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WrestlingClothesline.com is proud to present the Fifth Annual Wrestling Clothesline's Top 50 Independent Women Wrestlers.
In 2003, The Wrestling Clothesline, being an avid supporter of women indy wrestling, decided to take the idea of ranking wrestlers in a slightly different direction. Since Vince McMahon won't take women wrestling seriously and TNA won't even give it a second thought, someone has to give credit to those women who are working week in and week out, in those high school gyms and broken down Elk's Lodges, for barely enough money to pay for gas and tolls.
Hell, everyone does a Top (insert number here) for the guys in wrestling. So, here at WrestlingClothesline.com, we feel the need to give all those women out there on the indy scene the recognition they deserve. Our idea has even been used by mainstream wrestling magazines this past year!
The 2003 Wrestling Clothesline Top 50 Independent Women Wrestlers was such a unique concept that Bill Apter's Total Wrestling Magazine featured the list (both on the cover and with a multiple page spread!!)
Due to the overwhelming success of the 2003 Top 50, we decided to continue it in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. Now, in 2008, the time has come once again.
Narrowing down the list of independent women wrestlers to 50 is not an easy task. This year seemed tougher than ever. We're only human. There are many women we have not seen in action live, and without you letting us know about them, it would be impossible to take them into consideration.
Before emailing me and or flaming me because your favorite woman wasn't ranked where you felt they should be, please read the guidelines below so you fully understand how we determined the rankings.
When making our final decisions we used the following guidelines:
- The list is a reflection of who we feel are the 50 best women wrestlers on the indy scene at the present time.
- The list is reflective, but not limited too, a wrestlers previous 12 month body of work.
- The women in the list should be active WRESTLERS and should wrestle on a regular basis. Women who primarily manage or valet will not be included. Women who were under a contract of any kind for the majority of 2008 with the WWE/OVW/etc. are not included. Women who were injured and missed action for a good portion of 2008 are not included.
- Wrestlers who are booked and seem to work more frequently (and in more promotions on a regular basis) than others will get higher rankings than those who do not work as often or simply work the same fed. (Those who seem to only wrestle for TNA will be ranked lower)
- Wrestlers we have seen work will get a higher rank than those who we have not seen.
- Injuries will be factored into the decision making process. Poor booking will not.
The final rankings are just our opinions and are being done to help generate discussion and bring attention to women's wrestling.
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The Wrestling Clothesline is proud to present...
The 2008 Wrestling Clothesline Top 50 Independent Women Wrestlers.
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1
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Sara Del Rey Trained by Donovan Morgan, Pro Wrestling IRON Dojo,
Antonio Inoki, and Bryan Danielson, Sara made her debut 2001. She is a mainstay for SHIMMER Women Athletes as well as Mexico's Lucha Libre Femenil, and has appeared for numerous independent promotions in the United States, including Ring of Honor, All Pro Wrestling, PWU and CHIKARA. In 2007, Sara was crowned the first ever SHIMMER champion after winning the two day tournament, where she defeated Cindy Rogers, Alicia, Sarah Stock and Lacey. Her titles include IZW Women's title, SHIMMER Women's Athletes title, and the CWR Women's title. SInce our last ranking, Sara was awarded the the PWA Tag Team titles with Juan Ortiz and is the self proclaimed ROH Intergender World Tag Team Champion with Chris Hero. She continues to be a mainstay in SHIMMER, ROH, and PWA. |
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2
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MsChif On April 26, 2008 MsChif defeated Sara Del Rey to win the SHIMMER championship. |
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3
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Nikki Roxx/Roxxi Laveaux/Roxxi Nikki has wrestled for LPGA, LLF, Wrestling Star
Wars, Assault Championship Wrestling, United Wrestling Federation-PA,
Kiryoku Pro, Latin American Wrestling, SHIMMER, Kowalski All Stars,
NECW, UWA, IndyGurlz, Chaotic Wrestling, and Yankee Pro Wrestling. On July 15, 2007, Nikki debuted in TNA, at the Victory Road pay-per-view as "The Voodoo Queen" Roxxi Laveaux. On the September 27, 2007 edition of TNA iMPACT!, Roxxi defeated Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, Jackie Moore & Tracy Brooks in a Bound For Glory preview match to claim the 10th and final spot in the TNA Women's Championship Gauntlet. Roxxi would make it to the final two, along with Gail Kim, in the Gauntlet match with Kim ultimately winning and becoming the first TNA Women's World Champion. TNA has done all they possibly can to try and ruin Nikki/Roxxi's career. They had her lose a match in which she had to shave her head. In return, they pushed her into a long losing streak. Luckilly, for the fans, Nikki continues to work many indy dates where she continues to shine and impress everyone who gets the opportunity to see her. |
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4
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Cheerleader Melissa Trained by Christopher Daniels, Robert Thompson,
Bryan Danielson, and Mariko Yoshida, Melissa made her debut in 1999.
