Following a vibrant discussion in the comments section during last Monday’s Raw, community-member Captain Charisma suggested an article selecting the top five women’s wrestlers. However, since it’s Royal Rumble week, we’ll follow that theme. What if we could book a Royal Rumble featuring only the best wrestlers of all time? One for the men, and one for the women, who would make the cut? For the purposes of this exercise, consider everyone ‘in their prime’, so age and activity are not relevant here.
Bare in mind, there are few subjects in the world more subjective than professional wrestling. Whilst some love the oratory skills of Paul Heyman and could listen to him all night, others hear the sound of nails on a chalkboard. The point is, even using objective criteria, such as career impact, championship reigns and landmark moments, etc., there will be some who feel someone should have made the list who didn’t, and someone who made the list who shouldn’t be allowed near a ring. That’s what the comments section is for – please register any and all disputes and objections, along with inclusions you’d agree with, below.
Also of note, this isn’t a ranking from 30 to 1. The ladies are grouped in 10’s, with each in their respective grouping considered as great as the others. Even between groups, it would be easy to slide people up and down the list. This is by no means definitive, but it’s pretty solid. If you don’t feel like reading the paragraph on each participant, head to the end, where the whole list is summed up quickly at the bottom – including the 10 women on standby. With all the explanation out of the way, let’s get to the participants!
The First 10
Chyna – The Ninth Wonder of the World was a founding member of Degeneration X, and was the first female in WWF to be cast in the role of an enforcer for a stable. Chyna is still the only woman to ever be named number-one contender for the men’s World title. She’s the only woman to win the Intercontinental championship, which she managed twice. She was also the first female to enter the Royal Rumble, and the first to enter King of the Ring. There’s no question that Chyna belongs in the WWE Hall of Fame for her wrestling accolades; will they ever be able to overlook her life after the squared circle?
AJ Lee – Lee shares the record for most WWE Diva’s Championships (three) with Eve Torres, but stands alone with the record for overall days as champion at 406. Trained by Jay Lethal, Lee only wrestled with WWE from 2009 to 2015, but was a relatively big star in the company before she walked away.
Paige – Paige was just 13 years old when she made her in-ring debut in England for her family’s World Association of Wrestling promotion. She won several titles on the European independent circuit before signing with WWE in 2011, eventually becoming the inaugural NXT Women’s Champion in 2012. In 2014, she won the WWE Diva’s title from AJ Lee in her debut main roster match. She was the youngest to wear the belt at 21, and was still the NXT champ at the time. Paige went on to win the Diva’s championship one more time before injury forced her retirement.
Lita – Amy Dumas worked on the independent scene in Mexico and the US before she got her first big break with ECW. She started with WWE in 1999, and became one of their most exciting in-ring talents until she retired in 2006. A four-time WWE Women’s Champion, Lita was inducted into the HOF in 2014.
Meiko Satomura – Debuting with Gaea Japan, Satomura was one half of the first AAAW Tag Team Champions with Sonoko Kato, a title she would hold two more times in her career. She won the AAAW Singles Championship two times before Gaea closed. In 1996, she debuted in WCW as part of the tournament to crown their first Women’s Champion. Satomura was knocked out by eventual winner Akira Hokuto. Back in Japan, after the finish of Gaea, Satomura formed the Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling promotion with Jinsei Shinzaki. In 2009, along with Kaoru and Tomoko Kuzumi, Satomura won the Splash J & Running G tournament. In 2012, she debuted in Chikara, winning their King of Trios tournament with Cassandra Miyagi and Dash Chisako. Satomura was part of the second Mae Young Classic, losing in the semifinals to Toni Storm.
Mayu Iwatani – Since debuting with World Wonder Ring Stardom in 2011, Iwatani has been the World Stardom Champion, two-time Wonder of Stardom Champion, the High Speed Champion, the Goddess of Stardom Champion and a four-time Artist of Stardom Champion. She also won the 2015 and 2016 Cinderella Tournaments. She is the last remaining member of Stardom from their original roster. She was the first wrestler to hold both the World and Wonder of Stardom Championships at the same time, defending both straps in separate title matches. She was part of Ring of Honour’s tournament to decide their first Woman of Honour Champion, losing to Kelly Klein in the semifinals.
Tessa Blanchard – A third-generation star, Tessa is the daughter of Four Horsemen soldier Tully Blanchard. She currently works for Impact Wrestling, The Crash Lucha Libre in Mexico, as well as various indy promotions. She was eliminated from the first Mae Young Classic by Kairi Sane. She’s currently enjoying her first reign as Crash Women’s Champion, and also currently holds several independent titles. She’s a one-time former Impact Knockouts Champion, one-time Shimmer Tag Team Champion, and one-time Phoenix of Rise Champion.
