Following on from our tag team list we will take a look at the best female wrestlers of 2018. The first part of this article will take a breezier look at the lower end of this list.
50. Nia Jax
The worst in-ring competitor on this list, she has still been carried to a few good matches this year. She needs to sort her shit out though.
49. Shotzi Blackheart
She has a great look and is improving in the ring all the time. A proper run in Impact could help her step up to the next level.
48. Su Yung
She has a great look but her gimmick can be supremely off-putting. She remains in a high position in the Knockouts division and is capable of having good matches.
47. Tenille Dashwood
An undoubtedly skilled worker that is getting her chance to show her talents without WWE's overbearing hand. It's a shame that injury has derailed her for now.
46. Chelsea Green
A wrestler that has been unfairly judged on her run with the bride gimmick in Impact. Check out her match with Pentagon in Lucha Underground, as Reklusa, for a more accurate barometer of what she can do. Hopefully, she will shine now that she is signed to NXT.
45. Kris Wolf
She has one of the most likeable personalities in wrestling and has been travelling all over the world since leaving Stardom. Hopefully, she gets a good run with ROH or something similar.
44. Alexa Bliss
She remains one of the better talkers on the women's roster but hasn't really improved as an in-ring competitor. To be fair, she hasn't really been given the chance to.
43. Hikaru Shida
She has wrestled a ton of matches this year, in a wide variety of Joshi feds. She also had a surprisingly good match with all-time legend Aja Kong that is worth checking out if you can find it.
42. Kimber Lee
She was released from her WWE contract a few months into the year and went back to putting on good performances on the indies. She is the current AAW Women's and Chikara tag champion.
41. Hiroyo Matsumoto
In addition to putting on good performances in Japan, she also took part in the Mae Young Classic, putting on a good match with Toni Storm along the way. Her match with Nanae Takahashi in SEAdLINNNG is also well worth a watch.
40. Dakota Kai
She has had found a place for herself on NXT and she should find herself in more high profile feuds going forward. She is also a consistently good wrestler that can be relied upon in pretty much any situation.
39. Rosemary
Rosemary would be higher on this list if she didn't spend a large chunk of the year out with a torn ACL. Despite her injury, she remained a key part of the Knockouts division. Also, her face paint is cooler than Finn Balor's.
38. Cheerleader Melissa / Mariposa
She has been a stalwart of SHIMMER once again this year, and her work in Lucha Underground has been even better. She is one of the most reliable veterans in women's wrestling today.
37. Jinny
I remain unconvinced by her ring work but there is absolutely no doubting the work she does with her gimmick. She has been an important part of most companies that she has worked for, and has recently been involved with NXT UK.
36. Naomi
There is absolutely zero doubt that Naomi is one of the most athletic female wrestlers on the planet. However, that doesn't always equate to good wrestling matches in her case. If she could marry the two she would be higher on this list.
35. Bayley
Bayley is a better wrestler than this ranking would have you believe, but she is stuck in a perpetual loop of misuse by WWE. We all know we want to see Bayley vs Banks on the main roster but they seem to be reluctant to pull the trigger.
34. Jungle Kyona
One of the most reliable wrestlers in Stardom's upper midcard. She has held the Artist of Stardom and Goddesses of Stardom titles this year and has put on a number of good matches and her power-based style is really entertaining.
33. Nicole Savoy
She has been SHIMMER champion for the entire year and has been the PWR Women's champion for over 800 days, though she has only defended that title once, and that ended in a no contest. The reason she isn't higher in the list is that she hasn't had any real standout matches.
32. Sasha Banks
Everything I said about Bayley applies here. The reason that she is a few places higher on this list is that she is the better wrestler of the two. She was also part of the very good women's Money In The Bank match, which Bayley wasn't.
31. Nikki Cross
Did you know that Cross didn't win a match on NXT TV between February and October? She had a title match on Takeover in the middle of that run, her only Takeover match of the year. She is a good wrestler, with a divisive gimmick, but she hasn't had that much to do this year.
30. Sonya Deville
While I was researching for this I realised that Deville has only won 5 matches this year, but they were all on TV. She went 0-48 on house shows. She has improved greatly this year and considering she is only 25, she will continue to improve.
29. Rhea Ripley
Another wrestler who has improved greatly this year. In the first MYC she was noticeably green, but this year she put in some great performances, including an excellent match with Io Shirai. She has a great look and demeanour and is only 22, so has a ton of upside.
28. Bianca Belair
Talking of people with a ton of upside. She has great athleticism, a great look, a great grasp of her character, and the ability to put those things into a match. She also has the hair gimmick, which will help her along. She will have her first Takeover match on Royal Rumble weekend.
27. Konami
She has only been wrestling for 3 years but, as is the case with many Joshi talents, she is already putting in impressive performances. She is an important role to play on the Stardom roster, especially heading forward.
26. Natalya
The curious case of Natalya. She is always lingering near to the top of the women's division but she very rarely gets put in anything truly meaningful. She has had another good year in the ring though and remains one of the more reliable wrestlers on the women's roster.
25. LuFisto
Not only is LuFisto capable of kicking her opponent's ass, but she is also capable of kicking cancer's ass. In May she was given the all clear from cervical cancer, in a true feel-good story of the year. She didn't take a single month off from the ring until that point though, cuz she's hard as fuck.
24. Millie McKenzie
At only 18 years old McKenzie is already pretty fucking amazing. She has wrestled over 100 matches this year and in that time has picked up the Defiant and Fight Forever Women's titles, as well as the Kamikaze Pro and PWR tag titles, the latter while partnering with Pete Dunne. The sky is the absolute limit here.
23. Ruby Riott
One of the most unique wrestlers on the WWE roster, and a really good wrestler to boot. She may have fallen into a bit of a losing pattern as of late but the Riott Squad have been good for the women's division, and the women's tag titles could be very good for them.
22. Mia Yim
She started the year working for SHIMMER and other indy feds before getting a contract in NXT through her performances in the Mae Young Classic. It was well earned and she has been good since her first NXT match. 2019 should be a good year for her and she has all the tools needed to move towards the top of the NXT card.
21. Hazuki
Hazuki started the year as a part of the Artist of Stardom champions and ended it as the company's High Speed champion. She is a protege of Io Shirai and may well end up taking up a similar role in the company in the next few years. At 21 years old, she will only continue to improve, and she is already pretty great.
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