My own A-Z of women’s wrestling, whether you’re a fan or have no idea where to start – here’s my breakdown:
A is for Asuka
From taking Joshi Wrestling by storm to being the longest running NXT Women’s Champion, Asuka is easily one of the best wrestlers of today. Currently she is tag teaming with Kairi Sane on SmackDown and it probably won’t be lot until they’re Womens Tag Team Champions.
B is for Becky Lynch
Everything I could possibly say about Becky Lynch can be read here.
C is for Charlotte
D is Delilah Doom
Delilah has been wrestling since 2014 when she debuted with Anarchy Championship Wrestling. She’s won the Phoenix of RISE Championship and fought against Nia Jax and Carmella on both RAW and SmackDown.
E is for EVE Known as the Punk Rock, Feminist brand of the United Kingdom run by married couple Dann and Emily Read. Pro Wrestling Eve’s current champion is Kay Lee Ray, and the brand is a strong pioneer of women’s wrestling in the UK. EVE even has iPPV’s (pay-per-views only available on the internet) follow them on Twitter @ProWrestlingEVE and watch them at https://eveondemand.pivotshare.com/.
F is for Four Horsewomen
The Four Horsewomen are made up of Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Bayley together they’ve held 21 Championships. They formed after Bayley defeated Sasha Banks for the NXT Women’s Championship, in tears and full of joy, they held up four fingers Four Horsemen style. They’re not currently a stable but hopefully WWE makes them a stable soon.
G is for Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling
Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling (or GLOW) started in 1985, this was during a time where women’s wrestling was considered a novelty act and the women were known as actresses playing characters. It originally ran from 85 to 01 and was then revived by Ursula Hayden from 01 to present day. GLOW even has a TV show on Netflix but this a a fictionalised version of reality.
H is for Hiroyo Matsumoto
One of Japan’s finest wrestlers who debuted in 2006. Hiroyo is another winner of the DDT Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship and wrestles in infamous Joshi promotion – Stardom. Her career has been amazing full on Championships and appearing in last year’s Mae Young Classic. I’d love for her to be in WWE full-time.
I is for Ivory
Easily one of the best wrestlers to set foot in a WWE ring and before then she was in GLOW. During a time when women’s wrestling in WWE was all about looks, Ivory was one of the ones who stood our because of her in ring talent. In WWE, she was women’s Champion 3x and has spot in the WWE Hall of Fame.
J is for Joshi Puroresu
What women’s wrestling is known as in Japan. It has given us some of the best wrestlers in the world from Io Shirai to Momo Watanabe. With companies like Stardom, Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, there’s plenty to see and you can start with any of them.
Hana Kimura
K is for Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn started in WWE back in 2010 back when developmental was Florida Championship Wrestling. Kaitlyn was another star who stood out because of her talent during a time when WWE was more about looks. She was only a one time Divas Champion but she also won season 3 on NXT. Her time in WWE wasn’t long, but she also performed in last year’s Mae Young Classic.
L is for Lita
Such an icon of her time, whilst her career in WWE wasn’t particularly long, she was Women’s Champion 4x and gave us one of the most iconic feuds against Trish Stratus as well as being manager for The Hardy Boyz under the name Team Xtreme. Lita also teamed with Edge, Lita recently returned to WWE to take part in the first ever women’s Royal Rumble, first ever all women’s PPV and evem teamed once more with Trish.
M is for Meiko Satomura
Another wrestling great and co-founder of Sendai Girls Pro Wrestling. Meiko’s career spans an amazing 24 years and in that time, she has made her mark as one of the best wrestlers ever. She even had a brief stint in WCW, her career is outstanding and she’s another entrant of last year Mae Young Classic.
N is for Natalya
The only woman to be in an graduate from the infamous Hart Dungeon. Nattie is a 3rd generation wrestler and has been in WWE since 2007, this is other information about her career.
O is for ODB
ODB is a 4x Knockout Champion holder with Impact and even won the tag titles with Eric Young. She’s also wrestled with other Indie brands such as OVW, Midwest Pro Wrestling and Steel Domain Wrestling. ODB’s career has been long brilliant, although currently she isn’t wrestling.
P is for Paige
Q is for Queen Maya
Queen Maya is an Italian wrestler who was trained by ICW Academy, Mr Excellent and Sweet Saraya.
R is for RiSE
RiSE was founded in 2016 and was originally meant as a discovery and developmental for Shimmer. In 2017, RiSE started weekly tapings called Rise ASCENT that tours across America. Also, in 2018 they announced a partnership with Impact and stars from Impact appeared on their shows. Follow them on Twitter here @RISEdtwa and watch them here https://www.riseascent.com/.
S is for Stardom
Full name is World Wonder Ring of Stardom. It is the the biggest Joshi Puroresu based in Tokyo back in 2010. Some of the greatest female Joshi and non Joshi wrestlers have performed in Stardom. Each year they hold a Cinderella tournament which is a one day single elimination tournament where the winner gets a wish fulfilled, along with 5★ Grand Prix Tournament, Goddesses of Stardom Tag League/Tournament and a Rookie of Stardom Tournament. Follow them on Twitter @we_are_stardom and watch them at https://www.stardom-world.com/
T is for Trish Stratus
Trish had such a career overhaul. She started out as nothing but Vince’s plaything but she transformed herself into a 6x Women’s Champion. Trish had an amazing feud with Lita and another memorable one with Mickie James. She retired in 2006 and returned with Lita to being the women’s Royal Rumble, all women’s PPV along with tagging with her.
U is for Utami Hayashishita
Utami is dubbed the best rookie of Stardom who has been wrestling for less than a year. Already, she’s has held 4 Championships and won the Goddesses of Stardom Tournament with Momo Watanabe. Utami’s career is short but already amazing and it’s only going to get better.
V is for Vanessa Borne
Vanessa was trained by Gangrel and Rikishi along with the WWE Performance Center. Vanessa has wrestled many people within NXT and took part in the very first Mae Young Classic. Currently, she is tagging with Aliyah.
W is for Wendi Richter
Trained by Fabulous Moolah, she became the woman to dethrone her mentors 28 year reign. Whilst she wasn’t with WWE for a long time due to what is known as the original screwjob, her time there was petty good even though it was short.
X is for Xia Brookside
Daughter of WWE Legend Robbie Brookside. At only 20, her career is already brilliant, she was another participant of last year’s Mae Young Classic in which she had a sensational match against Io Shirai. Xia has even wrestled with Stardom, currently she is a part of NXT UK.
Y is for ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Z is for Zelina Vega
Zelina previously wrestled in Impact under Rostia and with many independent companies under her real name Thea Trinidad. Since 2017, she has been a memorable manager of Andrade, since her main roster dubut she’s she took part in the Battle Royal at both Evolution and WrestleMania 35.
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