Melissa is one of the few second-generation female wrestlers. Her father, Doug Anderson, wrestled professionally before her in the early 1980s. Titles held: Pure Wrestling Association Elite Women's Championship, Winner of Chickfight 5 and Chickfight 7, Transatlantic Women's Champion, and the All Pro Wrestling Future Legend Title Among her many other indy appearances this year, Cheerleader Melissa appeared on Impact (as Cheerleader Melissa) on May 1, 2008 defeating Daizee Haze. |
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5
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Portia Perez Portia has wrestled for Universal Wrestling Alliance
(Ontario/Quebec), Professional Wrestling Entetainment (Quebec),
Canadian Pro Wrestling (Quebec), MECCA Pro Wrestling (Quebec), AWA
Championship Wrestling Association (Quebec), Association de Lutte
Féminine (Quebec), Rage Wrestling Entertainment (Ontario/Quebec),
Main Event Wrestling (Ontario), Canadian Independent Wrestling Association
(Ontario), New Vision Pro Wrestling (Ontario), Pro Wrestling Xtreme
(Ontario), Professional Championship Wrestling (Ontario), Great
Canadian Wrestling (Ontario), Triple "X" Wrestling (Ontario),
Pure Wrestling Association (Ontario), Shimmer Women Athletes, Chikara,
Cleveland All Pro Wrestling. Heartland Wrestling Association, Mega
Championship Wrestling, Mad Pro Wrestling, IWA East Coast, Northern
Impact Wrestling, All Star Wrestling (England), Irish Whip Wrestling
(Ireland), Lucha Libre Feminil, and Asistencia Asesoria y Administracion
(AAA) Portia has held the MEW Women's Championship and the GCW W.I.L.D. Championship. This year Portia began a feud with Allison Danger, in Shimmer and formed a tag team with Nicole Matthews known as the Canadian NINJAS. Thye have also teamed in Vancouver's ECCW. |
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6
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Dark Angel Sarah Stock Trained by Phil Lafon and Eddie Watts, Sarah Stock continues to make a name for herself on the independent wrestling scene. This Canadian sensation has wrestled for OVW, ROH, WXW, LLF, MSW, MPW, NWA Pacific Northwest, Can-am Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Canada, PCW, SHIMMER, Top Rope Championship Wrestling, RAW, and HWC. Titles Held: Can-Am Wrestling Federation Woman's title, Lucha Libre Feminil Juvenil title, and FILL Women's Championship. Sarah Stock returned to the United States last year when she appeared as the international wild card entry in the SHIMMER title tournament. Sarah defeated Cheerleader Melissa in the first round and MsChif in the second round. Sarah was eventually defeated by Sara Del Rey in the semifinals in a match that I would easily consider the match of the year. In 2008, Sarah worked mainly in Mexico but made a a few appearances in the US. |
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7
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Lu Fisto On January 8, 2007, LuFisto announced on her web site a possible retirement due to a back problem and that she would be forfeiting the Iron Man Championship. Fortunately, LuFisto made returned to the wrestling ring on April 13, 2007 for Association de Lutte Féminine (ALF) in Montreal, as the special referee in a match for the ALF Championship between champion Stefany Sinclair and Kacey Diamond. On October 27th, LuFisto defeated Mickie Knuckles in the finals, a no-ropes barb-wire electrified light tubes and light bulbs, fans bring the weapons match to become the 2007 Queen of the Death Matches. In July 2008, LuFisto returned to SHIMMER for Vols 19 and 20 (in which one of her matches, against Cheerleader Melissa, earned a standing ovation.) On September 12, 2008, LuFisto won the vacant ALF
Championship by defeating Kacey Diamond |
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8
