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Photos by Wrestling Wally (www.wrestlinwally.com)
WrestlingClothesline.com is proud to present the Seventh 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 the WWE wasn't taking women wrestling seriously and many promotions don't give the ladies a second thought, someone has to give credit to those women who are working week in and week out, in the high school gyms and broken down Elk's Lodges, for barely enough money to pay for gas and tolls.
It seems everyone now does a Top (insert number here) for the guys in wrestling. Since our list began, numerous web sites (and now a major wrestling publication) have tried to imitate it. However, all those lists include WWE talent. Here at WrestlingClothesline.com, we feel the need to give all those women out there on the indy scene the recognition they deserve.
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, 2007 and 2008. Now, in 2009, the time has come for us to once again rank those women that we feel are at the head of the pack, on the independent wrestling scene.
Narrowing down the list of independent women wrestlers to 50 is not an easy task. With each year many new women enter the wrestling world. This year was, by far, the toughest 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. We consider TNA to be an independent wrestling organization, thus their talent is included.
- 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 for the majority of 2009 with the WWE are not included. Women who were injured and missed action for a good portion of 2009 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 one promotion 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 2009 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. Sara continues to make her mark on the independent wrestling scene. In 2009, Sara became the first ever JAP Women's Division Champion. Titles: CWR Women's Championship For more on Sara, go to http://www.saradelrey.com/ |
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2
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MsChif NWA World Women's Champion (2) (April 2008 - Current)
In addition: 10 Questions With... MsChif!!! Check out MsChif at http://www.mschif.net/index.php |
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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, TNA, Kowalski All
Stars, NECW, UWA, IndyGurlz, Chaotic Wrestling, and Yankee Pro Wrestling. EPW Women’s Champion 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. In my opinion, TNA did all they possibly could 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, leading to her leaving the company. Roxxi did return to TNA TV in September. Luckily, 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. 10 Questions With... Nikki Roxx! |
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4
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Cheerleader Melissa/Alissa Flash 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 This year, Melissa debuted on TNA under the alias Alissa Flash. 10 Questions With... Cheerleader Melissa Find more about Melissa at http://www.cheerleadermelissa.com/ |
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5
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Dark Angel Sarah Stock/ Sarita 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 Valley Wrestling, Ring of Honor, World Xtreme Wrestling, Lucha Libre Feminil, Mainstream Wrestling, Monster Pro Wrestling, NWA Pacific Northwest, Can-am Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Canada, Premier Championship Wrestling, Top Rope Championship Wrestling, Real Action Wrestling, Hybrid Wrestling Coalition and TNA. Titles: Can-Am Wrestling Federation Woman's Title Sarah Stock returned to the United States on a regular basis in 2007 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 2009, Sarah made her debut in TNA as Sarita and quickly won gold as she and Taylor Wilde became the first ever TNA Knockout Tag Team Champions. 10 Questions With... Sarah Stock!! Sarah's official site is http://sarah.newscott.com/ |
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6
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Portia Perez Portia has wrestled for Universal Wrestling Alliance
(Ontario/Quebec), Professional Wrestling Entertainment (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) Titles: SHIMMER Women Athletes Tag Team Championship (w/Nicole
Matthews) In addition to all her accomplishments, Portia was inducted in to the Canadian Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame 10 Questions With... Portia Perez! Check out Portia at http://www.portiaperez.com/ |
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7
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LuFisto LuFisto has worked for A to Z Major Girls Fighting, International Women Grand Prix , AAA, Lucha Libre Feminil, Nueva Generacion Xtrema, Xtreme Factory Wrestling, NWA Nashville, NWA Main Event, NWA New England, Green Mountain Wrestling, All-Star Wrestling, