Women in WWE
Throughout its history, women have served in various onscreen roles in the American
At
History
Early history (1980s–1990s)
In 1983, The Fabulous Moolah, who was the NWA World Women's Champion and legal owner of the title, joined the WWF and sold them the rights to the title after they disaffiliated from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and recognized her as the first WWF Women's Champion.[1] Additionally, the WWF also recognized Moolah as having been champion ever since first winning the title from Judy Grable in 1956 and disregarded other reigns or title losses that occurred during the title's existence in the NWA. Thus, The Fabulous Moolah's reign was considered to have lasted 27 years by the promotion.[2] WWF also introduced the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship with Velvet McIntyre and Princess Victoria recognized as the first champions after also defecting from the NWA.
The following year, music artist
In the summer of 1985, the WWF did a storyline where all established managers in the promotion competed to offer their services to
Sherri initially debuted on July 24, 1987, by defeating The Fabulous Moolah for the WWF Women's Championship.
The first
In 1990, Sensational Sherri remained with Randy Savage, while Sapphire worked with Dusty Rhodes. Sapphire later departed from the company in mid-1990. Miss Elizabeth worked primarily with Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire between WrestleMania VI and SummerSlam (1990). Miss Elizabeth returned in 1991 and was a key player in Randy Savage's retirement match with The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII; Miss Elizabeth left the company for good in April 1992; shortly after her departure, Savage and Miss Elizabeth divorced in real life. At WrestleMania IX, Luna Vachon debuted and initially aligned herself with Shawn Michaels. Later, she aligned herself with Bam Bam Bigelow to feud with Sherri and Tatanka. Martel left the company in 1993.
Japanese involvement and Diva beginnings (1993–1997)
In 1993, the WWF reinstated its Women's Championship, a title that had been vacant since 1990,
After the tournament, Miceli asked WWF management to bring in new women for her to wrestle
Between 1995 and 1998, several valets debuted in WWF: Sunny, Marlena, Sable and Debra. Following Blayze’s controversial exit from the company, the women’s division became inactive during this time. At first, the characters were a continuation of the WWE female manager, but became more sexualized as time progressed. Although the term diva was not used on WWF television until April 1999, these women are considered to be the first Divas. In 1996, Sunny was awarded as the manager of the year and her immense popularity expanded beyond professional wrestling when she was regarded as AOL’s most downloaded woman, solidifying herself as one of the preeminent figures within WWF.[21] In February 1997, Chyna joined WWF as an antithesis to the rest of the women, a masculine bodybuilder whose sexual identity was the subject of early storylines. Sunny, Marlena, Sable, and Debra were further marketed as sex symbols through WWF's Raw Magazine, which featured monthly spreads of the women in suggestive poses either semi-nude or wearing provocative clothing.
Attitude Era (1997–2002)
Sable's eclipsed popularity and her feud with
Sable became the first WWF female talent to refer to herself as a "Diva" during the April 19 episode of Raw Is War in 1999; the term shortly thereafter became the official title for WWF's female performers. During the August 9, 1999, episode of Raw Is War, Chyna became the first woman to main event a pro-wrestling prime time show when she defeated Triple H and The Undertaker in a triple threat match to become the number one contender for the WWF Championship, the only woman to ever do so. Veteran wrestlers The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young returned to WWF, mostly used as comedic roles. At No Mercy on October 17, 1999, 76-year-old Moolah defeated Ivory to win the Women's Championship, becoming the oldest WWF Women's Champion ever. The late 1990s also brought in new women, such as B.B and The Kat, who won the women's championship.[24][25]
In 1999, Chyna became the first woman to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship when she defeated Jeff Jarrett. She would win the title one more time in 2000 when she defeated Val Venis and Trish Stratus in a mixed tag team match. She also became the first woman to participate in a Royal Rumble match, entering in the 1999 and 2000 editions, as well as participating in the 1999 edition of the King of the Ring tournament. She also was on the cover for Playboy. According to her manager, Vince McMahon offered Chyna to win the WWF Championship if she rejected the offer.[26]
The year 2000 saw the debuts of Lita, Trish Stratus, and Molly Holly since the start of February. Lita performed higher-risk moves than the divas before her, such as moonsaults and diving hurricanranas.[27] Shortly thereafter, Trish Stratus debuted as an overtly sexualized valet. Also, later that year, Molly Holly was added to the roster. She was a contrast to most of the other Divas as she was given a more wholesome gimmick and more modest ring attire.[28] On the August 21 episode of Raw Is War defending champion Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley wrestled Lita in the main event.