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Daizee Haze Daizee Haze was trained by Delirious and made her debut in March 2002. Daizee is rapidly developing into one of the most versatile competitors in the Midwest. Mixing a submission style with a great deal of aerial offense, Haze was added to the roster of Ring of Honor in early 2004. Aside from traveling the U.S. indie scene, Daizee also competed for LLF in Mexico during 2005. Daizee has competed in LLF, ROH, IWA-Mid South, NWA TNA Xplosion, NWA Wildside, MPW, APW, Pro Wrestling Iron Midwest, SHIMMER, IWC and many others. Daizee's Titles include the All Pro Wrestling Future Legends Title, ChickFight 6 winner, NWA Midwest Women's Championship , and /IWA Mid-South Women's Title. On May 2, 2008, Daizee won the IWA Mid-South Women's Championship for the second time by defeating the then-champion Mickie Knuckles and Sara Del Rey in a 3-way match. In addition, on the May 1, 2008, edition of TNA iMPACT! Haze made her return to TNA wrestling in a match where she was defeated by Cheerleader Melissa. |
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9
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Ariel In addition, Ariel has wrestled for LLF, FILL, AAA, CMLL, and NGX. Ariel has held the GLORY Championship, SSCW Women's Championship, Ace Wrestling Women's Championship, BCW Women's Championship, JWA Women's championship, DPW Women’s Championship, NWA Midwest / IWA Mid-South Women's Championship, NWA North Jersey Women's Championship, NWA North Jersey Women's Tag Team Championship, PWF Northeast Women’s Championship, JWA Women's Championship, UWA Women's Tag Team Championship, World Women's Wrestling Championship, and UWA Tag Team Championship. 10 Questions With... Ariel!
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10
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Sumie Sakai Titles Held: AWF title, Queen Of The Ring, TWF Tag Team titles w/Cooga, TWF Tag Team titles w/Megumi Yabushita, TWF Tag Team titles w/Hiroyo Mutoh, AJW Tag Team titles w/Yuko Kosugi, JD Junior Title, JDStar Queen of the Ring Championship, PWU Women's Championship, Pro Wrestling WORLD-1 Women's Championship, North American Women's title, TWWF Tag Team Championship, and WEW Tag Team Championship. |
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11
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Serena Deeb Serena started wrestling in March of 2005 training
in OVW, for the rest of 2005 she continued training with them until
she made her official OVW debut in a house show on November 4, 2005. In the spring of 2007, Serena competed in the "2007 Miss OVW" Contest won by ODB, later in the summer Serena then competed in the "2007 Divalympics" along with the other OVW Divas. After being in OVW for months and being a member of the roster, Serena started appearing on the independent scene. First, in the early year of 2007 she made her debut with the all female promotion SHIMMER then in August of 2007 Serena started appearing with ROH. Serena has held the Memphis Championship Wrestling Women's Championship and the Ohio Valley Wrestling Women's Championship for a record 6 times! At the Slammiversary 2008 PPV, Serena an Josie were defeated by TNA Knockout's Champion Awesome Kong. |
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12
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Mercedes Martinez Mercedes trained under former ECW TV champion Jason Knight at Knight's House of Pain dojo in Waterbury. Her first pro match came only 5 weeks after she began training, on November 12th, 2000 in Waterbury. CCW, ACW, WXW, NWA, PWU, SHIMMER, WEW, PWF, IndyGurlz and NECW are just a few of the promotions this amazing talent has worked for in the past. Mercedes' titles include: NECW North American Woman's Title, NECW's All-Women's Tournament Winner, 2006 Elite 8 Champion and 2008 WXW Elite 8 Champion. On December 22, 2007, Mercedes suffered an injury
in an ROH match where she teamed with Jimmy Jacobs against Daizee
Haze and B.J. Whitmer. She officially returned to in-ring competition
