#13 – Alicia Fox
Total Days as Champion: 55 Days
Longest Reign: 55 Days
Times Held: 1
Successful Defences: 2
Alicia Fox’s reign as Divas Champion is historic as she is the only African American Divas Champion in history but her reign was truly a victim of circumstance.
Winning the title in a Fatal Four Way match against the likes of Maryse, Eve and Gail Kim, Fox was set up like a star from the beginning. She would appear almost weekly on RAW, called out interviewers for not seeking time with her sooner and would be undefeated in singles action for nearly two months.
In her reign, Fox would defend the belt twice against Eve on an episode of RAW and at Money in the Bank, leaving her confidence feeling maxed out which prompted her promo following a six woman tag where she would run down the Divas locker room and lament the lack of any real challenge to her run as Divas Champion, prompting Melina to return.
The criminally short run of Alicia Fox as champion came to an end after 55 days, due in part to WWE’s desire to unify the titles at the time and preferring the option of Michelle McCool vs Melina for that match over the less experienced Fox.
As champion she had weekly matches, mic time and was continuing to grow in the ring and if the titles weren’t being unified, we might have had more of a series of matches between Melina and Fox but alas, it was not meant to be.
#12 – Mickie James
Total Days as Champion: 78 Days
Longest Reign: 78 Days
Times Held: 1
Successful Defences: 3
The legendary Mickie James was the first former Women’s Champion to hold the Divas title, thus making her the most established woman to have held the title after Michelle McCool and Maryse (which also makes her the first non Diva Search contestant to have held the belt.)
The title had moved to RAW which was an interesting move as the belt was seen, by some fans, to still be secondary to the WWE Women’s title so moving it to the ‘A’ show and putting the belt on James was perhaps WWE’s way of adding some prestige behind the young title.
James would go on and defend the belt successfully a total three times against Gail Kim, Beth Phoenix and Alicia Fox with the latter being the only one held on PPV but each were memorable in their own ways. Kim’s match featured an unfortunate botch that left the women winded and having to go with a lacklustre ending but did cause accidental speculation that James would be turning heel.
Unfortunately, this was not to be and Mickie would drop the title seemingly randomly on an episode of RAW to the unexpected Jillian Hall before she would be immediately drafted to Smackdown without getting an opportunity to regain the belt. James holding the belt still helped add to the legitimacy of the belt while in it’s infant stages before it would eventually become the sole title for the women years after her reign.
#11 – Melina
Total Days as Champion: 117 Days
Longest Reign: 83 Days
Times Held: 2
Successful Defences: 4
Serving as the last title Melina would hold in WWE, she would be one of two women who competed in the Title Unification match at Night of Champions 2010. Melina is the first champion on this list to hold the belt more than once with a total reign of 117 days, her longest reign being her first.
Like Mickie before her, Melina is one of only five women on this list to have held both the WWE Women’s title and the WWE Divas Championship. Melina’s first reign would come at the expense of Jillian Hall when Melina was drafted to RAW and granted an immediate title match mere seconds after Hall had won the belt.
This first reign would see her enter into a brief feud against Jillian and also defend the belt against Alicia Fox before starting a feud with a returning Maryse but this feud and Melina’s reign would be cut short by an unfortunate injury and the Divas title would be vacated for the first time in its history.
Melina’s second reigns saw her return from injury and target the then Divas Champion Alicia Fox, winning the title quickly at Summerslam and immediately being attacked by Laycool and thus the rumours of a unification match began to swirl before being confirmed for Night of Champions. Melina would not win this unification match and so her second reign would end at 34 days.
With Melina as champion, the title was held by a passionate in-ring performer who could deliver on the mic if required so it’s unfortunate her first reign was cut short from injury as I believe Melina could have been one of the greatest Divas Champions of all time.
#10 – Layla
Total Days as Champion: 139 Days
Longest Reign: 139 Days
Times Held: 1
Successful Defences: 3 (NOTE: Layla also defended the title twice during Laycool’s run with the belt but as WWE only recognises Michelle McCool as champion then, we are not counting this in her total.)
While Layla would hold a replica belt and defend it on two occasions during Michelle McCool’s second reign as champion, she is not officially recognised as the title holder.
The reign that we are acknowledging is the one she started after returning from injury as a surprise opponent for Nikki Bella. The match and the reign itself would prove a test for Layla who had primarily served as a heel sidekick to McCool for the past couple of years and while she had previously held and defended the WWE Women’s Championship, this was her first time as a solo competitor at the top of the division.
Competing as a babyface for the first time since her debut, Layla would feud with Beth Phoenix and actually defeat her in back to back PPVs, a clear demonstration of her growth from Diva Search Winner to locker room leader. Layla would then move on to her next challenger which was scheduled to be Kaitlyn but some shenanigans ensued and she would instead face Eve, losing the match and the title.
Layla is the only Diva Search Winner to have held both the WWE Women’s Championship and Divas Championship with her run as Divas Champion being a true testament to how improved she had become. Her popularity proved further evident when she would appear in Maxim’s Top 100 list without actually being on the official ballot, she was a write-in by her fans at the time.