Finally, the spring of 2001 saw the WWF's purchase of its chief competitors,
Ruthless Aggression Era (2002–2008)
Much of the year of 2002 centered around Trish Stratus and her feuds with
Since May 5, 2002, the women's division saw an expansion including a departure and a return of a former talent when the WWF officially changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as the company first began to hire more female talents than ever before, including female winners of the reality television show Tough Enough, which featured contestants aspiring to be professional wrestlers (Nidia in 2001, Linda Miles and Jackie Gayda in 2002). Debra departed the company in June along with her then-husband Stone Cold Steve Austin.[35] Sable returned to WWE on the April 3, 2003, episode of SmackDown! for the first time since controversially departing from the company in late 1999; her first storyline returning to the company for several months was with new Playboy covergirl Torrie Wilson. The WWE women's division competed in more match-ups previously contested only by men (including for the Women's Championship), such as street fights and hardcore matches. The debuting Gail Kim would go on to become the first woman of Asian descent to have held the WWE Women's Championship after winning a battle royal. Numerous Divas competed in contests ranging from "Pillow Fights" and "Bra and Panties" match-ups to "Bikini Contests", which were based more on the sexual appeal of the women involved. Women's trainer Fit Finlay said he was embarrassed to explain to the women how to strip during bra and panties match. According to him, "It was degrading to them" and tried to teach them how to wrestle, but WWE told him they do not want women to wrestle like men.[36]
Victoria and Lita competed in the first Women's steel cage match towards the end of the year on November 24.[37]
WWE eventually re-introduced the
Since mid-2004 and through various periods over the years until the year of 2011, most of the original female roster departed from the company, most notably in 2006, when Trish Stratus retired at Unforgiven and Lita retired at Survivor Series.[38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]
During this period, several women made their debut, like Melina,[48] Mickie James,[49][50][51] Beth Phoenix,[52][53] and Layla.[54]
On the March 5, 2007, episode of Raw,
PG Era and Divas Championship (2008–2012)
In 2008, WWE entered its PG Era and adapted a family-friendly format.[57] WWE distanced itself from the sexual content that was pervasive throughout previous eras.[58] However, the role of women within WWE during this time was criticized because their matches were not as integral to the show as male wrestler's matches were.[57]
At
On the April 23, 2012, episode of Raw, Nikki Bella defeated Beth Phoenix in a lumberjill match for the Divas Championship, ending Phoenix's reign as champion at 204 days.[62][63] Layla returned from her injury on April 29, 2012, at Extreme Rules and defeated Nikki Bella to become the fifth woman to have held both titles.[64] The Bella Twins' contracts expired the following night, where they were fired by Eve Torres in the storyline.[65][66]
On July 9, 2012, Eve Torres and AJ Lee became the first Divas to main event Raw since Trish Stratus and Lita in 2004, in a tag team match alongside CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. During mid-2012, AJ became involved in various relationship storylines with several male wrestlers such as CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Kane, John Cena and Dolph Ziggler, including a stint as the General Manager of Raw. The later part of 2012 saw the departures of Kharma, Kelly Kelly, and Beth Phoenix.[67] A month after Phoenix's October departure, WWE published an article on their website claiming that there was a new era for the Divas division.[68]
In the summer of 2012, the WWE hired veteran independent wrestler Sara Amato as a trainer for the women. Under Amato's guidance, catfights and hair-pulling were eliminated and were replaced by strikes, forearms, punches, and kicking just like the male wrestlers were taught to do.[69]
Beginning of Total Divas (2013–2015)
The 20th anniversary of Raw on January 14, 2013, saw Kaitlyn defeat Eve Torres for the Divas Championship. Eve departed the company later that night after her contract expired.[70] The Bella Twins returned to WWE on the March 11, 2013, episode of Raw.[71] Kaitlyn lost her Divas Championship to her former tag team partner AJ Lee on Payback, ending her reign at 153 days. The first in-ring Divas contract signing took place on the July 12, 2013, episode of SmackDown between AJ Lee and Kaitlyn, as part of buildup for a rematch of the Divas Championship at Money In the Bank. AJ defeated Kaitlyn to retain the title at the event.