on February 10, 2008 for WXW in Allentown Pennsylvania. |
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13
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Danyah Trained by Rob Fuego and Johnny Devine, Danyah made her debut in 2005. Danyah has wrestled for Pure Wrestling Association, Great Canadian Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Xtream, Super Ex Showdown, Canadian Wrestling Revolution, Living Legends Wrestling, PWA Niagra, and SHIMMER (to name a few). Danyah's accomplishments include her holding the PWX Women's title, GCW Women's title, and GCW W.I.L.D. (Wrestling Independent Ladies Division) title. In addition, Danyah won the PWA Elite 8 Cup Tournament on March 23, 2007. |
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14
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Amazing/Awesome Kong Amazing Kong was trained in Japan in the veteran women's wrestling promotion, All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW). She made her debut on October 20th, 2002. Amazing Kong has appeared on numerous SHIMMER Women Athletes events defeating such wrestlers as Nikki Roxx, MsChif, Cheerleader Melissa and Daizee Haze. On October 13, 2007, Kong got her first SHIMMER Championship title shot against Sara Del Ray, losing when she did not answer the referee's 10 count. Kong's list of championships and accomplishments is simply amazing (no pun intended): WWWA World Heavyweight Championship, WWWA World Tag Team Championship, Japan Grand Prix, AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Women's Championship, AAAW Tag Team Championship, Hustle Super Tag Team Championship, LLPW Tag Team Championship, NWA World Women's Championship and the NEO Tag Team Championship. It would not be fair to leave Kong off the list. Unfortunately, outside of TNA, Kong does not make enough indy wrestling appearances to earn her a higher ranking. (I will not hold it against Kong that TNA had her job to Taylor Wilde in back to back matches. Brilliant booking, yet again, by the TNA powers that be. Nothing like taking your mega heel woman wrestler and turning into just another worker) |
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15
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"The Jezebel" Eden Black Trained by NWA-UK Hammerlock, Andre Baker, and Jon
Ryan, Eden made her professional wrestling debut in 2002 Since then, Eden has wrestled for RQW, ChickFight, SHIMMER Women Athletes, Ring of Honor, Irish Whip Wrestling, Triple X Wrestling, IPW-UK, NWA-UK, NWA-Ireland, SLAM Wrestling, XSW, LDN, 3CW/1PW, Dropkixx and the IWF, and numerous other promotions. She has held the RQW Women's title. |
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16
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Jetta Jetta began her career in 2002 training with the Midlands Professional Wrestling training school in her hometown of Coventry. She trained under the tutelage of NWA UK Hammerlock veterans Majik and Psycho Steve. Jetta has been the Midlands Professional Wrestling
Queen of the Ring 3 times, IWF Women's Champion, In addition, Jetta has worked for ChickFight, SHIMMER, LDN, MPW, PWG, GWF, ASW, ROH, IPW UK, RDW, GSW, PWA, RQW, and Irish Whip Wrestling. In 2008, Jetta formed the International Home Wrecking Crew with Rain. |
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17
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Shark Girl While Shark Girl has been around for a little while she made quite an impact in 2008. Shark Girl not only made her SHIMMER debut but she has been seen wrestling regularly in the southeastern US. Shark Girl has competed for Flatline Championship Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action, Pro Wrestling Beyond, SHIMMER, CWA Pro Wrestling, Anarchy Championship Wrestling, ACW/IWA Texas, and numerous other indy promotions. Her in ring ability has grown to the point where we could not ignore her in the rankings this year. Fear the female fin! |
