This is the second part of this countdown, part 1 can be found here.
30. Nia Jax
Nia is a strange case as she looks like she is improving nicely for a period of time but will then seem to regress for no reason. The WWE roster could really do with someone like Nia, as variety is the spice of life, and she has had her moments this year, including the 4-way at WrestleMania. She has a good grasp of her gimmick, even if she does come across as a touch too likable for a monster.
29. Dakota Kai
Dakota Kai is someone that is currently being underutilised by the WWE. While she takes part in her fair share of matches on NXT house shows, she doesn't feature very often on the TV tapings. She showed in her run in the Mae Young Classic that she can face a range of different opponents and she has a ton experience wrestling all over the world.
28. Ivelisse
Ivelisse may have wrestled less frequently than some other wrestlers this year but she is consistently in good, important matches on the shows she appears. Her match with Catrina at Ultima Lucha was far better than anyone thought it was going to be and she has shown that she can hang with any opponent. She also has a great look and may well have been excelling in the WWE right now if she hadn't been forced to leave due to her treatment by Bill DeMott.
27. Naomi
26. Arisa Nakajima
Nakajima has spent 2017 in Japan, wrestling predominantly for Ice Ribbon and SEAdLINNING, and is consistently among the best wrestlers in both companies. Her best matches this year were the ones involving Nanae Takahashi, either as a partner or an opponent.
25. Kay Lee Ray
Kay Lee Ray has wrestled over 100 matches this year in the UK, Europe, Japan, and the US. She is the current Queen of Southside champion, as well as the Defiant (formally WCPW) Women's champion. She has also held the ICW Women's Title twice and took part in the Mae Young Classic. She is one of the most reliable female wrestlers working today.
24. Mia Yim
She started the year in Impact Wrestling but, as they do with talented wrestlers, they let her go. While she was there she had a series of good matches against Rosemary. She also completed a tour of the UK and continued to compete for Shimmer, getting a couple of title shots throughout the year. She also impressed in the Mae Young Classic, being involved in good matches with Sarah Logan and Shayna Baszler.
23. LuFisto
LuFisto has spent all but 13 days this year as Shine champion, and has defended it against many other women on this list. She also competed consistently in Shimmer, winning most of the matches she competed in. LuFisto is quite unique in wrestling as she is only 5' 3" but is a powerhouse, in addition to being very adept at hardcore wrestling. Continues to be a reliable wrestler, even after 20 years in the business.
22. Bayley
Let's be honest here, there is no way that Bayley should be this low as she has proven that she is a great wrestler capable of putting on fantastic matches, but her booking has left a lot to be desired. She has still put on very good matches when she has been given the chance, as evidenced by her match against Charlotte from Raw in February. Her feud with Alexa Bliss was a nadir though, and she was made to look stupid throughout.
21. Mercedes Martinez
Mercedes Martinez is a perennial upper card wrestler in any promotion she competes in. She has held titles in five different companies this year, including spending the majority of the year as Shimmer champion, before losing it in the culmination of a good story with Nicole Savoy. She is another wrestler that gained more mainstream exposure from her involvement in the Mae Young Classic, where she lost in a good semi final match against Shayna Baszler.
20. Shayna Baszler
People's opinions on Baszler are going to be based on her style, which I understand is divisive, but it's hard to argue that she hasn't had a great year. In addition to her impressive run to the final of the Mae Young Classic, where she had very good matches against Kairi Sane and Mercedes Martinez, she also wrestled in a number of indy promotions. The best moment she had this year though was a fabulous match against Io Shirai in Stardom in February. If you can find it, you should watch it.
19. Becky Lynch
Make no mistake, Lynch is a top 10 female wrestler in the world butit is hard to justify that when she is constantly booked as just another cog in the machine. The amount of multi person matches that the Smackdown women's division have been involved in this year hasn't helped anyone. It's a shame too as Lynch consistently shows that she is a great wrestler with a ton of charisma. Hopefully the booking lines up with her talent.
18. Taya Valkyrie
Taya has spent a large portion of her career wrestling in Mexico but has become more prominent on the American wrestling scene in the last 12 months. This was the year that her 945 day Reina de Reinas title run came to an end, but since then she has become a part of the Impact Wrestling Knockouts division and has featured on shows by up and coming promotion RISE. She is also a member of the Lucha Underground roster and had a really good Last Luchadora Standing match against Sexy Star at Ultima Lucha Tres.
17. Natalya
Natalya is someone that has been considered one of the best in ring competitors in the WWE women's division for years now, and she deserves to be, but one thing that she has never been able to fully grasp is the non-wrestling part of her role. She has been lumbered with a production line of poor gimmicks though. Natalya remains one of the most reliable wrestlers in the division, which explains why they put the title on her.
16. The Iconic Duo
Yes, I know they are two people but you can't break up the Iconic Duo so I put them both in the spot I would have given to Peyton Royce. This is possibly the best example on this list of accentuating positives while hiding negatives. Neither of them are the greatest technical wrestler, though Royce can definitely hold her own, but they have such a good grasp of their gimmick, both in and out of the ring, that it barely seems to matter.
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