First Annual PWI Female 50

[Snitsky]

not a bad list would have liked to see victoria and mercedez slightly higher but happy with top 4 on overall list

glad beth is number one on wwe list...why is layla even on the list when did she last wrestle

Here are "The PWI Female 50" rankings in its entirety:

1. Awesome Kong
2. Beth Phoenix
3. Gail Kim
4. Mickie James
5. MsChif
6. Sarah Del Ray
7. Roxxi Laveaux
8. Melina
9. Michelle McCool
10. Candice Michelle
11. Mercedes Martinez
12. Victoria
13. Taylor Wilde
14. ODB
15. Daizee Haze
16. Angelina Love
17. Jacqueline
18. April Hunter
19. Natalya
20. Sumie Sakai
21. Allison Danger
22. Traci Brooks
23. Velvet Sky
24. Sarah Stock
25. Moose Knuckles
26. Katie Lea Burchill
27. Cherry
28. Cheerleader Melisa (a.k.a. Raisha Saeed)
29. Maria Kanellis
30. Amber O'Neal
31. Lexie Fyfe
32. Kelly Kelly
33. Cindy Rogers
34. Jillian Hall
35. Malia Hosaka
36. Christie Ricci
37. Becky Bayless
38. Alere Little Feather
39. Layla El
40. Kelly Couture
41. Jamie D (a.k.a. Sirelda)
42. Christy Hemme
43. Milena Roucka
44. Annie Social
45. Lufisto
46. Rhaka Khan
47. Danyah
48. Jennifer Blake
49. Daffney
50. Portia Perez

Rankings by affiliation

World Wrestling Entertainment
1. Beth Phoenix (2)
2. Mickie James (4)
3. Melina (8)
4. Michelle McCool (9)
5. Candice Michelle (10)
6. Victoria (12)
7. Natalya (19)
8. Katie Lea Burchill (26)
9. Maria Kanellis (29)
10. Kelly Kelly (32)
11. Jillian Hall (34)
12. Layla El (39)
13. Milena Roucka (43)

TNA
1. Awesome Kong (1)
2. Roxxi Laveaux (7)
3. Taylor Wilde (13)
4. ODB (14)
5. Angelina Love (16)
6. Jacqueline (17)
7. Traci Brooks (22)
8. Velvet Sky (23)
9. Moose Knuckles (25)
10. Cheerleader Melisa (a.k.a. Raisha Saeed (28)
11. Christy Hemme (42)
12. Rhaka Khan (46)

Top Non-Affiliated Women's Wrestlers
1. Gail Kim (3)
2. MsChif (5)
3. Sarah Del Ray (6)
4. Mercedes Martinez (11)
5. Daizee Haze (15)
6. April Hunter (18)
7. Sumie Sakai (20)
8. Allison Danger (21)
9. Sarah Stock (24)
10. Cherry (27)
11. Amber O'Neal (30)
12. Lexie Fyfe (31)
13. Cindy Rogers (32)
14. Malia Hosaka (35)
15. Christie Ricci (36)
16. Becky Bayless (37)
17. Alere Little Feather
18. Kelly Couture (40)
19. Jamie D (a.k.a. Sirelda) (41)
20. Annie Social (44)
21. Lufisto (45)
22. Danyah (47)
23. Jennifer Blake (48)
24. Daffney (49)
25. Portia Perez (50)


Pro Wrestling Illustrated has released an issue similar to the "PWI 500," but based on the women of professional wrestling instead. They're calling it the first annual "PWI Female 50," which ranks the top 50 women's wrestlers. PWI feels there is enough credible women's wrestlers out there now to warrant a top 50 ranking. Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Awesome Kong, with "The Beautiful People" - Angelina Love and Velvet Sky - in the front, grace the magazine cover.

It should be noted that PWI has opted to exclude Mexican and Japanese women's wrestlers from the rankings - sans Sarah Stock. Regarding this. PWI wrote: "That isn't intended to be a slight against international competitors. More so than with the male counterparts, women's wrestling varies tremendously between the North American style, the Japanese joshi puroresu styles and the Mexican lucha libre style. With few notable exceptions (such as Sumie Sakai and Gail Kim), a wrestler who excels in one style may fare much more poorly in a different style. Besides, we wanted to shine the spotlight primarily on the U.S. and Canadians competitors first. If reader response to this special section is strong, perhaps we will consider ranking more women, including international competitors, in the future."