In August 2012, WWE ceased operating FCW, its developmental promotion in Tampa, Florida, deactivating FCW titles, and began running all of its developmental events and operations at
In July 2013, the first season of the
On the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw on April 7, 2014,
Brie Bella entered a storyline with Stephanie McMahon at Payback — as part of her husband Daniel Bryan's storyline with McMahon — McMahon threatened to fire Bella if, an injured, Bryan did not relinquish the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which forced Brie to "quit" before slapping McMahon in the face.[79] In mid-June, Vickie Guerrero departed mutually from WWE, after losing to Stephanie McMahon in a pudding match.[80] AJ Lee returned after a two-month hiatus, defeating Paige in an impromptu match to regain the Divas Championship as both then traded the championship until at SummerSlam, then Night of Champions.[81] At SummerSlam, Stephanie McMahon defeated Brie Bella in her first match in ten years, after Nikki Bella attacked her sister.[82] This led to a match between the twins at Hell in a Cell, where the loser was forced to become the winner's personal assistant for 30 days, where Nikki defeated Brie.[83] AJ Lee won the Divas Championship for a record-tying third time at Night of Champions against Paige and Nikki Bella.[84] With this win, AJ Lee tied with Eve Torres for the most reigns ever at three.
Nikki Bella received her title match against AJ Lee on November 23 at Survivor Series, which she won, with Brie's help, to become a two-time Divas Champion.[85] The duo had reconciled at this point.[86][87][88]
Divas Revolution (2015–2016)
On the February 23, 2015, episode of Raw, The Bella Twins faced Paige and
On the July 13 episode of Raw, Nikki Bella claimed that there were no challengers for her championship. As a result, Stephanie McMahon proclaimed a revolution in the women's division and introduced
On July 29, WWE announced that Layla would depart from the company and retire.
Women's Evolution (2016–present)
At
WWE had faced criticism from critics and performers for having portrayed female wrestlers as a source of
In April 2016 at a show in Dubai,
In 2017 and 2018, WWE also began to promote women's
Since then, there are generally at least two or more women's matches on RAW, SmackDown and NXT while it is increasingly rare for some episodes not to have a women's match on the show. In addition, promos and fights involving women have gotten more intense and violent compared to the Divas Era.[124] Also, women's storylines began to move away from cattiness and romantic relationships with male wrestlers into more personal feuds as well as animosity between the two wrestlers as they closely begin to mirror men's storylines. On August 26, 2018, Rhea Ripley defeated Toni Storm in the United Kingdom Championship Tournament to win the inaugural NXT UK Women's Championship, which became the top women's championship of the NXT UK brand.[125] In October 2018, WWE hosted Evolution, its first-ever pay-per-view to consist only of women's matches.[126][127] Executive vice president of talent, live events and creative Triple H stated that it "was simply the right time for this to happen", countering allegations that the event was a counterbalance for the subsequent Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia (where WWE had not held women's matches due to the country's women's rights policies).[128] In December 2018, a new WWE Women's Tag Team Championship was unveiled; it was contested for the first time at Elimination Chamber in February 2019, and won in a tag team Elimination Chamber match by Sasha Banks and Bayley.[129][130][131]
Amid a feud with
During the late year of 2021 the first ever WWE Queen's Crown tournament was announced, The tournament is a female version of the company's King of the Ring tournament.[143] On October 21, 2021 history was made as Zelina Vega defeated Doudrop to become the inaugural Queen's Crown tournament winner at WWE Crown Jewel of year 2021.[144][145]
Also while the name "Diva" largely fell into disuse, the term was then reused in 2022 for NXT wrestler Quincy Eliott's moniker, "Super Diva".[146]
On June 9, 2023, on an episode of SmackDown!, the WWE Raw Women's Championship name was reverted back to the WWE Women's Championship as to when Lita introduced it at WrestleMania 32 of year 2016 as Asuka was awarded with a New Women's Championship.[147]
On June 12, 2023, a week prior on an episode of Raw history was made once more again as the WWE Smackdown Women's Championship name was changed to the WWE Women's World Championship as Rhea Ripley was awarded with the new WWE Women's World title.[148]
On July 17, 2023, Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville became the first WWE Tough Enough women contestants to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships in WWE history.[149]
Reception
While Stephanie McMahon credited Triple H and Vince McMahon as the creators of the Women's Revolution,[150] wrestler Gail Kim countered that Total Nonstop Action Wrestling was the promotion where the Women's Revolution began.[151] Former WWE wrestler Maria Kanellis was critical of how WWE portrays women, stating that feels more like a "promotional tactic".[152] After being released in 2021, Mickie James said that one WWE executive told her: "Women's wrestling doesn't make money" in response to her push for a second all-female pay-per-view or an all-female branded show.[153]
Promotional pushes
The popularity of the women of WWE has resulted in various cross-promotions.[154] Various female talent in WWE have posed in Playboy, others have appeared in commercials for WWE and non-WWE products as well as men's interest magazines.