Arisa Nakajima – Nakajima first joined JWP Joshi Puroresu in 2006, winning the JWP Junior title twice, as well the Princess of Pro-Wrestling Championship. She retired from the sport in 2009, but returned to JWP in 2012 and eventually won a record four JWP Openweight Championships. She also claimed the JWP Tag Team and Daily Sports Women’s Tag Team titles twice before leaving the promotion in 2016. She currently works for the Seadlinnng promotion.
Natalya Neidhart – The world’s first third-generation female wrestling star, Neidhart is a member of the legendary Hart clan, daughter of tag team superstar Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. She was the first female student at the infamous Hart Dungeon. She won the inaugural Stampede Women’s Pacific Championship in 2005 (a title she ended up holding twice), and in 2006 she won the Big Time Wrestling/NWA SuperGirls Championship. She claimed the WWE Diva’s Championship from Michelle McCool at Survivor Series in 2010. She won her first, and only, SmackDown Women’s Championship at SummerSlam 2017.
Bull Nakano – After debuting with All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling, winning singles and tag titles, Nakano moved to Mexico’s Consejo Mendial de Lucha Libre and was their first World Women’s Champion. She held the WWF’s Women’s Championship once, and joined Madusa in moving to WCW, where the pair continued their heated rivalry. She retired officially in 1997, but returned with RISE Wrestling in 2017 to become a manager heading up a heel stable.
The Second 10
Ivory – Ivory debuted in wrestling for the newly-formed Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) promotion in 1986, winning the vacated GLOW Championship. She also held the GLOW Tag Team Championship once. She won the Powerful Women of Wrestling Championship two times, and the SuperGirls Wrestling Championship once. Ivory is a three-time former WWE Women’s Champion, and was inducted into the WWE HOF in 2018. Her last WWE appearance came at Evolution, when she lasted longer than any of the other returning females of yesteryear, eliminated eventually by Asuka.
Megumi Kudo – Working with Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling from 1990 to 1997, Kudo won the WWA World Women’s Championship six times, and the FMW Independent World Women’s Championship four times. She was well-known in Japan for competing in barbed-wire death matches, and was part of Japan’s first-ever mixed tag team match in 1990. Her final bout was a no ropes, barbed-wire, double landmine glass crush death match. When she retired on June 13, 1997, she vacated both her championships.
Mercedes Martinez – The 38-year-old Martinez is the current WXW Women’s champ, and also the current Phoenix of RISE champion. She also currently works for Shimmer, where she’s a two-time former champion, and is also a three-time former WSU champ. One of her Shimmer title runs lasted more than 300 days. As well as her years of work with various indy promotions, she appeared in both Mae Young Classic tournaments.
Michelle McCool – The real-life Mrs. Mark Calaway (aka The Undertaker), McCool is a two-time WWE Divas Champion and two-time WWE Women’s Champ. She was the very first WWE Diva’s champ, winning the belt at The Great American Bash 2008. When she won the WWE Women’s championship at the Bash in 2009, she became the first female to have held both titles. She unified the titles at Night of Champions in 2010 to become the first and only WWE Unified Divas Champion. McCool currently holds the record for most eliminations in the Women’s Royal Rumble at five.
Kairi Sane – Sane debuted in 2012 for World Wonder Ring Stardom in Japan. Through five years there, she was a one-time World of Stardom Champion, a three-time Goddess of Stardom Champion, and a four-time Artist of Stardom Champion. In 2015, she won the Five-Star Grand Prix and in 2016 she won the Goddesses of Stardom Tag League. In 2017, Sane won the WWE’s inaugural Mae Young Classic tournament, defeating Tessa Blanchard, Bianca Belair, Dakota Kai, Toni Storm and Shayna Baszler on the way. Sane made her main roster debut as the sixth entrant in the Women’s Royal Rumble in 2018. She won her first NXT Women’s Championship in 2018.
Io Shirai – Only recently signed with WWE, right now in NXT, Shirai was recognized as the “ace” of World Wonder Ring Stardom. She’s a six-time Artist of Stardom champion, a two-time World of Stardom champion, a two-time Wonder of Stardom champ, a one-time Goddess of Stardom champ, a one-time High Speed champion, and also once the SWA World Champion. Tokyo Sports gave her their top wrestling award in 2015, 2016 and 2017. If you’re not familiar with her work, she’s noted as an excellent high flier with solid technical skills and natural charisma.
Beth Phoenix – The first and only woman to appear in both a men’s and women’s Royal Rumble match, Phoenix is a former WWE Diva’s Champion, a three-time WWE Women’s Champion, and a one-time Glory Wrestling Champion. She earned the fastest induction into the WWE HOF in 2017, just five years after her retirement, which also made her and husband Edge the first real-life couple to be inducted. Phoenix was an original member of the Shimmer Women Athletes roster.
