WWE Vault – Best Of Victoria: She Was Good (Includes Full Video)
Best Of Victoria
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman
This is an interesting one as Victoria was one of the best members of the women’s division when it was at its weakest. That doesn’t change how talented Victoria was though and she definitely boosted the division when she showed up. It should be interesting to see what’s included here, though you can probably guess some of the selections. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
From Survivor Series 2002.
Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Trish Stratus
Victoria is challenging in a hardcore match and jumps Stratus from behind to start fast. Some choking with Stratus’ jacket has her in trouble but she avoids some swings with a broom. They both grab the broom and flip around with it a bit with Stratton getting the better of it and grabbing a trashcan lid. That earns her a broom to the lid to Stratus’ face as Victoria is looking rather nuts. Victoria takes her outside for a face first whip into a trashcan attached to the post (easier access to the weapons you see), followed by a slingshot flipping legdrop for two back inside.
The trashcan is wedged in the corner, where Stratus catapults her face first for two of her own. Some kendo stick shots rock Victoria gain but she’s back with a trashcan lid to knock Stratus down. The Stratusphere is blocked but Stratus sits up for a lid shot of her own (that looked awesome) and Victoria is sent crashing out to the floor. Back in and Victoria hits her with the stick again before grabbing a fire extinguisher to (very eventually) blind Stratus. That and a snap suplex of all things gives Victoria the pin and the title at 7:01.
Rating: B. The thing to remember about this era is that the women’s division was pretty going in an entirely new direction as Stratus was just becoming the star of the whole thing. Victoria showed up and added a new dimension to the division and it worked rather well. That was certainly the case here as they beat the fire out of each other with some of those shows sounding excellent. Rather good match here, with Victoria instantly feeling like she mattered in a different kind of match. Even with a snap suplex.
From Monday Night Raw, November 25, 2002.
Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Trish Stratus
Stratus is challenging and gets shouldered down to start, allowing Victoria to drop an elbow for two. Back up and Stratus gets in a knockdown for her own two, followed by a nice enough bridging rollup for two more. Victoria launches her out to the floor in a big crash though and then drives her into the barricade for a not great looking crash. The slingshot flipping legdrop gets two more, followed by a clothesline for two more.
The seated full nelson (I love a good Ne-Han) has Stratus in more trouble and a pair of snap suplexes give Victoria another near fall. A whip sends Stratus into the steps for quite the loud impact but she gets in a Chick Kick for two of her own. The Stratusphere connects but Victoria slams her down for the standing moonsault. Victoria gets in a bulldog choke for a bit, followed by the Widow’s Peak to retain the title at 8:13.
Rating: B-. This might have been more impressive than the Survivor Series match as Victoria destroyed Stratus and won in dominant fashion. Stratus never had much of a comeback and lost without Victoria even needing to use the weapons from the hardcore match. She looks like an absolute star here and the Widow’s Peak is a heck of a finisher.
From Wrestlemania XIX.
Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Trish Stratus vs. Jazz
Victoria is defending and has Steven Richards with her. Jazz jumps Victoria from behind to knock her to the floor and grabs a Last Chancery on Stratus, which doesn’t last long. Stratus is back up to hammer away but Victoria drops Stratus face first onto the apron. They all wind up on the floor, where Victoria and Jazz start beating up Stratus. Back in and a double reverse suplex into a shoulderbreaker (that was kind of cool) leaves Stratus down so Victoria powerslams Jazz for two.
Back up and Stratus rolls Jazz up for two, with Lawler losing it over the visual of Stratus’ gear. Stratus fires off the forearms at Victoria, leaving Jazz to hit a sitout powerslam for two with Victoria making the save. That means the villains have to brawl some more, with Jazz just straight up choking Victoria in the corner. Stratus breaks that up and victory rolls Jazz for two. The Chick Kick connects for the same and the Stratusphere brings Victoria back off the top.
Jazz is back in with a half crab on Stratus but Richards comes in to break it up. Ignore that the referee was with Victoria so the tap wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Victoria and Stratus fight over a rollup for two before Jazz drops Stratus. Victoria’s moonsault misses but she backdrops Jazz to the floor instead. Richards misses a chair shot and knocks himself silly anyway, earning himself a Stratusfaction. The Widow’s Peak is broken up and the Chick Kick gives Stratus the title back at 7:18.