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17
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Daffney Daffney has done more than her fair share of training with the likes of the WCW Power Plant, "Sarge" Dwayne Bruce, Devon "Crowbar" Storm, Madusa, Molly Holly, Bambi, Dusty Rhodes, Sonny Siaki, Malia Hosaka, Leiani Kai, "Sugar" Shane Helms and Johnny Slaughter. Daffney made her debut in November 1999 In 2008, Daffney appeared on TNA Impact. She was selected from the audience to face Awesome Kong. Unfortunately, for Daff and her fans, Awesome Kong made pretty short work of her. Daffney is in the best shape ever and continues to make incredible strides in the ring. |
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19
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Angelina Love/ Angel Williams Angelina Love (formerly Angel Williams) was trained by Rob Fuego (Squared Circle) and Bill DeMott (Deep South). She made her debut as a manager in August 2000 and as a wrestler in 2002. Angelina Love worked for numerous indy promotions (prior to her tenure in DSW) including Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling, PGWA, WAW, IWA Mid South, WXW, and ROH. In December 2004, Angelina signed a developmental contract with the WWE and made her way to Deep South Wrestling. She remained active there (and made a few WWE dark match appearances) until her release in May 2007. Angelina then worked the indy scene again (and continues to do so) and made her TNA debut in October 2007. Angelina Williams is now one half of the Beautiful People in TNA wrestling. She is one of the few women in the promotion that is actually getting a decent push by the powers that be. The Beautiful People are on TNA Impact nearly every week. If they are not in the ring they are at least given promo time. Angelina continues to improve her in ring skills on a regular basis and, if given the chance to work solo, could easily be one of the top Knockouts in TNA. |
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20
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Hailey Hatred Making her debut in 2002, Hailey was trained by
Cody Hawk, Matt Stryker, Race Steele, and Jimmy Yang. She has wrestled
for Southern Wrestling Alliance, Midwest Regional Wrestling, Far
North Wrestling, ChickFight, Cleveland All Pro Wrestling, AWA Supreme,
United Wrestling Association, IWA Midsouth, Ohio Championship Wrestling,
BAW Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Coalition, Global Wrestling
Alliance, and Total All-Star Wrestling, On February 9, 2008, Hailey Hatred defeated Mary Elizabeth to win the WWC Women's title. |
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21
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Angel Orsini Angel started as a professional no-holds-barred fighter competing in Japan. There she mer Reggie Bennett who encouraged her to watch the pro matches on the show and consider getting involved. Upon returning to the states, she began training with Liz Chase. While some may remember her as Prodigette in ECW, Angel has gone on to make quite a name for herself on the independent wrestling scene. Some of the titles Angel has held inlcude the PGWA Championship, Florida Championship Wrestling Championship, Sunshine Wrestling Federation Championship, Freestyle Championship Wrestling Lightweight Championship, Ultimate Wrestling Federation Championship, WSU Championship, WEW Tag Team Championship, WEW World Championship, and Hot-TV Wrestling Championship. On May 31, 2008, in Rahway, NJ, she defeated Nikki Roxx to win the WSU Women's Championship. She has held the title since. |
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22