Women in WWE would participate in annual photoshoots every year, travelling to a foreign destination. The photoshoot would be followed by a magazine, featuring photos from the shoot as well as a television special or video release of highlights from the shoot. The first initial annual photoshoot was in 1999 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which was promoted through video release by WWE entitled Come Get Some: The Women of the WWF. Debra, Chyna, Sable, Tori, Jacqueline, Terri Runnels, Ivory, Luna Vachon, and Ryan Shamrock were part of the photoshoot and promotional material.
Videography
Annual photoshoots:
- 1999: Come Get Some: The Women of the WWF
- 2000: Postcard From The Caribbean
- 2001: Divas in Hedonism
- 2002: Tropical Pleasure and Undressed
- 2003: Desert Heat
- 2004: South of the Border
- 2005: Viva Las Divas
- 2006: Divas Do New York
- 2007: Los Angeles
- 2008: Summer Skin
Other:
- 1998: Sable Unleashed
- 1999: Chyna & Triple H: It's Our Time
- 2000: Chyna Fitness: More Than Meets the Eye
- 2001: Lita: It Just Feels Right
- 2003: Trish Stratus: 100% Stratusfaction Guaranteed
- 2005: $250,000 Raw Diva Search
- 2014: Stephanie McMahon: Fit Series
- 2018: Then, Now, Forever: The Evolution of WWE's Women's Division
- 2019: Trish & Lita: Best Friends, Better Rivals
Playboy
Since 1999, seven women in WWE have appeared on the cover of Playboy:
- 1999: Sable (2) - April & September
- 2000: Chyna - November
- 2002: Chyna (2) - January
- 2003: Torrie Wilson - March
- 2004: Torrie Wilson (2) and Sable (3) - March
- 2005: Christy Hemme - April
- 2006: Candice Michelle - April
- 2007: Ashley Massaro - April
- 2008: Maria Kanellis - April
Playboy playmates, such as
Shortly following Maria's pictorial, WWE transitioned to a TV-PG rating and ended its connection to Playboy as part of the move.
Reality shows
Diva Search (2003–2007, 2013) and Tough Enough (2001–2002, 2011, 2015)
The Diva Search was an annual competition that occurred every summer. The purpose of the Diva Search was to find new women to be wrestlers, interviewers, and/or valets for WWE.
Tough Enough is a professional wrestling reality television series produced by WWE, wherein participants undergo professional wrestling training and compete for a contract with WWE. Female winners include Nidia, Jackie Gayda, Linda Miles, and Sara Lee. The series also featured women who would go on to appear across WWE television, including Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Kharma, and Chelsea Green among others.
Total Divas and spinoffs (2013–present)
On April 22, 2013, it was announced several Divas would be featured on a new
On June 13, 2021, Essentially Sports reported that Total Divas and Total Bellas had been cancelled by the E! Network, citing a decline in ratings and lack of interest from those involved.[159]
On January 8, 2018, it was announced that Maryse and her husband The Miz would be getting their own reality television series titled Miz & Mrs.[160] The show premiered on July 24, 2018, on the USA Network.
