On the December 6, 2004, edition of WWE Raw, Trish Stratus and Lita competed for the Women’s Championship in a match unlike any women’s match before then. Not only did the pair headline the show, a fact many men on the roster took issue with, but the two women were given ample time to show off their skills in the ring.
The match, which saw Lita win the gold, came at a time when women’s wrestling in WWE was nowhere close to being treated as seriously as its male counterpart. Nevertheless, the match is regarded as one of WWE’s best women’s matches and secured the #55 spot on WWE’s Top 100 Moments In Raw History DVD. In hindsight, it should have been ranked a lot higher than that.
This December will mark 20 years since the iconic match, a fact not lost on Trish Stratus or Lita. Appearing together at Comic Con Northern Ireland over the weekend, Stratus teased something big to mark the anniversary.
“We are definitely coming up on the 20th anniversary of a certain match. Can anyone remember what it is? It’s our main event match, and it’s still talked about to this day."
Nearly two decades ago, the idea of women headlining WWE events was unimaginable. However, trailblazers like Trish Stratus and Lita shattered this glass ceiling and paved the way for future generations of female wrestlers:
October 2016: Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks made history as the first women’s match to headline a WWE pay-per-view, and it took place inside Hell in a Cell of all places.
October 2018: The all-women’s pay-per-view, Evolution, closed with Ronda Rousey defending the Raw Women’s Championship against Nikki Bella.
April 2019: Less than a later, history was made once again at WrestleMania 35 when Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch headlined the event in a triple threat match, with Lynch closing the show raising both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships.
For more on Trish Stratus and Lita’s iconic WWE Raw main event from December 2004, check out this video of them rewatching it together 15 years later:
"So, we want to do something special and really reflect on its importance and how it helped us get to where we are today. That’s our goal—we’re masterminding something right now. Look for something special from Team Bestie to celebrate this very momentous occasion.”