When it comes to icons of women's wrestling, Lita's name has to make the list. Long before the present day Women’s Revolution, she straddled eras. Yes, she was around for the eye candy exploits of Bra and Panties and Gravy Bowl matches, but also for more serious feuds with the likes of Trish Stratus, Victoria, Jazz, and others.
Related: 10 Things About Lita That Would Never Fly Today
Between her unique look and ahead of her time aerial game, Lita stood out from the pack. A manager, she was always provocative—a lightning rod for the men she stood beside. As a wrestler, she was arguably the top female face, then transitioned well to the heel role. Still, for all she accomplished, WWE didn’t always do right by the performer or her character.
10 The Live Sex Celebration
When Edge ascended to the main event level, one of his most controversial segments on Raw was a live sex celebration with Lita. The presentation was certainly provocative and made sense for Edge’s Rated R Superstar persona, not to mention Lita’s sexuality.
However, Edge and Lita have both expressed in hindsight that they were uncomfortable with the segment. In particular, Lita cited in a live Twitch discussion that she was not only pressured to take part in the celebration, but that management threatened her job if she didn’t see it through.
9 Her Last Night
A number of wrestling legends who leave WWE on amicable terms have found themselves honored on their way out of the company. Sometimes, wrestlers like The Undertaker, they go out on a victory. Sometimes wrestlers like Shawn Michaels or Ric Flair, they get to deliver a heartfelt promo to the fans.
Related: 10 Most Emotional Retirement Speeches In Wrestling History
To be fair, Lita wasn’t as big of an icon as the aforementioned Superstars and she left the company as a heel. Still, just two months after Trish Stratus got a hero’s send-off, retiring as champion and capping the legendary rivalry between her and Lita with one last match, Lita was subject to the opposite treatment. She lost her final match to Mickie James, cut a bitter in-character promo, then got an extra dose of humiliation with Cryme Tyme selling off her belongings to make the moment a complete farce.
8 The Chyna Feud
Chyna and Lita were two of the most popular and best-respected female talents for WWE in 2001, and it only made sense that WWE would have a full-fledged storyline of the two competing for the Women’s Championship. After a handful of run-ins, Lita was positioned as the number one contender to Chyna’s title for Judgment Day 2001.
They had a good match together, but the rivalry was “one and done” with no rematches or ongoing story. Lita discussed in a visit to Corey Graves’s podcast that she had thought the rivalry would continue and held back so they’d have plenty left for follow-up bouts. The Ninth Wonder of the World wound up leaving WWE, though, before the two would ever clash again. The storyline left off as one of Chyna's more disappointing feuds. WWE probably should have pulled the trigger on this rivalry sooner, or squeezed in one more match before Chyna left.
7 Never Getting A WrestleMania Victory
For all of Lita’s successes in WWE and all but inarguably being one of the most popular female stars the company had prior to the Women’s Revolution, one statistical anomaly stands out. She's on the list of greats who never won a match at WrestleMania.
Lita actually only worked one proper match at ‘Mania, getting pinned by Jazz in a Triple Threat at WrestleMania 18. One has to assume that if Lita had hit her peak in modern times, she would have had more opportunities to work matches at the biggest event of the year, and probably picked up the duke at least once. To be fair to WWE in this case, Lita was set to wrestle Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 21 but an ill-timed injury forced the match to be scrapped.
6 Setting Her Up For Failure When Things Got Ugly
The darkest period of Lita’s wrestling career came into focus in 2005 when her breakup with Matt Hardy went public. Fans were quite vocal in taking Hardy’s side, particularly with the info that Lita had been unfaithful.
WWE tried to stay the course with storylines, but fans heckled Lita mercilessly despite playing a face character, putting her in a terrible no-win situation. A shift in storylines to fit real-life circumstances at least allowed Lita to behave more villainously on screen. Nonetheless, in casting her as Edge’s on-screen partner, WWE only kept the microscope on her personal life, all but encouraging fans to harass her.
5 Bra And Panties Match At InVasion
The InVasion PPV felt like a dream card, pitting WWE talent against a WCW and ECW contingent. The fact that Trish Stratus and Lita would be selected to represent the women of WWE made a great deal of sense given their respective popularity and how far they’d come as performers.
They were booked opposite Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler. In terms of star power, this combination made sense, but Wilson and Keibler were never known for their in-ring talent, and were particularly raw in 2001. It was a Bra and Panties which obscured their limitations behind a veil of sex appeal. Nonetheless, one of the early missteps in the Invasion angle, and particularly this historic show, was insulting a performer like Lita by having her step back from serious wrestling for this sorry excuse for a match.
4 The Initial Pairing With Essa Rios
Lita came to WWE as a unique talent. She had trained in Mexico and had Lucha Libre offense to show for it. She had had a stint in ECW to warm up to the kind of edgy product WWE was angling toward itself in the Attitude Era. She was a beautiful woman with an unconventional look.
WWE gave her her proper debut (after an anonymous appearance as one of The Godfather’s hos) alongside Essa Rios. While Rios had a great deal of potential, at nineteen years old, he was still a highly unproven talent in his own right. It’s a testament to Lita’s charisma and talent that she got over in spite of, rather than because of her affiliation with a cruiserweight who'd quickly fizzle in WWE.
3 Playing A Supporting Role In The Battle Of The Sexes Angle
By late 2003, Lita and Trish Stratus were over enough for them to transcend the women’s division and make some sense getting more directly involved in feuds with their male counterparts. This led to an issue between this duo and the pairing of Chris Jericho and Christian.
Related: 10 Best Intergender Wrestling Rivalries, Ranked
Lita played second fiddle throughout this storyline, as the real focus was on a budding romance angle between Stratus and Jericho, and a growing rift between Jericho and Christian. WWE would ultimately use this storyline as a platform for a well-executed heel turn for Stratus, but Lita receded further and further into the background as the plot thickened, drastically under-utilizing her talents.
2 The Snitsky Storyline
Gene Snitsky is best remembered as an eccentric monster heel. His character was launched via an angle with Kane and Lita, in which he inadvertently caused Lita to have a miscarriage.
There were a lot of problematic elements to this storyline, from miscasting Lita as the damsel in distress, to being awfully cavalier about a miscarriage—a very real, traumatic experience for so many women. Lita deserved better than to be mixed up in any of this.
1 An Underwhelming Booking For Evolution
The all-female Evolution PPV marked a special night, and it was only fitting that stars of yesteryear would return for the occasion. On account of her star power and remaining in good shape, it was only fitting that Lita would not get lost in the shuffle of the twenty-women battle royal, but rather open the show in tag team action with Trish Stratus.
The duo squared off against Mickie James and Alicia Fox, though. James had a history with both opponents and could be considered a legend. However, WWE had undone any mystique she might have in casting her as a mere sidekick to Alexa Bliss for months. From there, Alicia Fox had even less credibility—substituting for the injured Bliss. The resulting match felt lopsided in star power on what should have been a bigger night for Lita and Stratus alike.