While most remember Layla from her time with Laycool, her reign stands significant amongst the other women on the list as how far a truly home grown talent can go.
#9 – Kelly Kelly
Total Days as Champion: 103 Days
Longest Reign: 103 Days
Times Held: 1
Successful Defences: 3
Fan support and reaction can go a long way in guiding WWE on who to push but Kelly Kelly’s reign was a direct result of fan support after she won a vote in a People Power episode of Monday Night RAW.
The options to face then Divas Champion, Brie Bella, were Eve, Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly with the latter winning the vote and going on to defeat Bella and earn her first ever Divas title. At the time and throughout her career, Kelly Kelly would really appear to be the standard that WWE would hold their Divas to, she was beautiful, athletic and the fans couldn’t help but rally behind her over her years with the company.
The title just seamlessly fit with Kelly Kelly and she looked every bit the star holding it. It’s fitting that her reign would bring with it a polarising storyline with the Divas of Doom, Phoenix and Natalya, trying to shift the WWE away from the ‘problem’ that was the Divas Division and what it represented. Kelly would have easily some of her best matches against Phoenix whose strength and in-ring leadership allowed her to play off Kelly’s gymnastics ability while Kelly served as the perfect foil to Phoenix.
Their feud would span several PPV’s with Kelly even besting Phoenix numerous times with Eve and Natalya often at ringside while WWE would run articles and have commentary pose the question which side you were on.
For some reason, the feud would end after Phoenix would win the title (although a rematch would occur at TLC 2011) and Kelly wouldn’t really enter the title picture again for the remainder of her career but her one reign as champion had one of the most memorable feuds surrounding it and its clear WWE saw value in investing in Kelly Kelly.
#8 – Paige
Total Days as Champion: 119 Days
Longest Reign: 84 Days
Times Held: 2
Successful Defences: 3
The Anti-Diva herself would sit atop the division as the Divas Champion on two separate occasions in her career.
Known to fans as one of the standouts of the NXT division at the time, Paige would appear on the post-Wrestlemania episode of RAW and defeat AJ Lee in an impromptu match, ending her historic title reign. Despite this impressive start, WWE would not capitalise on the history Paige had from NXT by not letting her speak as champion or show much character until she actually lost the belt back to AJ Lee after 84 days.
Her first reign saw her defend against Tamina, Alicia Fox and Naomi, three women not frequently seen in title matches at the time and all of them being on PPV.
Upon losing the title, Paige would turn heel and win the title a second time from AJ Lee before dropping back to Lee in a triple threat match, thus ending this reign without a successful defence.
In spite of this, Paige would remain a forefront of the Divas division and often be in close proximity to the Divas Title as a persistent pursuer of Nikki Bella’s second reign. As well known to fans, Paige’s in-ring career was cut short during her time with WWE but her impact leaves her as one of the most important Divas Champions of her time.
#7 – Maryse
Total Days as Champion: 259 Days
Longest Reign: 211 Days
Times Held: 2
Successful Defences: 2
Newer fans to WWE may find it hard to believe that Maryse is a two time champion and at one point was one of the most featured and dominant Divas of the division.
Improving with each passing match that she had, Maryse’s rise to Divas Champion happened right before our eyes with her debut match and her winning the belt happening within 6 months of each other. Her reign was slightly interrupted by a minor injury but she would return and defend the belt against Michelle McCool to a draw after Gail Kim interfered before then retaining the belt against the veteran Kim in a controversial decision at the time.
Maryse would be champion when the titles switched brands which allowed her to sit as the top heel of the division as opposed to competing with the newly heel McCool on Smackdown. This first reign would end after 211 days and be the longest reign until 2014 when AJ Lee would surpass it.
After losing the title, Maryse would undergo knee surgery and take some time away before returning seemingly to feud with Melina but another injury, this time to Melina, derailed this and the title would be vacated. Maryse’s second reign of the belt came after she won an eight diva tournament, marking her the first woman in history to have held the title more than once.
While not exactly an in-ring general, Maryse carried the title with a flair few managed to beat and is arguably one of the most recognised Divas Champions in its history from fans of that era.
#6 – Beth Phoenix
Total Days as Champion: 203 Days
Longest Reign: 203 Days
Times Held: 1
Successful Defences: 5
With her victory over Kelly Kelly, The Glamazon Beth Phoenix promised to herald in a new era for the Divas Division with ‘no more booty popping, no more splits and no more stinkfaces’ and what followed was perhaps the most dominant run as champion in terms of wins/losses.
During her 203 days as champion, Beth Phoenix lost only three televised singles matches and would defend against the likes of Tamina, Eve and Kelly Kelly while running through AJ Lee and Kaitlyn alongside Natalya as the tandem: Diva of Doom.
Throughout her career, Phoenix was often displayed as a powerful force in the ring and that did not change with her run as Divas Champion, succesfully defending it on five occasions (the most of any Divas Champion in a single reign until Eve’s third and final reign.)
Many call into the question the look of the Divas Title and felt it undermined the Divas of the time but Phoenix carried the belt as proudly as she did the Women’s Championship.
Be it the Women’s Title or the Divas Title, Phoenix will go down in history as one of the most dominant champions in WWE history.