On how they ranked the wrestlers, PWI wrote: "To determine this list and compile the rankings, we examined a variety of criteria. While placing special emphasis on a wrestler's accomplishments over the past calender year, we also took note of each women's career accomplishments as well. For example, a veteran like Malia Hosaka may not have wrestled as many matches or as many high-profile bouts as Cherry over the past 12 months, but based on her accomplishments throughout her 20-plus year career, we felt she deserved inclusion."

PWI also went over possible controversy in regards to ranking the likes of Maria and Velvet Sky ahead of more "scientifically skilled technicians" such as Lexie Fyfe and Cindy Rogers. Prominence and marketability factored into the rankings as it's not only based on technical ability and accomplishments. PWI wrote: "We evaluated each woman on championships held, quality of opposition faced, overall athletic ability, prominence, and marketability. To some critics, those last two criteria may be controversial. After all, some may argue that wrestlers like Maria Kanellis and Velvet Sky have no business being ranked ahead of more scientifically skilled technicians like Cindy Rogers and Lexie Fyfe. We would argue that marketability and prominence are an important aspect of pro wrestling, and that the success of these Divas and Knockouts have had on such a major stage has to be taken into consideration."

www.pwpix.net/pwpixnews/headlines/223777233.php

[PKO]

Not a bad list all in all.

[Bravo Echo November]

Awesome Kong No. 1, yeah!

[Snitsky]

milena needed to be higher then layla, milena is a bad ass female wrestler even though she is in fcw glad she made that list

[Deleted]

I do agree with their top 8, although order-wise, maybe switch Gail with Mickie and Roxxie with Melina. That and knock Michelle McCool (and possibly Candice) down a few spots...

[Krimzon]

Can't argue with the top 8 at all. 9 & 10 are a different story...IMHO, Kelly Kelly should be ranked higher. She's come a long way.

[The OP]

It's a pretty good list. I sort of think Maria is ranked too high though. I'm not saying she should be at the bottom or anything, since she's one of the few with any mainstream exposure, but at the same time she's basically a jobber.

I definitely agree with the top 5. We need Beth vs. Kong!

[Deleted]

Sept 19, 2008 11:12:04 GMT -5 The OP said:

It's a pretty good list. I sort of think Maria is ranked too high though. I'm not saying she should be at the bottom or anything, since she's one of the few with any mainstream exposure, but at the same time she's basically a jobber.

I definitely agree with the top 5. We need Beth vs. Kong!

Holy crap. Yeah, I didn't even look for Maria, figured she's irrelevant enough to ignore from the list...but there she is, almost halfway to #1. Definitely could bring her a few spots down at least.

[DJ Peapod]

why is Becky Bayless on the list...she doesn't wrestle...that I know of

How does Mickie James beats Sara Del Rey? Seriously...

[EJS]

Isn't April Hunter retired?

[timebomb]

I would say its pretty stupid because there no connection with any reality. Is it based on pure skill, it can't be with Michelle and Candice ranking high and Natalya low. Is it based on being productive. Can't be that either, the previous mentioned are flopping with big babyface pushes. And what have indy girls that can't make it into a major promotion really accomplished.

They should have did one of the other of those criteria. Instead its just all over the place and just an opinion of one smark.

Its as if they put it together 6+ months ago

[Kae]

Like I said on the SHIMMER forum (which this particular list has turned into a burning river of hate), these top x lists are meaningless. As Drew Curtis of Fark fame points out, they're designed to fill some pages without much work, and generate some nice buzz because they're always, always controversial. If everyone on the board had to draw up a top 50, I can guarantee that almost all of them would look different, and so they lead to discussions.

[Tiger Millionaire]

Where the hell are Mt. Fuji, Sally the Farmer's Daughter, Big Bad Mamma and Matilda the Hun!!

[rocket]

Sept 19, 2008 16:14:31 GMT -5 Kae said:

Like I said on the SHIMMER forum (which this particular list has turned into a burning river of hate), these top x lists are meaningless. As Drew Curtis of Fark fame points out, they're designed to fill some pages without much work, and generate some nice buzz because they're always, always controversial. If everyone on the board had to draw up a top 50, I can guarantee that almost all of them would look different, and so they lead to discussions.

As someone who usually hates the kinds of lists you're talking about, this isn't that bad. I certainly don't like Candice and McCool being way up there, but given their criteria, they're up there with good reason.