On February 26, 2022, it was announced that Carmella and Corey Graves will be part of a spin-off series Corey & Carmella which will premiere on WWE’s YouTube channel.[161]
Other shows
Animated versions of the Fabulous Moolah and Wendi Richter were included on a CBS Saturday morning cartoon Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling.[162]
In 1996, Sunny was named as AOL’s most downloaded celebrity, thus expanding her popularity outside professional wrestling. She was heavily featured on mainstream TV shows such as MTV’s Singled Out and Entertainment Tonight.[163]
In 2019, WWE announced a reality series for Quibi, Fight Like a Girl, in which Stephanie McMahon paired WWE superstars with a young girl in each episode.[165][166] The series was later moved to The Roku Channel following the closure of Quibi.[167]
Episodes focusing on heel careers of Sasha Banks and Stephanie McMahon were part of the 2022 Peacock original series, WWE EVIL.[168]
The ninth episode of A&E documentary series, WWE Rivals, "Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella", focused on McMahon and Bella’s on-screen rivalry.[169]
In November 2022, WWE co-CEO Nick Khan announced during an investors call that
WWE Network shows
A behind-the-scenes look at various WWE female superstars and Events was featured in WWE Network's documentary series WWE 24. The episodes entitled "Women's Evolution" and "Empowered" focused on the history of women in WWE, while episodes "Becky Lynch: The Man", "The Years of Ronda Rousey", and "Trish Stratus" focused on individual careers of Lynch, Rousey and Stratus respectively.[172][173][174] Another documentary series, WWE 365, aired a special on Alexa Bliss on June 23, 2019.[175] Paige, Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks specials were part of another WWE Network's documentary series WWE Chronicle.[176][177][178]
Several episodes of Table for 3 like "Diva Legends",[179] "Millennium Divas",[180] "Divas Champions Club",[181] "Future Empowered",[182] "Women's Championship Evolution",[183] "Restaurant Riott"[184] and "Ladies' Luncheon"[185] featured current and former WWE female superstars discussing various aspects of their personal and professional life.
Animated version of various female WWE superstars like Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Bella Twins, Charlotte Flair, Paige and Stephanie McMahon were included in Camp WWE.[186]
Other media
Fabulous Moolah and Wendi Richter appeared in two of Cyndi Lauper's music videos, "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" and "She Bop".[187]
From 1999 to 2000, Sable appeared as a guest star on an episode of Pacific Blue in 1999,
In 2007, Ashley Massaro, Torrie Wilson, Maryse, Brooke, Layla, and Kelly Kelly appeared a music video for music producer and rapper
Fighting with My Family, a 2019 film co-produced by WWE Studios depicts the WWE career of Paige portrayed by Florence Pugh.[194]
The Fabulous Moolah was the subject of the sixth and season finale episode of the professional wrestling documentary series Dark Side of the Ring. It covered various events of Moolah's life like Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, The Brawl to End It All, The Original Screwjob, the WrestleMania 34 name controversy, and various other WWE related incidents.[195]
In 2019, the video game
Championships and accomplishments
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Female 50 / Women's 100 / Women's 150 / Women's 250
PWI Year–End Awards
Year Won | Award | Wrestler |
---|---|---|
1999 | Manager of the Year | Debra |
Woman of the Year | Debra | |
2000[202] | Woman of the Year | Stephanie McMahon |
2001[203] | Woman of the Year | Lita |
2002 | Woman of the Year | Trish Stratus |
2003 | Woman of the Year | Trish Stratus |
2004 | Woman of the Year | Victoria |
2005 | Woman of the Year | Trish Stratus |
2006 | Woman of the Year | Trish Stratus |
2007 | Most Improved Wrestler of the Year | Candice Michelle |
Woman of the Year | Candice Michelle | |
2009[204] | Woman of the Year | Mickie James |
2010 | Woman of the Year | Michelle McCool |
2012 | Woman of the Year | AJ Lee |
