Ranking #10 – Zelina Vega
Last Week – N/A
Vega (and the LWO) are continuing to grow as babyfaces in the changing landscape of the WWE. Vega has an opportunity to topple Rhea Ripley as the Smackdown Women’s Champion at Backlash after several weeks of leaving Ripley dazed and humiliated.
This Smackdown ended the same after Vega would defeat Sonya Deville (accompanied by Chelsea Green) in singles action but would be blindsided by Ripley. Going for the riptide and hoping for revenge, Ripley got cocky and would be spiked by a brutal DDT reversal from Vega who quickly retreated, the damage already done.
Ranking #9 – Deonna Purrazzo
Last Week – 1
As a three time Knockouts Champion, Deonna Purrazzo is no stranger to having a target on her back. No sooner had she won the title was her first challenger set up in the form of Taylor Wilde.
Contending with the presence of KiLynn King at ringside, Purrazzo was essentially outnumbered but secured the victory. A post-match beatdown was interrupted by Jordynne Grace and the two showed respect to one another as their rematch for the Knockouts Title at Under Seige is made official.
Ranking #8 – Cora Jade
Last Week – 12
In a match that had been teased, advertised and rescheduled since January, Cora Jade finally put away Lyra Valkyria this week at NXT Spring Breakin’.
Jade is a front runner within the NXT Women’s Division to be deserving of a future title shot, a claim she already made when she attacked the champion several weeks back.
The WWE Draft is still in effect however and with reports that Jade impressed officials with her recent match on Main Event, she may have a new home come Monday.
Ranking #7 – Zoey Stark
Last Week – N/A
With Night 1 of the WWE Draft in the books, carried over to Saturday morning, several superstars have found new homes.
Zoey Stark is one such superstar who has officially been called up from NXT to join the RAW brand and make her mark in a new setting.
Stark leaves NXT as a former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion and will officially be a member of the RAW roster as of May 8th.
Ranking #6 – The Unholy Union
Last Week – N/A
As a fellow Scots and massive support of the NXT UK brand, it is very exciting to see Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn not only be drafted to the main roster but also be one of the early televised picks as well.
The Unholy Union, as current reigning NXT Women’s Tag Team champions, are vital components to the main roster tag team division but also pose as credible competitors on their own. (But please don’t break them up any time soon!)
The duo will defend their titles against Katana Chance and Kayden Carter this week on NXT which may serve as their final appearance on the brand.
Ranking #5 – Trinity
Last Week – N/A
It has nearly been one full calendar year since Trinity left WWE behind and her status has been discussed, contested and speculated on almost weekly since then.
Now it all comes to an end as her next move has been made official with the announcement that Trinity is now a Knockout and she enters their division with a live mic this coming week.
Wrestlers across several companies have voiced their support and Trinity herself has shared her thoughts online of what brought her to Impact and even shares some insight in to her new entrance music.
She may not yet have formally debuted on screen but the fanbase has been abuzz since her announcement.
Ranking #4 – Indi Hartwell
Last Week – N/A
Let this past week serve as a reminder, regardless of our own favourites, the wrestlers we support endlessly and those we are indifferent to, every single one of them are risking serious injury every time they make their way through that curtain.
In the main event of Spring Breakin’, Indi Hartwell was defending her NXT Women’s Championship and would unfortunately sustain an ankle injury, the footage of which has made for some uneasy watching if you are sensitive to injuries. Both Roxanne Perez and Tiffany Stratton would continue the match after Hartwell would be taken to the back (honorary mention for both Perez and Stratton.)
Hartwell would still limp back to the ring later and continue the match to the best of her ability and retain the NXT Women’s Championship, despite being on one leg. To top it all off, she was drafted to RAW during Night 1 of the WWE Draft.
Ranking #3 – Tam Nakano
Last Week – N/A
Stardom held their Allstar Grand Queendom event last Sunday, the events of which were eligible for this week’s ranking, not last weeks and it delivered some stellar moments and title changes.
Tam Nakano would defeat Giulia to become the new World of Stardom champion, marking her first reign with the title and ending a long standing feud with Giulia at the event.
Ranking #2 – Mayu Iwatani
Last Week – N/A
The IWGP Women’s Championship between Mayu Iwatani and Mercedes Moné has been anticipated since its announcement with Moné going to varying lengths to taunt and humiliate her opponent.
All the jeers, songs and sneak attacks would come back to haunt her however as Iwatani was able to end Moné’s reign at 64 days and making Iwatani the third person to hold the title.
Ranking #1 – Mina Shirakawa
Last Week – N/A
As always, these lists are subjective and we encourage discussion each week but the victory of Club Venus’ Mina Shirakawa over the record setting champion, Saya Kamitani is easily in contendership for feel good moment of the year.
A victory two years in the making, Shirakawa would win the Wonder of Stardom title for the first time in her career and emotionally celebrate in front of a respectful crowd.
Many on Twitter are calling this Shirakawa’s own ‘finishing the story’ moment, sharing old photos from her previous losses and lows on her journey, marking this the perfect ending of that chapter and the beginning of a new one.
What did you make of the women’s wrestling action this week? Which draft picks do you think will be on next week’s list? Let us know in the comments below!
