Today in History: Lita vs. Mickie in the Women’s Title Tournament Finals
On this day in history:
November 5th, 2006 | The finals of the Women’s Title tournament came down to Lita and Mickie James, and the two did battle for the vacated title at 2006′s Cyber Sunday. Fans voted on the match’s stipulation, and they chose (naturally) the Lumberjack option. So, while their fellow Divas surrounded the ring, Lita and Mickie fought to overcome constant interference and cheating (on Lita’s part). In the end, distraction from Victoria signalled the end for Mickie, as Lita was able to surprise her with a DDT and pin her, becoming the new Women’s Champion.
What are your memories of this moment? Tell us in the comments!
litafan2000
November 5, 2012 at 4:08 pm
When I first saw this match I thought it was awful and I haven’t watched it since until now and actually it wasn’t that bad. I was happy when lita won.
melon2617
November 5, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I always hated this ending.
I don’t care who you are, I hate when TPTB throw a bunch of titles on someone in order to pad their legacy near the end. I know people use Trish as an example, but Trish’s last one day reign was her beating the record set by herself previously set by herself. That reign wouldn’t have changed anything. But Lita’s last two runs were WWE’s way of trying to increase Lita’s legacy, & while I understood the one as a Thank you, this second one was just a little unnecessary.
lucky1now
November 5, 2012 at 4:16 pm
I have to disagree lita had a legacy she didn’t need more titles at all as far as I heard she had turned down title offers in the past
And by this time in wrestling it was only lita and mickie to battle for the belt that’s why it jumped between the 2 of them
Trish and her titles is another story they had plenty of other women who were capable to go at it in the ring but still gave her the title
melon2617
November 5, 2012 at 4:31 pm
That’s my point: Lita didn’t NEED a gift reign.
I think “Lita turning down the title” is more Lita folklore, making her into some kind of Saintess. In her book she mentions that she penned her first major storyline coming back and it would have nothing to do with the title. Then she was injured and out of action for 18 months. When would she have competed for the title? The belt was virtually out of commission when Trish was injured (Despite Trish confirming that she had contacted WWE several times and asked them if they wanted her to vacate the title). The only person who has ever been confirmed to have turned down title runs are:
1. Stacy Keibler
2. Shane McMahon (he also turned down the PWI Rookie of the Year award)
In the end, the title tourney should have come down to Mickie and Melina and really kick started the new generation of women and had Lita’s retirement come shortly after Trish’s in some kind of “Loser leaves WWE” match. This was just an unnecessary hot potato switch, which never amuse me.
lucky1now
November 5, 2012 at 4:36 pm
I agree melina. And mickie would have been great start a new era for the women
They wanted to build a mickie lita fued cuz how else lita could have left with a storyline?
lucky1now
November 5, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Wwe just didn’t know how to manage their womens division once their 2 top girls were gone
perceval
November 6, 2012 at 2:00 am
Actually, it had nothing to do with padding Lita’s number of titles, but was all about Mickie’s big push. Notice that, over a nine month period, she went over all four Women’s Champions that were still with the company in high profile matches: Trish at Wrestlemania, Jazz at Head to Head, Lita at Survivor Series, and Victoria at New Years Revolution.
It was about passing the torch to Mickie. Melina, having not been Women’s Champion yet, had no torch to pass. Having her be the one to put Mickie over wouldn’t have meant as much as Trish, Jazz, Lita, and Victoria doing it did.
NY Pollard
November 6, 2012 at 6:33 pm
Actually MELON, you’re lying. When did Lita pen her return? No she didn’t. All she said is maybe she can go to Smackdown and be The Queen of Mattitude and that she wouldn’t mind going to RAW to fight for the Women’s Title. That’s hardly her penning anything, they were suggestions. Relax with the fudging of what was actually said.
Also, we may never know if Lita was due to have more Championships or not. It had been suggested that she and Ivory were supposed to trade the title a couple of times in late 2000 to give more prestige to the title, but again – that was a rumor.
