Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus

[6.0] "Not a bad match the work from Trish was aggressive but some good back and forth throughout. Surprised Mickie got the win"

[7.0] "Very aggressive match with the main story being Mickie working over Trish's leg whom sells it fantastically. Thought it was great when they just wailed on each other with big hits, Mickie was beautifully psychotic playing her character well. Some negatives though. Cringe crowd has to boo Trish to convince themselves they are "edgy" and "cool", and they botched the finish with Mickie failing to do the stratusfaction so the ending fell a little flat."

[7.0] "Good storyline, and this match has the iconic spot of picking licking the V on her hand. As for the wrestling, it's quite good for a 2006 WWE women's match. Mickie's work of Trish's leg is great."

[6.0] "Not a bad match, loved Mickie's outfit (for obvious reasons). I don't know what Vince's problem was with her finger licking gesture, it was more rememberable then half the matches on the card."

[8.0] "Were there some botches and awkward spots? Sure. But this match is pretty iconic and there's like a whole generation of woman wrestlers that cite this as a match that inspired them. I had thought Trish was a little bit washed at this point but she brought her A game for this one and this was a star-making performance for Mickie."

[9.0] "Hm, actually I thought this was quite great, one of the better matches of the night for sure despite obviously being shafted for time. Sign of the era, I suppose, but they did an amazing job overcoming a lot of obstacles. The hand gesture, well, yes it was memorable but I actually think it's fairly incidental to how well this match was worked, just an extremely strong sub-10 minute match. The crowd responded very hotly, though being the contrarian crowd they were firmly behind Mickie in defiance of the story. Well, I thought it was a great match anyway."

[0.0] "A terrible feud that culminated in this terrible match. The ONLY reason any fan thinks positively is because of Mickie's infamous hand gesture. That's it. The match was a sluggish, plodding chore to sit through. Trish may be a sacred cow but she was never that good, even with her improvements."

[6.0] "By far the best women's feud for a decade or two prior to this, and close to two decades after this. An extremely competitive match that hits hard. Trish has great selling, and there is some fine storytelling too. My favorite thing about this match is how they win the crowd over and show that women's wrestling could have an audience even in 2006 if it's taken seriously. The crowd at WM22 is remarkably hot in general. But when this match starts, they're pretty quiet. Most probably thought this was a good match to go to the concession stands for. But as they tell their story in the ring, the crowd gets more and more invested. By the last few minutes, they are as vocal for this match as some of the other hot matches on the card. Is this match as good as some of the modern day women's classics? Probably not. But that doesn't mean it still isn't extremely good. It was also SO ahead of its time. I probably would have given this match 7 points if not for the markably weak finish. It cemented Trish as one of the greatest ever and put Mickie on the path to greatness as well. These two used every minute they were given effectively."

[7.0] "One of the more intense women's title matches in WM history up until this point, the match was good too despite a couple botches, just wasn't quite long enough. Women's title matches before this at Mania tended to be 5 minute matches with women who couldn't work, or if they could, they were still rushed with little story, this match was a game changer"

[8.0] "Maybe I'm starved for good WWE women's matches in my Mania watch throughs, but this was absolutely phenomenal. It really felt like they beat the absolute piss out of each other, and the story is so fucking good. Lesbian characters in wrestling are, with very few exceptions, fucking horrible because they are written by the worst men in the world, but Mickie James is so talented that she rises above the material she was given to have real depth, to have a rawness and an anger about her to add extra motivation to the "crazy bitch" archetype so many women are thrust into. Trish is such a ring general here, she controls the pace and the vibe so expertly. Thank god. Surely, this harkens in an era of women's wrestling in the WWE, some kind of... women's revolution maybe? Wow, I bet that's coming any day now! I can't wait for Wrestlemania 23! Maybe we'll even get to main event!"

[8.0] "A good match between both women with good in ring work and chemistry and it played off their story nicely."

[7.0] "For the first time in a very long time I have been invested in a women's match as the build has been fantastic. It wasn't different with the fans that were all in for the title change and Mickie really used their energy here, plus she was milking the reactions from them like a pro. She was really fantastic here and her character work as a psycho has been great to watch."

