Review - The Top 50 Women Superstars in WWE History

 Recently, WWE unveiled a list of what it called the Top 50 Women Superstars in WWE History. Keep in mind that countdown lists like this are always open to conjecture and debate because no two people will agree on the whole list. However, claiming to include the top 50 women in the history of WWE proves that the list is flawed. 

The list only includes women from WWE’s so-called Modern Era, meaning that one criterion for inclusion is that you had to have been active between 1993 and 2021. Therefore, Wendi Richter, The Fabulous Moolah, Miss Elizabeth, and Sensational Sherri are all left off the list, even though Moolah won the title once in 1999. Also, WWE indicated that it had ranked Women Superstars, not Female Wrestlers, but names like Sunny, Debra, and Torrie Wilson are suspiciously absent from the list.

Supposedly, the list is based on in-ring accomplishments while considering women who made their mark outside of the ring. Even though Kelly Kelly is a former Divas Champion, her impact was less than that of Debra or Sunny, but Kelly² ranks at number 46, ahead of Shotzi Blackheart and Kay Lee Ray, who is in the midst of a nearly two-year reign as the NXT UK Women's Champion.

The Bella Twins are on the list as a tandem at number 26, even though between the two of them, they have three reigns as WWE Divas Champion. Though Brie won her title before Nikki, Nikki holds the record for the longest reign and the shortest legitimate reign, except for Jillian Hall’s five-minute reign as champion. Seemingly, Nikki should be on the list by herself, and she should be ranked higher than her sister. Also, both Bellas should be ranked higher than Stephanie McMahon, who enters the list at number 23.

Stephanie is ranked higher than Ivory, Miss Jacqueline, the Bellas, Gail Kim, and both the Io Shirai, the NXT Women’s Champ, who has reigned for over 300 days, and Kay Lee Ray. Steph is pivotal to the success of WWE, but classifying her as a WWE superstar is a stretch. However, just like her father and brother, she has been booked as a champion from time to time.

Issues like Natalya having a higher ranking than Michelle McCool, or Sable, Molly, Paige, and Victoria being higher than AJ Lee confirm that the list is nothing more than a display of Vince’s opinion at the time. Any fan of WWE knows that everything that goes on comes from the whims of VKM, and this list might look extraordinarily different a month from now. That said, the list is open for debate because I know that there will be many who will disagree with everything that I just said.