Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte: Winner and Reaction from WWE Hell in a Cell 2016

Charlotte made history on Sunday night at Hell in a Cell, beating Sasha Banks to become WWE Raw women's champion for the third time. It was the first women's match in WWE history contested inside Hell in a Cell and the first women's match ever to be the main event of a main-roster pay-per-view.

WWE shared a photo of Charlotte after her big win:

Before the match began, Charlotte brutally attacked Banks, causing her to be placed on a stretcher. But just when it appeared Banks couldn't compete, she got off the stretcher and the match officially commenced. 

After a match featuring plenty of hard-hitting action, the ending was rather abrupt. Both Vaughn Johnson of Philly.com and James Moffat of Bleacher Report ripped it: 

But ultimately, it was a historic match that lived up to the hype for the most part, as Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge noted:

WWE superstars Summer Rae, Nikki Bella and Lana congratulated the duo on Twitter after the match: 

Sasha and Charlotte have been at odds for the past several months and have traded the Raw Women's Championship on a few occasions.

The Boss initially won the title for the first time a few weeks prior to SummerSlam, but Charlotte won it back at the biggest event of the summer primarily due to Banks suffering a back injury during the match.

Sasha once again fell short in a Triple Threat match involving Charlotte and Bayley at Clash of Champions, but since Bayley was the one who took the pinfall, The Boss was given one more chance to recapture the belt she coveted.

She made the most of that opportunity by defeating Charlotte on Raw once again, but the rivalry between the two Four Horsewomen members was far from over.

Knowing the Nature Girl was due a rematch for the title, Sasha laid down the gauntlet by challenging her to the first women's Hell in a Cell match in WWE history, according to WWE's official Twitter account:

Charlotte accepted the stipulation, and Raw general manager Mick Foley later announced that the match would take place because the two competitors had earned it.

Once the groundbreaking contest became official, the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair was confident in her ability to become a three-time WWE Raw women's champion:

The two former NXT women's champions have done battle on multiple occasions dating back to their time together in WWE's developmental brand, but the stakes were never higher than they were on Sunday.

Female wrestlers have long fought for the chance to be presented on the same level as the men, and while strides have been made in that regard since Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch were called up from NXT in the summer of 2015, the gap has been closing more rapidly as of late.

Having Sasha and Charlotte compete in a main event on Raw was a step in the right direction, but putting them in a Hell in a Cell match may have shattered the glass ceiling once and for all. As so often is the case with their matches, they didn't disappoint on Sunday.

Sasha is due a rematch after the loss, so her rivalry with Charlotte will almost certainly continue.

It is fair to wonder whether playing hot potato with the WWE Raw Women's Championship is the best way to give it prestige and credibility, but as long as Banks and Charlotte are at the forefront, they will continue to put on performances that present the belt in a positive light.

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