen as great, edgy television or outright offensive, but there’s no denying Stacy Carter owned that role, at least once she had some time to sink her teeth into it.
Carter started with the WWF at the height of Jeff Jarrett’s run as a sexist jerk, joining Jarrett and his on-screen girlfriend Miss Debra as an associate. She was known then as Miss Kitty and would be victimized – along with other women, many of whom were not trained for the ring – by Jarrett until Chyna came along to shut him down.
Miss Kitty would then free herself of Jeff Jarrett and become known as The Kat. She won the WWE Women’s Championship and competed in some of the most notoriously trashy matches the company has ever hosted, but she truly seemed to enjoy every minute of it.
The Kat was no athlete and she wasn’t on a feminist mission to change the course of history for women in wrestling, but she gave us plenty of the Attitude era’s most defining moments, and that’s why she’s worthy of a Hall of Fame induction.
Credit: WWE.com
Terri Runnels
I can’t mention The Kat being deserving of the Hall of Fame without covering her most notable rival, Terri Runnels. For months, these two pulled each others’ hair and brawled in some of the most embarrassing situations possible while wearing next to nothing. The good ole’ days of the Attitude era, folks.
But Terri was so much more than one of the many women WWE used for raw sex appeal. From her early days as Marlena when she would accompany Goldust to the ring, it was clear her charisma would make her a valuable asset to television even if she wasn’t going to be winning many wrestling matches.
It was Marlena, in fact, who served as the first in a long line of both female and male victims of the Ninth Wonder of the World, Chyna.
In later years, Terri Runnels would be tied to Edge & Christian and the Hardy Boyz during one of their earliest feuds together, as she played off the emotions of all four men to turn them against one another. These teams’ association with Terri was a popular angle that helped propel them into the infamous TLC and ladder matches that would come later.
Terri played so many different roles with the company – including that of backstage interviewer – that she was something of an omnipresent part of the women’s division for a number of years and it’s nearly impossible to label what she contributed.
Few women who have ever worked with WWE, whether they were committed in-ring performers or simply on-air personalities, are more deserving of a Hall of Fame induction than Terri Runnels.
Credit: WWE.com
Jazz
After Chyna retired as the WWF Women’s Champion in 2001 it was unclear what would happen with the title. The championship had already been down a rocky path since being reinstated to the company a few years earlier, and had been competed for in Evening Gown matches and even been held by a man.
But (now) WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus would win the vacant Women’s Title and it would go on to be contested in some of the greatest, most respected women’s matches in wrestling history over the next several years.
However, the same match that Trish won the title in also served as the WWF debut of former ECW star Jazz.
Obviously, Jazz carried with her an incredible amount of bravado and a reputation for being one of the toughest women in sports entertainment. She proved this during her memorable stint with WWE, winning the Women’s Title serving as a top rival to many of WWE’s current Hall of Fame females.
Indeed, Jazz was not in WWE to wrestling in her underwear. She was there to beat people up and win matches, and that’s exactly what she did.
Jazz was one of the most underappreciated members of the roster during one of the most revered eras in women’s wrestling. Her no-nonsense personality was the glue that held together a division headlined by stars like Trish, Lita, Victoria and others, and after being part of the backbone of that critical time in history; it’s time she’s given her place among the greats.
Credit: WWE.com
Miss Debra
If you ever got sick of hearing Jerry “The King” Lawler shout on and on about “Puppies!” then this is the woman you have to thank.
Don’t judge her, though. It’s not her fault. Granted, Miss Debra did become known for possessing some of the most revealing dress suits ever seen, but she was much more to WWE than just cleavage.
Miss Debra helped take the career of Jeff Jarrett to the next level, and make him one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions of all time. She was usually being drug along behind Jarrett by her hand, so making a feminist statement was not in the cards for Debra, at least at this stage of her career.
Eventually, she would turn on Jarrett after he began assaulting her and every other woman in his path. Jeff Jarrett seems to have played a major role in some of the Attitude era’s biggest “girl power” storylines, including angles with the aforementioned Chyna and The Kat, but no woman was ever tied to him on-screen as closely as the lovely Debra.
In the later months of her WWE career, she was aligned with a heel “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who was her real-life husband at the time. She became a devious part of the WCW/ECW Alliance during the invasion storyline at the turn of the century, further solidifying her status as an unforgettable presence during wrestling’s most lucrative years.