2013 | Woman of the Year | AJ Lee |
2014 | Rookie of the Year | Charlotte |
Woman of the Year | AJ Lee | |
2015 | Inspirational Wrestler of the Year | Bayley |
Match of the Year | Bayley vs. Sasha Banks
October 8 at NXT TakeOver: Respect | |
Woman of the Year | Sasha Banks | |
2016 | Feud of the Year | Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks |
Rookie of the Year | Nia Jax | |
Woman of the Year | Charlotte Flair | |
2017 | Woman of the Year | Asuka |
2018 | Rookie of the Year | Ronda Rousey |
Woman of the Year | Becky Lynch | |
2019 | Most Popular Wrestler of the Year | Becky Lynch |
Woman of the Year | Becky Lynch | |
2020 | Feud of the Year | Bayley vs. Sasha Banks |
Tag Team of the Year | Golden Role Models (Bayley and Sasha Banks) | |
2022 | Most Improved Wrestler of the Year | Mandy Rose |
Woman of the Year | Bianca Belair | |
2023 | Comeback of the Year | Trinity |
Rookie of the Year | Sol Ruca | |
Faction of the Year | Rhea Ripley (The Judgment Day) | |
Match of the Year | Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair April 1 at WrestleMania 39 | |
Woman of the Year | Rhea Ripley |
Sports Illustrated
Women's Wrestler of the Year
Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018[205] | Becky Lynch | Charlotte Flair | - | Ronda Rousey | Asuka | Alexa Bliss | Toni Storm | Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler |
Bianca Belair | - |
2019[206] | - | Charlotte Flair | Shayna Baszler | - | - | Rhea Ripley | Sasha Banks |
- | - |
Wrestler of the Year
Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2020[207] | Sasha Banks |
Bayley | Io Shirai
| |||||||
2021[208] | - | Bianca Belair | - | - | ||||||
2022[209] | ||||||||||
2023[210] | Rhea Ripley | - | Becky Lynch |
Hall of Famers
The following list shows the female WWE Hall of Famers (excluding Warrior Award recipients) and the years that they were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Number | Year inducted | Inductee |
---|---|---|
1[211] | 1995 | The Fabulous Moolah |
2 | 2006 | "Sensational" Sherri
|
3 | 2008 | Mae Young |
4 | 2010 | Wendi Richter |
5 | 2011 | Sunny
|
6 | 2013 | Trish Stratus |
7 | 2014 | Lita |
8 | 2015 | Alundra Blayze
|
9 | 2016 | Jacqueline |
10 | 2017 | Beth Phoenix |
11 | 2018 | Ivory |
12 | 2019 | Chyna as a member of D-Generation X |
13 | 2019 | Torrie Wilson |
14 | 2020 | The Bella Twins |
15 | 2021 | Molly Holly |
16 | 2022 | Sharmell |
17[212] | 2023 | Stacy Keibler |
18[213] | 2024 | Bull Nakano |
19[214] | 2024 | Lia Maivia |
Legacy Wing | ||
1 | 2016 | Mildred Burke |
2 | 2017 | June Byers |
3 | Judy Grable | |
4 | 2018 | Cora Combs |
5 | 2019 | Luna Vachon |
6 | 2021 | Ethel Johnson |
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Barrasso, Justin (December 31, 2019). "The Top 10 Women Wrestlers of 2019". SI.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
- ^ Barrasso, Justin. "The Top 10 Wrestlers of 2020". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ Barrasso, Justin. "The Top 10 Wrestlers of 2021". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- ^ Barrasso, Justin (December 28, 2022). "Ranking the Top 10 Wrestlers of 2022". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ Barrasso, Justin (December 31, 2023). "Ranking The Top 10 Wrestlers of 2023". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 1, 2024. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
- ^ LEALOS, SHAWN S. (March 23, 2020). "WWE Hall of Fame: Every Female Inductee, Ranked". Thesportster.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
- ^ Miller, Gregory. "Stacy Keibler announced for WWE Hall of Fame, Class of 2023". Www.wwe.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
- ^ VARBLE, AARON (March 6, 2024). "WWE Hall of Fame 2024: Bull Nakano Joining This Year's Class". Sescoops.com. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ Ruth, Sondra (March 13, 2024). "The Rock's Grandmother Lia Maivia To Join WWE Hall Of Fame Class Of 2024". Itwrestling.com. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
Bibliography
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