[7.0] "Pleasantly surprised by this one. I always have really low expectations for womens matches before the Womens Revolution due to WWE not giving a shit about them, but this was pretty good. Mickie and Trish are both some of the best women wrestlers of all time and this match showed it. I love the story going in, the whole obsessive fan gimmick worked like a charm and that actually made a pre-2014 crowd care about a womens match. The botched finish is pretty hard to watch and I hate how they edited out the V motion Mickie does because its funny, but overall this is the best womens match from the old Wrestlemania days."

[4.0] "I will be entirely honest: I hate this storyline in retrospect. It was interesting, but entered a point of absurdity that personally took me out of it. However, I can acknowledge that its demonstration that WWE, for the first time, maybe ever, actually took time to craft a somewhat long-term booking device for the women. As was the innovation of this match - it seemed that the writers started to take the division just a wee seriously (before largely regressing back into BS for another 10 years). That being said, the match itself is far from excellent. It uses some decent tropes and the character work is fine, as some of the actual moves stand out as impressive. Again, much better in-ring work than the promotion would usually let the women put on. Still severely sloppy at points, and I actively cringed at the finish. The "V" spot will always be terrible. This acts better as a representation of what they could do rather than what they actually did, but compared to what else you'd get around this time, this was like Bret vs. Owen for the division. 2 stars."

[7.0] "The best Women's WrestleMania prior to the Women's Revolution. I mean, it was only 9 minutes long and the finish was horrendously botched, but the action was fun to watch. What turned the basic-looking structure into a good match was the character work, especially from Mickie James, who was on point in her crazy stalker gimmick, taking Trish out of her game. Plus, the moves were hard-hitting, and I could believe the pain they were in, especially Trish who sold brilliantly here."

[8.0] "This is a really good match with some fun wrestling and the best women match at wrestlemania for a long time just a fun match. ****"

[5.0] "I mean it was a pretty decent match with an interesting story but nothing to write home about. Trish getting finished by her own move was actually a nice touch though, given Mickie? s whole psycho fan gimmick. **1/2"

[8.0] "While it wasn't the most fluid match, it was still very good. The fact the build-up of this feud was such great definitely helped, and by great I mean one of the best women's feuds in WWE's history. It had good psychology with Mickie working over Trish's leg, and basically fully embracing her craziness. This was a star performance making for her, she played her role perfectly, with Trish doing a great job selling her leg injury. This ended up being a very hard hitting match, and ending botched aside, this was a great match overall. ***1/2"

[10.0] "This match was one the most anticipated matches of the Divas era, the build up was amazing. 6 months of story to a Wrestlemania match, love it! This match deserve more recognition, Mickie heel work was amazing, the crowd was into it."

[6.0] "An important moment in women's wrestling in America as it helped to solidify Mickie James as a great worker and she rightfully won the championship in a playful yet ultimately unremarkable match."

[5.0] "Solid feud where Mickie James had a "stan-like" stalker infatuation with Trish Stratus, leading to the blowoff. Botches aside, this is a very solid match, with the hot Chicago crowd supporting Mickie. This match is also known for the infamous v-pose, but it shouldn't be the biggest takeaway from this match. I think this match is a little overrated by the fans."

[7.0] "The ring work is quite basic for today's standards, but until the Charlotte vs Sasha vs Becky 3 way, this would be the gold standard for women's wrestling on a WrestleMania card for an entire decade. Mickie's character work is out of this world and does the heavy lifting for a lot of the match. Some really good psychology with Trish's leg after injuring it with a missed Chick Kick to the ring post outside, a rarity for WWE women's wrestling in the 2000s. Best spot in the match goes to Mickie countering the Stratusphere by jumping off the top rope to the floor while driving Trish's injured leg into the mat, all the while laughing maniacally. The money shot is Mickie slowly crawling back into the ring with this crazed expression all the while the crowd is going nuts for it. Brilliant, brilliant stuff. The crazy lesbian stalker angle definitely has not aged well, but Mickie undeniably sold the hell out of it. Sadly the match has a very underwhelming finish as the Stratusfaction attempt is completely botched and Mickie has to settle for a weak looking kick to the head to put Trish away (this along with the infamous licking spot was edited out of every future release of this PPV). Still a very entertaining match, especially for the sorry state of women's wrestling in WWE at the time."