Like some others on this list, Miss Debra wasn’t going to wrestle circles around anyone despite having been the Women’s Champion at one time. However, the Hall of Fame is a place to celebrate the careers of all who have contributed in various ways to the success of the business, and Miss Debra certainly deserves to be praised for what she brought to the table.
Credit: WWE.com
Luna Vachon
Like Molly Holly and Jazz, Luna Vachon put in years of hard work as a pro wrestling natural only to be left in the shadows of the more vibrant women they made look so good.
Luna Vachon spent a lot of the 1990s putting in the hours for the World Wrestling Federation, and was given almost nothing in the way of rewards.
In that way, she can sort of be seen as the Natalya of the ‘90s. Luna was there for all the wacky storylines WWE asked of her, including a match alongside Bam Bam Bigelow against Dink and Doink the Clown at WrestleMania X and a unique stint as Goldust’s manager.
She rarely got to step into the ring as a serious competitor, despite her obvious talent, but Luna did have a few championship matches with the likes of Sable and WWE Hall of Famers Alundra Blayze and Jacqueline.
Instead, Luna was mostly known for her associations with members of the men’s roster. During her final months with WWE at the height of the Attitude era, she found herself partnered with Gangrel, who she was romantically involved with in real life.
Luna Vachon is well-respected to be sure, but her time in the World Wrestling Federation rarely seemed to line up well with an active women’s division. When it did, WWE didn’t seem keen on promoting her as a top talent, for whatever reason.
The company never gave her the credit she was due, and that’s why it’s long past time to induct this wild personality, who embodied so much of the spirit of the Attitude era, into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Credit: WWE.com
Tori
Tori might be the most criminally forgotten woman in WWE history. She was an incredibly underrated professional wrestler that just happened to be working for WWE when the women’s division was essentially background noise.
She had some title matches, including a wild Women’s Title brawl that took her and Ivory all throughout the backstage area; it was actually one of the first women’s matches I ever saw as a kid and showed me that female wrestlers were definitely not afraid to go hardcore.
More from Wrestling News
- Tom Lawlor talks MLW return, AEW opportunity, CM Punk’s WWE return and more
- Darius Lockhart: Asé ‘is my love letter to pro wrestling’
- Now that CM Punk is back, does Cody Rhodes finish his story?
- CM Punk’s shocking WWE return sends waves across locker room
- Three candidates to take the Women’s World Championship from Rhea Ripley
While championship success was not in the picture for Tori, she would leave her mark on WWE in a wholly unique way. She had spent months as Kane’s on-screen girlfriend, but would make herself an Attitude era icon when she turned on him to run off with the Big Red Machine’s former best friend and now arch rival, X-Pac.
At the side of X-Pac, she was now a fully-fledged member of D-Generation X, joining only Chyna and Stephanie McMahon as female members of the group. D-X, of course, naturally joined forces with Vince and Shane McMahon to form the McMahon-Helmsely Faction, a group that ran roughshod over WWE in the absence of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Tori’s presence at ringside generated massive amounts of heat for D-X and often made her the focus of Bubba Ray Dudley, who was obsessed with putting women through tables at the time. Her infectious charisma and impact on some of the Attitude era’s most successful years should be more than enough to earn Tori a spot among wrestling’s finest.
Credit: WWE.com
Lilian Garcia
When I was about 13 years old I was just turning on the television to see what this wild wrestling craze was all about. It flew under my radar at the time, but a few years later I would learn that I was joining WWE as a fan at nearly the same time (almost to the week) that Lilian Garcia began her long and illustrious career as one of pro wrestling’s greatest ring announcers.
I’ve always loved Lilian’s work; she’s got a passion for what she does and it always showed through.
Her commitment to wrestling was not to be questioned either. Lilian wasn’t just there because it was an announcing gig; she really dug her claws into the business and participated in some cool storylines over the years. Perhaps one of her most memorable angles was when she was romantically linked to the 500-pound monstrosity known as Viscera.
Of course, her character work never overshadowed her ability to sell the heck out of “this next match” or to bring a crowd to tears with her rendition of the American national anthem. I was lucky enough to hear Lilian do her thing in person a few times, and she’s got a voice that runs chills down your spine.