It was also suggested by Chyna in a shoot interview, that she wanted Lita to take the Championship at Judgment Day, but Lita wanted to work a longer program with Chyna, so she didn’t want to win it so early in the rivalry. Ofcourse, we know Chyna never came back after that.
These were all rumors and not penned, unless Lita herself confirms it.
norisclouds
November 6, 2012 at 4:50 am
Lita won that title to put Mickie James over. Not to pad her number. If they wanted to pad Lita’s numbers I think she would’ve won more during the top years of her career, as opposed to working outside of the division with the guys.
lucky1now
November 5, 2012 at 4:17 pm
i really didnt want this to be a lumberjill match i was hoping for anything else just so these 2 can pull something great off
but i did enjoy the match i cant really complain
Clarke
November 5, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Yeah as if the fans voted Lumberjack over No DQ… but I still enjoyed this match nontheless!
lol at the random Ariel appearance.
mykel1990
November 5, 2012 at 5:24 pm
For some reason, Lita and Mickie never really clicked together in the ring for me, like at all.
redsandman99
November 5, 2012 at 5:28 pm
I have to agree. I wouldn’t necessarily say they had BAD matches myself, but there was a lack of chemistry somewhere that just made me go “…oh that’s it?”
redsandman99
November 5, 2012 at 5:27 pm
I liked the match they had back in August of that year when Lita won the title from Mickie better. Lumberjill matches really don’t appeal to me.
divaindemise
November 5, 2012 at 6:43 pm
For me the most notable thing here is how anti-Diva Lita strikes surrounded by all those lumberjlls. Love both ladies but this match was garbage.
javiousmckenzie
November 5, 2012 at 7:00 pm
This match is the nain reason I’m happy the lesbian stalker feud didn’t happen between these two and Trish was chose instead cause they have no chemistry and as much as i love lita she was very hit and miss when it came to chemistry with a lot of the girls
WweLitafan4ever
November 5, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Glad Lita won the title;this crowd was a lot..nicer to say the least than the crap crowd at Survivor Series.
I liked their match at Survivor Series more though;it was a great divas match imo.
Essex Boy
November 5, 2012 at 7:29 pm
That was dreadful to watch.. My word! It didn’t help with Lita’s terribly sloppy selling and execution of most her moved bar the DDT and snap suplex.. Jesus Christ.
Essex Boy
November 5, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Moves*
norisclouds
November 6, 2012 at 4:51 am
It also didn’t help that Mickie James botched 3 times…but yea…let’s just point out Lita’s mistakes. I agree though, the match is terrible.
NY Pollard
November 6, 2012 at 6:36 pm
It was so slow paced and it seems like Lita wasn’t really into it anymore. She looked like she didn’t care to be there, like she was just going through the motions.
Kantrell
November 5, 2012 at 9:03 pm
Who is that women at 0:36?
pcc5006
November 5, 2012 at 9:14 pm
think it was francine from ecw
art
November 5, 2012 at 11:34 pm
That’s Actually Rebecca DiPietro….
Clarke
November 5, 2012 at 11:36 pm
I think it’s Rebecca from the 06 Diva Search
ajfan83
November 5, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Two overrated workers, Lita’s bland heel offense, and Mickie already going through the motions in the ring without the crutch of the lesbian character to keep the crowd involved. Not surprised they never “clicked” in that regard. I don’t think Lita winning the title was a way of “cementing her legacy”, since she never needed the belt to be over (unlike Trish). It was just a way of using her crowd heat to help the womens division on her way out the door, since she already went as far as she could as a valet.
I don’t think Mickie was really supposed to be the “future” of the division though, contrary to some people’s opinions. She went over Trish because they needed to change the belt at the time to keep the feud going (it would have ended with Trish regaining it by the fall if she had stayed). And she went over Lita because she was the only face that could work at the time. WWE always seemed more intent on pushing other divas instead of her, and most of Mickie’s pushes came when their intended centerpieces got injured or were out for other reasons. Most of her titles and pushes came out of luck and circumstance. Which is why she quickly wore out her welcome once the backstage drama started happening.