[6.0] "While by modern standards this isn't that great, comparing it to other women's matches that WWE was putting on at that time this was a classic. Trish and Mickie made the most of their opportunity and put on a fairly good match."

[4.0] "I know people watching this at the time have fond memories of these two and this feud but I can't say I found any of it to be good, even grading on a curve for the time."

[7.0] "I would have love a few more minutes, but I will happily take what I can get here. This was undoubtedly the best women's match in WrestleMania history for over a decade. Mickie was incredibly over here which show how over her character was at that point, and how far she had improve in such a short period of time. Fun match with good psychology. [***1/4]"

[5.0] "Average at best, and that's not even because of a few botches they made, which were actually minor and didn't really ruin the match for me. The reason was just the wrestling itself that was basic as hell, but at least they managed to make the best out of it. Mickie's work on Trish's leg was great, but sadly it's the most memorable moment from the match. That finishing kick from Mickie might be one of the worst looking and most unconvincing finisher I have ever seen. [2. 5/5]"

[8.0] "This match is legendary, not for the actual match, but the buildup and character work. While it could be argued currently that it was in poor taste, Mickie James as a psycho lesbian stalker was fascinating TV and she put her all into that character throughout this match. The little things she did here and there throughout the match to spook Trish reminded me of a much more believable Goldust in the mind games department. The action was not the crispest or the best, and there were some sloppy moments here and there, but the character work was incredible."

[6.0] "Lesbian objectification aside, I dug this storyline a lot and Mickie is fantastic at portraying a psycho. Trish tries to go for a Chick Kick on the outside and ends up kicking the ring post instead. Mickie works over Trish's leg and it's probably the first time we've seen some legwork and psychology in a diva's match. Trish escaping Mickie's half crab with a head scissors was a cool spot that I've not seen before. The most famous part of this match is when Mickie gets out of a headlock by grabbing Trish by the vag and licking her fingers. The crowd goes insane for this and it sent Vince into a rage backstage apparently. Although the finish was a bit flat, this was the first time that they clearly put some thought into a women's match at Wrestlemania."

[7.0] "Everybody knows about the angle leading up to it, which was excellent, and the actual match has a pretty legendary reputation within the lore, and for a good reason. This really was one of the rare times when the women were given a chance like this, and Mickie & Trish definitely delivered when they got it here. Nice, good ol' fashioned wrasslin' psychology with Mickie targeting Trish's leg w/ a nice focus, which Trish also sold nicely. There's also a couple of pretty nice singular moments of offense by both competitors, with one of the prime examples being Trish's very nice back elbow in the early going. It's a damn good match."

[6.0] "Instantly became the most iconic WrestleMania match for the women for a long time. The psychological work from Mickie and the feud were amazing storytelling, and the fact that heel Mickie can gain loyal fans over face Stratus, that was completely unbelievable. Naturally, you must reduce points for botches so my final score would be a 6."

[7.0] "some bad botches and some bad sequences! But the storyline was so good and they both tell a very good story in the ring"

[8.0] "Until the past few years post Women's Evolution, this was by far the best women's match in WrestleMania history. Mickie James's tactics in the buildup to this match gained her the support of the Chicago fans, throwing Trish Stratus off her game. The finish unfortunately didn't come off the way it was intended, but otherwise this was a well put together bout, and a vehicle to crown James as the next top female star."

[6.0] ". This was a good match. This was Mickie's first feud in WWE and it was the best one in her career. It was also one of the better one in Trish's career although her feud with Lita lasted longer. The match was really solid because they told a story in the 10 minutes they were given with Trish doing a good job of selling the bad leg while Mickie was relentless in her assault. Good contest ***."