Alexa Bliss – Bliss is the first woman to hold the SmackDown Women’s Championship twice, and also the first to win both the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championships. Last February, Bliss won the first-ever women’s Elimination Chamber match. Bliss also won the 2018 women’s Money in the Bank ladder match, cashing in the contract that night to win her third Raw Women’s Championship, her fifth WWE title overall.
Jacqueline – Miss Jackie was a 14-time USWA Women’s Champion before moving on to join WCW, WWE and later TNA. Her rivalry with Sable in the then-WWF was the catalyst for bringing back the Women’s Championship there, which she held twice. Jacqueline also won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship; she was the third female to win a male cruiserweight title after Madusa and Daffney in WCW, but the first to claim it in the WWE. She earned her call into the HOF in 2016.
Mickie James – Between her five WWE Women’s Championships, three TNA Knockouts Championships, and one WWE Diva’s Championship, James’ nine world women’s championships is a US record. She is also the only woman to have held those three titles. She won her first WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 22. In addition, she’s also been the International Pro Wrestling UK Women’s Champion, the Maryland Championship Wrestling Women’s Champion, the Premier Wrestling Federation’s Universal Women’s Champ, the Southern Championship Wrestling Diva Champion, the Ultimate Championship Wrestling Women’s Champion, and the Ultimate Wrestling Federation’s Women’s Champion.
The Final 10
Awesome Kong – Kia Stevens’ professional wrestling resume is a long, varied and impressive one. She’s a two-time former TNA Knockouts Champion, a one-time WWWA World Single Champion, a one-time NWA World Women’s Champion, and one-time AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Women’s Champion. She’s also held tag team gold in four different promotions with her partner Aja Kong, as well as winning the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship once with Hamada. Kong earned the number-one ranking in Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s very first PWI Top 50 Females list. She was the third female to enter the men’s Royal Rumble match. Outside of pure pro wrestling, she’s Tammé “The Welfare Queen” Dawson in Netflix’s GLOW. Kong’s also wrestled for numerous Japanese and American independent promotions, as well as the WWE, Shimmer, Gaea, Seadlinnng and Ring of Honour.
Gail Kim – Kim holds the record for most Knockouts Championship reigns in TNA/Impact with seven. That includes being the very first TNA Knockouts Champ in 2007. She also won the WWE Women’s Championship in her debut with the company in 2002, becoming the first women in WWE history to win a title in her first match. Kim was the first female inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2016.
Fabulous Moolah – Moolah began her career at the age of 15, when she left her husband and child to start training. Moolah won a vacant World Women’s Championship in a 1956 battle royal, a reign that lasted more than 10 years. During that time, she was also recognized as the NWA Women’s World Champion. She was a multiple time NWA Women’s Tag Team champion. She joined the then-WWF in 1983, and became their first-ever women’s champion. Moolah was part of the first WWF televised main event to feature females, losing her belt to Wendy Richter live on MTV’s 1984 Brawl to End It All. She captained an all-female side at the inaugural Survivor Series. In 1995, she was the first woman to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Controversy surrounds Moolah, who was accused by former trainees of ‘controlling their lives,’ among other, more serious, allegations. Moolah passed away in 2007 at the age of 84.
Asuka – Asuka’s undefeated streak in NXT ran 914 days, claimed to be the longest in WWE history. Her NXT Women’s Championship reign lasted 510 days, which is the longest in WWE’s modern history. Asuka was the first Japanese wrestler to top Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s annual PWI Female 50 list in 2017. Last January, she won the inaugural Women’s Royal Rumble. She’s the current SmackDown Women’s champion after toppling Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair at Tables, Ladders and Chairs last December. All of her North American success came on the heels of holding multiple titles across multiple promotions in Japan, including Tajiri’s Smash, and Pro Wrestling Wave. Asuka also promoted her own independent events for several years.
Madusa – Madusa is a former AWA World Women’s Champion. She was the first women to be named PWI’s Rookie of the Year in 1988. She was also the first foreign wrestler to sign with All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling in 1989. Madusa was the WWF Women’s Champion three times between 1993 and 1995, and was champion when she shocked viewers by appearing on WCW Monday Nitro to literally drop her title belt in the trash. She was the first woman to win the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. Madusa was eventually inducted into the WWE HOF in 2015.
Trish Stratus – Along with Flair, Stratus holds the record for the most-ever Women’s World Championship reigns in WWE with seven. Stratus is also a former Hardcore Champion. She was one half of the first Raw main event to feature females, taking on Lita in 2004 for the Women’s Championship. Stratus retired on top, as champ, in 2006, and was the youngest-ever inductee to the WWE HOF in 2013.