Rating: B-. They were all working hard here and Richards really didn’t need to be here, though that bouncing chair to the head was good. Stratus had to get the title back eventually and she did pin Victoria, though Jazz will likely be around for awhile too. Nice stuff here, with all of them doing well.
From Monday Night Raw, February 23, 2004.
Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Molly Holly vs. Lita vs. Jazz
Holly is defending in an elimination match and Jazz has Theodore Long with her. Victoria throws Holly over the top to start but gets caught in Jazz’s double chickenwing. Lita slips out of Jazz’s suplex and hits her snap DDT to get rid of Jazz at 55 seconds. Holly is back in with a running flipping neckbreaker on Lita but Victoria gets a bridging rollup to pin Holly at 1:30. So we’re down to Victoria vs. Lita as I try to figure out why they bothered with the elimination stuff if Victoria was going to pin the champion anyway.
The livid Holly goes after Victoria as Lita is smart enough to just stand back and watch. We take a break and come back with Victoria grabbing a headlock takeover of all things. Lita comes back up with a hard clothesline but the angry Victoria grabs a chinlock. That’s broken up as well as Lawler offers to donate a kidney and lung to Lita. Well I’m guessing Lita but I can’t imagine it matters.
The spinning side slam is countered into what was supposed to be a hurricanrana but was more a weird armdrag. That and the reverse Twist Of Fate give Lita two, with Victoria’s bridging rollup getting the same. Something close to a Blue Thunder Bomb plants Victoria but she counters the Litasault into the Widow’s Peak for the title at 9:43.
Rating: C. Yeah we hit a hard wall after the previous matches, with the first two eliminations being nothing and the Lita vs. Victoria section just being ok. Lita was finally getting back into the groove of things after another devastating injury and it was starting to click, with the fans certainly behind her. At the same time though, Victoria was an established name by this point and the fans were into her enough to warrant another run.
From Wrestlemania XX.
Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Molly Holly
Victoria is defending and this is title vs. hair (they weren’t going to be able to be on the show until that stipulation was pitched and that was enough to warrant a spot). They fight over a lockup to start with Holly taking her into the corner for the early choking. Holly throws her down and hits a basement dropkick for two, followed by a reverse cravate of all things.
Back up and Victoria’s bridging rollup (it’s cool to see her using that as a regular thing, which wasn’t exactly a top spot for her but it was working around this time) gets two as JR gets sick of hearing Lawler go on about underwear. A sunset bomb gives Holly two but Victoria is right back with a backslide for the retaining pin at 4:52.
Rating: C+. They barely had time to make it onto the card but this was all about the stipulations anyway. The big deal here was the tease of Holly getting her head shaved and she deserves credit for being willing to do that. It’s a shame they didn’t get much time and that Lawler had to be himself, but the fast pin and Holly’s reaction were good.
Post match Holly realizes she’s in big trouble and tries to run off but Victoria gives chase and…gets put into the barber’s chair instead, but the clippers don’t work. Instead Victoria gets in a blast with some hairspray (good thing that was there) and straps her into the chair (because barber chairs have straps) for the cutting. Thank goodness they included this as it’s the big highlight of the whole thing, with Holly freaking out as she realizes what’s going on.
From Backlash 2004.
Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Lita
Victoria is defending. Lita takes her down a few times to start but Victoria is back with the headlock takeover (as she used back in February). That’s quickly escaped with a headscissors and they fight over a backslide to limited avail. A lockup has them both crashing out to the floor and thankfully Lita doesn’t break something else on the landing. They fight over a rollup for two each and Victoria hits her dancing moonsault for two.
A surfboard has Lita in more trouble but she headscissors her way out of the spinning side slam (MUCH better this time). Another headscissors has Victoria down so Lita grabs a sleeper of all things but gets planted with the spinning side slam. Victoria’s moonsault misses (while landing on Lita, who didn’t roll away fast enough) so the reverse Twist Of Fate gives Lita two. Back up and Victoria small packages her for the sudden pin at 7:23.
Rating: C. As usual, Lita had some incredible charisma and the fans loved her but there was only so much of a way around all of the mistakes she would make in the ring. The moonsault thing has happened before and it’s not exactly something you can ignore, which makes it even worse. The ending coming out of nowhere didn’t help either, but it might have been best for them to just get out of there.