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Nicole Matthews Nicole was trained by Gorgeous Michelle Starr, Scotty Mac, Vance Nevada, Aaron Idol, Halo, Rebecca Knox, and Juggernaut and made her professional wrestling debut in February 2006. Eight months later, Nicole captured the ECCW Supergirls title defeating Nattie Neidhart and Veronika Vice in a 3 way match. She currently holds the ECCW SuperGirls Championship for the second time. Nicole has worked for various companies such as ECCW, VCW, HIW, IWM, PCW, AWA Pinnacle Wrestling, and PWA. In the United States, he has become a regular in SHIMMER. She currently teams with fellow Canadian wrestler Portia Perez as the Canadian NINJAS. |
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23
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Jennifer Blake Jennifer made her pro debut in May 2007 and has already held the PWX Women's Championship. Trained by Derek Wylde and Cody Deaner Jennifer has worked for Neo Spirit Pro Wrestling, Empire State Wrestling, Ball Park Brawl, NWA Upstate, Pro Wrestling Xtreme, Border City Wrestling, CIWA, SHIMMER, and New Vision Pro Wrestling. |
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24
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Cindy Rogers Cindy is a Bret Hart and and Elvis Presley mark (but we don't hold that against her). The "Definition of Technician" has held the WXW Women's Championship, NWA New Jersey Women's Championship, and was the winner of the 2007 WXW Elite 8 Tournament. Cindy was sidelined in July with a broken collarbone which has kept her out of the ring since. She is sorely missed and, her injury is the only reason she dropped on our list. 10 Questions With...
Cindy Rogers!! |
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25
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April Hunter April Hunter first became involved in wrestling as a WCW valet back in 1999. Soon after, April began training at Killer Kowalski's School. April is one of, if not the, most recognizable woman wrestler on the indy scene today. April has worked for: ARSION / AtoZ, Big Time/All Star Wrestling, IWW, ROH, NWA:TNA, NEO, WCW, JAPW, USA Pro, ECWA, WXW, JCW, Killer Kowalski's All Stars, UPW, ACW, NECW, MCW, NWA - NJ, Chaotic, NWA - New England, MWF, UWF, LAW, Kiryoku/Chikara Pro, Alpha Pro, CSWF, WEW, PWA, IWA, 3PW, LLF, and Zero One MAX (to name a few). Some of the titles April has held include: CSWF Women's Champion, 3PW Tag Team Champion, JAPW Tag Team, WXW Womens Title, JCW Womens, 2003 Womens Super 8 Tournament Winner, USA Pro Women's Title, FNW Women's Title, WEW Tag Team titles, Great Canadian Wrestling Women's Championship, German Stampede Wrestling World Women's Championship, and Queen of Chaos. Unfortunately, April Hunter has limited her wrestling due to nagging injuries. While we certainly hope April is able to return to the ring on a regular basis in the future, her semi retirement has caused her to fall in rank this year. However, we could not warrant leaving her off the list completely. |
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Some individual women's statistics (height, weight, hair,
etc.) courtesy http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com
or individual wrestler's websites.
The rest of the info from my sick twisted memory of things not needed
to be memorized, or past write ups.
Thank you to Joseph Velez Jr. in his help in compiling this list!!
Now onto #26 - 50
(Last Year's Ranking in parenthesis. NR=Not Ranked)
26. Kelly Couture (NR)
27. Crybaby (20)
28. Josie (44)
29. Lexi Fyfe (19)
30. Cherry Bomb (NR)
31. Traci Brooks (16)
32. Ashley Lane (NR)
33. Amy Lee (34)
34. Jazzy Bi/Alpha Female (NR)
35. Amber O'Neal (28)
36. Annie Social (46)
37. Christie Ricci (27)
38. Kylie Pierce (39)
39. Jana (41)
40. Jamie D (NR)
41. Malia Hosaka (35)
42. 21st Cent. Fox (40)
43. Rain (30)
44. Simply Luscious (31)
45. Tiana Ringer (42)
46. Lorelei Lee (38)
47. Allison Danger (29)
48. Kacee Carlisle (47)
49. Kat Powers (NR)
50. Veronika Vice (NR)
Feel free to use our forum to comment on this year's list!
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