Lilian Garcia has been one of WWE’s finest ambassadors over the years and a terrific role model. Give this woman a Hall of Fame induction, already. In fact, let her announce and induct herself at the ceremony, because no one’s going to do it better.
Credit: WWE.com
Sable
The Attitude era was simultaneously demeaning and empowering to women; it depended on the specific woman, the timing and what the situation called for, I guess. WWE made plenty of questionable choices with their female performers in the late 1990s, but one thing they certainly did right was deciding it was time to reinstate the dormant Women’s Championship.
The World Wrestling Federation had brought in a gorgeous and charismatic woman named Sable, originally as an associate of a young Triple H (Hunter Hearst Helmsley). She eventually aligned with her real-life husband at the time, Marc Mero, who left her on-screen for Jacqueline.
The revival of the Women’s Title came as a result of a feud between the two women, and everyone likely assumed the naturally gifted wrestler of the two (Jackie) would take the gold home, but it was Sable who got that honor.
Sable was by no means a skilled pro wrestler. She knew a few moves, but as has often been the case in wrestling over the years, she had a character the audience couldn’t get enough of, and that was what solidified her as a star. Sable’s feud with Jacqueline and Marc Mero defined her first stint with the company, but she wasn’t done there.
Years later, she returned to WWE after a lengthy absence for a feud over Playboy magazine with Torrie Wilson, and a romance angle with Vince McMahon. Sable was one of the Attitude era’s biggest stars, especially as far as women go, and the fact that she’s not yet in the WWE Hall of Fame is not lost on her fans.
Credit: WWE.com
Victoria
Where do I even begin with Victoria? Here is a woman who reinvented herself numerous times over the course of her rather lengthy stay with WWE, and though many of her years with the company came after the Attitude era had come to a close.
She actually got her start when the Godfather was still pimpin’ hos. In fact, Victoria started on WWE television as an actual member of the Godfather’s Ho Train!
After some time, though, Victoria would make an official in-ring debut as one of the most unpredictable members of the WWE women’s division. In the closing years of the Attitude era, Victoria won the Women’s Championship on two separate occasions and competed in some truly ground-breaking matches, including a Hardcore match with Trish Stratus and the first women’s steel cage match against Lita.
Victoria’s alignment with Stevie Richards saw her portrayed as a complete lunatic, and through this she made an instant connection with fans as a top heel.
Working with would-be Hall of Famers like Trish, Lita, Ivory and Jacqueline, along with other contemporaries like Jazz and Molly Holly, Victoria would contribute to the “Golden Age” of women’s wrestling, a time that WWE kicked under the rug years later in favor of the fluffier Divas division.
Though she would redefine herself many times over the next years, including a run with Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle as “Vince’s Devils” and aligning herself with a young Natalya, those early years would make Victoria the wrestling royalty she is today.
Credit: WWE.com
Chyna
Chyna’s lack of induction into the Hall of Fame is an incredibly sore topic for me. It’s nuts to think about all the ways she changed the game for the women who would come after her and the things she accomplished, regardless of her gender, while managing to set the spotlight directly on the World Wrestling Federation in the late ‘90s.
Chyna was the first and only woman to ever win the Intercontinental Championship. She was also the first woman to ever compete in the men’s Royal Rumble match, and the only woman to challenge for the WWE Championship. She was so unique you can’t even say she was a trendsetter because there was never anyone remotely like her to follow, and there never will be.
Chyna will never happen again.
Her image is iconic. Everyone knew who Chyna was, even if they weren’t a wrestling fan. She was the biggest star in D-Generation X, the biggest star in every single rivalry she ever had, and the biggest star of the Attitude era. And yes, I’m including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock.
In fact, to me and I’m sure many others, Chyna might just be the biggest and most influential professional wrestler of all time.
The very least WWE can do for this magnificent legend is to offer her a spot in the Hall of Fame; the other inductees would be lucky to sit alongside her.
The Attitude era was an incredibly financially lucrative time for WWE and definitely the most popular time in the history of the business. It’s a testament to the will and drive of women in pro wrestling that so many of them managed to build careers worthy of the Hall of Fame during a time when women were so often mistreated and misrepresented by the company.
All of these women (and more!) from the Attitude era deserve a seat alongside the many, many other wrestling greats in the WWE Hall of Fame.