From Vengeance 2004.
Victoria vs. Molly Holly
For a future Women’s Title shot. Holly (with a blonde wig complete with a chinstrap) works on the arm to start but gets monkey flipped over. The dancing moonsault is broken up so Victoria goes with some armdrags. The regular moonsault gives Victoria two and Holly bails outside, with a dive taking her out. Holly sends her into the steps and stomps away back inside, setting up a handspring elbow for two.
A Fujiwara armbar has Victoria in more trouble but she fights up and uses the classic strategy of hitting her in the face. Holly drops the bad arm onto the rope but Victoria gets in a backslide for two. Victoria gets in another right hand and a powerslam for two but the arm gives out on the Widow’s Peak. Instead Victoria hits a heck of a superkick for the pin at 6:22.
Rating: C+. The ending was great as I love seeing someone just smash through their opponent with a shot to the face like that. Victoria sold the arm well and Holly did take away the Widow’s Peak, but that superkick was a nice surprise. You can see Victoria getting more well rounded in the ring and she’s feeling like a bigger star. Nice storytelling here.
From Monday Night Raw, November 29, 2004.
Victoria/Lita vs. Trish Stratus/Molly Holly
This is evil Stratus (with a facemask) and Holly’s hair has mostly grown back. Holly grabs a snap suplex for an early two on Victoria and it’s off to Stratus for a kick to the chest. A hair pull gets two more and it’s already back to Holly to choke on the rope. Victoria’s rollup gets nothing as Stratus goes over to jump Lita so Holly fights back and grabs a chinlock. The camera points out that Victoria’s trunks are torn and thank goodness Lawler isn’t on commentary here.
Holly knocks her for two more but misses a handspring elbow. Stratus is in to cut Victoria off again, with Victoria shrugging that off rather easily. Lita is finally in to slug away on Stratus, followed by a headscissors to Holly. Lita’s sleeper has Stratus in trouble so Holly makes the save as everything breaks down. With Victoria and Holly on the floor, Lita DDTs Stratus for the pin (with a rather “whatever” look on her face) at 6:42.
Rating: C+. This was a good enough match, though Lita’s face at the end was pretty bizarre as you would think she would be a lot more excited to pin the Women’s Champion/her arch-rival. Victoria wasn’t nearly as much of the focus here but she did feel equal to the two biggest names of her era.
From New Year’s Revolution 2007 (the graphic says New Year’s Revolution 2004, which doesn’t exist).
Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Mickie James
Victoria is challenging and has her hit list, which includes a bunch of names she has taken out and only WOMEN’S TITLE left. Victoria cranks on the arm to start but James cartwheels over and works on the arm as well. With that broken up, Victoria kicks James in the face to knock her outside, where a baseball slide connects as well. James gets dropped face first onto the apron as Lilian Garcia (recently attacked by Victoria) is getting concerned.
Victoria tells her to sit down and then throws James around by the hair (JR: “Like a sexy little Frisbee there.”). The moonsault misses though and James makes the clothesline comeback. Some snap jabs set up a running punch to the face, leaving Lawler to make more annoying jokes. A hurricanrana out of the corner has Victoria on the floor so here is Victoria’s friend Melina, who gets punched down too. Melina grabs James’ foot but gets cut off by Maria and Candice Michelle. The Widow’s Peak is countered and James hits a spinning DDT to retain at 6:45.
Rating: B-. The interference in the end didn’t help this one, but this was a very different era for Victoria. It was clear that she had been shunted down the card a bit and was little more than a stopover feud for James, who was being turned into one of the newer stars of the division. Victoria would stick around for a few more years, but it was clear that she could still hang in there if given the chance. The problem is those chances didn’t come very often.
Overall Rating: B-. This was an interesting situation as Victoria arrived during a time when women’s wrestling was basically being relaunched in WWE. She would go on to be one of the bigger parts of the division but it’s more remembered as Trish/Lita and everyone else. They were definitely the biggest stars of the era, but Victoria was incredibly valuable as she was a good monster heel (or as close as you could get to one) and then became one heck of a heroine.
I’m glad she got a look like this as she’s rather underappreciated, though I’m kind of shocked that her cage match with Lita wasn’t included. Either way, nice job here with an underrated star who deserves a lot of credit for building up the women’s division when it was in its very early stages.
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