Akira Hokuto – Hokuto was named All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling rookie of the year in 1985, debuting prior to her 18th birthday. She claimed her first title, the AJW Junior Championship, the following year. In 1987, she won the WWWA World Tag Team titles with Yumiko Hotta. The duo lost their titles in a two-of-three falls match, during which, Hokuto legitimately broke her neck taking a tombstone off the second rope. Regardless, she wrestled through the second and third falls – if you care to find and watch the match, you can see her having to hold her head in position for most of the bout. She would go on to claim the WWWA tag belts two more times, as well as the All Pacific Championship twice. Her inter-promotional match against Shinoby Kandori of LLPW at AJW All-Star Dreamslam in 1993 earned a 5-star rating from Wrestling Observer Dave Meltzer. She won the Japan Grand Prix in 1993 before moving to CMLL in Mexico, where she claimed their World Women’s Championship, a title she held for more than two years. In 1995, she made her debut with WCW at World War 3. She was the first – and only – WCW Women’s Champion, defeating Madusa in the final of a tournament at Starrcade 96. She later ‘retired’ Madusa at the Great American Bash in 1997. Hokuto wound up with Gaea Japan, where she won the AAAW Tag Team Championship in 2000. Despite officially retiring in 2002, she’s wrestled several times since then, including being the first woman to compete in a match in All Japan Pro Wrestling, against Kendo Kashin, which Hokuto won in three minutes.
Charlotte Flair – Flair won the NXT Women’s Championship, and was named Rookie of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated, in 2014. Flair was the final Diva’s champion in 2015, and was the first WWE Women’s Champion when the new title was introduced in 2016. She was part of the first women’s pairing to headine a WWE pay-pay-view when she took on Sasha Banks at Hell in a Cell in 2016. Her total of seven WWE world championships is a record she shares with Trish Stratus; that total includes one reign which still stands as SmackDown’s longest female title run. Only Flair can claim to have held all four of the women’s WWE titles. She was also the first woman to defeat Asuka in WWE, breaking her record-setting undefeated streak.
Chigusa Nagayo – One half of the massively popular Crush Gals along with Lioness Asuka, Nagayo is one of the most popular female wrestlers ever. Nagayo is the founder of the Gaea Women’s Professional Wrestling promotion. As part of the Crush Gals, Nagayo held the All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling WWWA World Tag Team Championships four times. They were also legitimate pop-culture crossovers, with several top 10 singles. In 1988, she won the WWWA World Single Championship. She was also a two-time AJW Junior Champion, a two-time All Pacific Champion, and a two-time IWA World Women’s Champion. Nagayo was part of WCW’s tournament to crown their first Women’s Champion, losing to Madusa on an episode of Nitro. In 2004, Nagayo and Asuka reunited the Crush Gals in Gaea, winning the AAAW Tag Team Championship. Also in Gaea, she’s a former AAAW Heavyweight Champion, and AAAW Single Champion. In a one-time-only Legend vs Legend match in 1998, she defeated Manami Toyota in 15 minutes.
Manami Toyota – Toyota won the AJW Championship, her first title, in 1989, vacating it nearly one year later. She won the All Pacific Championship in 1990. In 1992, she won her first tag title, the UWA Women’s World Tag Team Championship, with Toshiyo Yamada. The duo also claimed the WWWA World Tag Team Championship in 1992, and earned a 5-star rating from Wrestling Observer Meltzer for a bout in November of that year. She is the only woman to have appeared in 14 matches deemed worthy of five stars by Meltzer. She also claimed the IWA Singles Championship belt in 1992, defending it eight times over a three year span. In 1995, Toyota won the WWWA World Single Championship, a title she wound up holding twice. In 2009, she won a poll through Wrestling Observer declaring her the greatest female wrestler of all time. She made her first appearance in the United States for Chikara in 2010, and was part of their 2011 King of Trios tournament. She retired in 2017 following a 35-year career.
Stand By List
The 10 ladies on standby, just in case of injury, are: Mae Young; Lioness Asuka; Becky Lynch; Ronda Rousey; Taya Valkyrie; Sasha Banks; Toni Storm; Ember Moon; Bayley; Candice LeRae.
Quick Lineup
Chyna; AJ Lee; Paige; Lita; Meiko Satomura; Mayu Iwatani; Tessa Blanchard; Arisa Nakajima; Natalya Neidhart; Bull Nakano; Ivory; Megumi Kudo; Mercedes Martinez; Michelle McCool; Kairi Sane; Io Shirai; Beth Phoenix; Alexa Bliss; Jacqueline; Mickie James; Awesome Kong; Gail Kim; Fabulous Moolah; Asuka; Madusa; Trish Stratus; Akira Hokuto; Charlotte Flair; Chigusa Nagayo; Manami Toyota.
With much love to Wikipedia for facts, figures and dates, and the YouTube wrestling community for hours of videos devoted to women’s wrestling and rankings.