EverybodyScream
November 5, 2012 at 9:21 pm
LOL @ Kelly Kelly’s over dramatic facial expressions at the end .
jayjayholler
November 5, 2012 at 11:16 pm
Both great wrestlers but no chemistry together.
V1AHHHH
November 6, 2012 at 12:41 am
I find it funny that some of you are complaing that WWE were just giving Lita more reigns just so they could increase her statistics.
If they didn’t do this, you’d be complaining that WWE didn’t put it on her more! WWE can never please everyone.
MickieJamesFan07
November 6, 2012 at 2:20 am
I didn’t like this match, but why are people saying Mickie and Lita didn’t have chemistry? Did you guys miss their Survivor Series match? Opponents can have good chemistry and still be off a bit in matches. A good example of that would be Beth and Eve.
fahkyooh
November 6, 2012 at 4:17 am
People always say Trish is overrated but.. If you really look back at the past, Lita had no chemistry with ANY of the Diva’s on the roster. Even her matches with the likes of Victoria, Molly and Ivory were very iffy. I mean, they “pass” but you can tell it’s hard to make a true connection with Lita in the ring. She never really had that perfect “flow” with ANY of her opponents, not even Trish. I think Lita is one of the most overrated Diva’s in history.
FOREVER FLAWLESS!
November 6, 2012 at 7:44 am
I have to agree. Unless it was a Triple Threat where the other girls were bringing it hard and Lita would sneak in some high-flying moves to make it interesting, or a match with Trish, she just wasn’t THAT interesting of a wrestler. Put her in a one-on-one situation and the girls blandness shines through like the sun through open blinds in the morning. People cannot get over the fact that Trish packed charisma and enough knowledge of the ring to be able to make her matches interesting with whoever she was against, not just because she was a solid wrestler, but because she was a great character to watch in the ring with every mannerism she did. Trish carried Lita throughout every stage of every last one of their feuds. because Trish was the one with the personality and people overlook that so easily. I think Lita is very overrated, but I guess that’s just us.
melon2617
November 6, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Lita was an awesome manager, especially as Edge’s Valet. Those two just oozed chemistry, but as a wrestler, she was meh @ best. I mean, yes, she had her moments and yes, she made a huge impact and no one can deny what she accomplished, but she simply wasn’t in the ring enough for me to think of her as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. She was inactive due to injury or managing throughout most of her career.
Trish is definitely “the” Diva of her generation and part of that is because of the amount of time Trish spent in the ring. While Trish had many great matches with Victoria, Molly, Jazz et al, it’s because her “meh” ones get overlooked because she had so many good ones. Let’s be real; everyone has an off night. Lita was inactive more than she was actively competing and only had one major Diva feud in Trish. Everyone else she wrestled what? Twice? So, Lita simply doesn’t have the body of work that Trish does.
I don’t want to say she’s overrated and end up in another Trish/Lita debate because both women were great @ what they did and while I’m more of a Trish fan, I can’t deny that Lita did some great things in her career. But I think Lita’s consistent inactivity from injuries or because she was paired with a male wrestler so she wouldn’t be lost in the shuffl prevented her from building a library of great matches like some of the women who were in the ring each and every week have.
NY Pollard
November 6, 2012 at 6:42 pm
I have to disagree. Trish looked good early on because she had Lita, Molly, Ivory, Jazz and Victoria to make her look good. Her and Jackie had the worst chemistry imo. They just didn’t work together well and seemed to always miss spots. Lita and Trish had amazing chemistry together, which i think you’re blind and can’t be helped if you can’t see it. The fans loved seeing these two go at it, and their awesome chemistry helped that
I think Lita had great chemistry with Molly, Jazz, and Ivory. I loved watching Jackie beat the crap out of Lita and Lita give it right back to her when punching Jackie during tag matches.
Lita had two major injuries, one which didn’t even happen in the ring, its so annoying when people say stuff like, “Litas multiple injuries hurt her career..” calm down lol. It was two!