Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley and the Best WWE Women's Matches of 2017

In a loss to Bayley, a Fatal 4-Way collision and a WrestleMania clash, Charlotte Flair's name is all over the list of WWE's top women's matches in 2017.

The Queen added to her resume with a number of strong performances, but another titleholder shoved her  out of the top spots. Asuka was simply astounding this year, making her NXT Women's Championship bouts appointment television.

Building on 2016's momentum, 2017 saw the women's division blaze more trails. Female Superstars fought in a Money in the Bank ladder match for the first time, knocked each other senseless in a Last Woman Standing match and earned the main event slot a number of times.

Looking at the excitement of the action, the engaging nature of the story and the memorable moments each contest delivered, we look back at the best the women's division had to offer this year.

7. Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks (WrestleMania, April 2)

For the second straight year, the women's division provided one of WrestleMania's best bouts.

A quartet of rivals collided in Orlando, Florida, in a match rich with drama. Nia Jax's dominance was the central story in the early going as the powerhouse threw bodies into bodies. She was a compelling monster who had to be ousted by all three of her foes.

Flair's corkscrew moonsault to the outside was the highlight of a high-energy contest. 

The elimination stipulation added to the action. One by one, each of Bayley's challengers fell until the champ survived.

The crowded nature of the bout and the pace of the final eliminations held this back some, though. It was really good when it could have been great.

6. Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match (SmackDown, June 27)

Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya

WWE stumbled in making history but recovered with a much-improved do-over. 

The first-ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match ended in baffling fashion. Carmella's lackey James Ellsworth essentially won the match for her at the pay-per-view. A man standing victorious in a historic women's match is not the right lasting image.

To quell the controversy surrounding that moment, WWE redid the match on SmackDown. The result was a stirring, fun bout that should have been what we saw the first time around.

While not as high-risk as some ladder matches, this one delivered. A series of smart spots did the trick. Becky Lynch climbed over squabbling enemies on a ladder, Flair sprinted across a ladder and Carmella cleared her path to the briefcase with a series of chair shots.

SmackDown teased a repeat of the first match when Ellsworth, who was banned from ringside, charged into the fray; eventually, though, Carmella got her moment and all was right in the WWE world.

The match made it clear the Money in the Bank concept should return to the women's division. In his AV Club column, Kyle Fowle called it "the next big step WWE needs in order to really get its women's division on par with the men's."

5. Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley vs. Emma vs. Nia Jax vs. Sasha Banks (No Mercy, Sept. 24)

Much like the Raw women's title match at WrestleMania, WWE didn't decide on a single challenger for the titleholder. That made it harder to dig into the feud before the action, but it made the match itself quite entertaining.

Jax was a wrecking ball here. This was her best performance of the year, the night when she most looked like a monster.

The powerbomb to the apron she took was one of the biggest moments of a well-paced contest. The Raw stars all shined at various points. Kelly Harrass of Voices of Wrestling wrote: "These women killed it."

In the end, Alexa Bliss scored the pin on Bayley to survive in a strong match in one of the year's best PPVs.

4. Asuka vs. Ember Moon (TakeOver: Orlando, April 1)

Asuka vs. Ember Moon II understandably gets more love, but these warriors' first encounter was excellent as well.

Fluid and fast action with plenty of mat wrestling saw the dominant Asuka withstand her toughest test to date.

Moon risked everything to knock off the NXT women's champion, leaping all over the ring. She and Asuka kept inching toward victory, with the rivals seemingly just one big blow from putting each other away.

Seeing someone clash with Asuka who could hang with her was a welcome sight.

And as Asuka realized just how close she was to seeing her undefeated streak snap, she grew desperate. The Empress of Tomorrow flung the referee into the ropes, causing her foe to fall. This flash of vulnerability intrigued.

That moment and the battle in Orlando proved to be the precursor for a superior rematch.

3. Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley (Raw, Feb. 13)

It's easy to forget how engrossing Bayley's rise was early in the year. Her feud with Bliss and poor booking choices gutted her momentum. Before that, however, The Huggable One flourished in a championship win over the powerful Flair.

Bayley and The Queen matched each other move for move. 

A revved-up crowd saw a back-and-forth bout with ample electricity. A moonsault off the barricade and the nasty collision it created stands out in a battle filled with strong moments.

This was the best Bayley looked all year—a focused, fiery underdog proving herself against Raw royalty. 

2. Asuka vs. Nikki Cross (NXT, June 28; Last Woman Standing)

When WWE rattles off all the recent groundbreaking women's bouts to remind us how far the division has come, it fails to mention a great one. Asuka vs. Nikki Cross in a Last Woman Standing for the NXT Women's Championship was a thriller.

The stipulation fit this feud perfectly. Cross was proving herself every week to be an unhinged force, and a standard match wouldn't contain her. And Asuka needed a means to put this unrelenting enemy down.

The NXT women's champion had to fight off a rabid dog in Cross. She did so by stuffing her into a trash can and denting it with kicks. She welcomed an environment that favored the Sanity member, fighting atop steel chairs and the entrance ramp.

A wild and vicious match ended with a most emphatic moment—a superplex off a ladder onto the announce table. 

Amid all the debris that move created, the champion rose. Asuka's undefeated streak would live on. 

1. Asuka vs. Ember Moon (TakeOver: Brooklyn III, August 19)

Champion and challenger had more fire surging through their veins in their second meeting. An intense showdown stole the show at TakeOver: Brooklyn III.

For much of the match, Asuka worked over Moon's shoulder, the same one that prevented her from challenging for the NXT women's title earlier in the year. It was an expert bit of in-ring psychology.

ESPN.com's Sean Coyle wrote: "Asuka's dissection of Moon's shoulder was perfectly designed leading to a fantastic comeback story."

Moon again tested Asuka, this time with a gutsy, star-making performance. The Empress of Tomorrow, meanwhile, provided more proof that she's one of WWE's best. 

Even the Eclipse didn't fell the champion, and Asuka emerged to continue the increasingly intriguing story of her unblemished record.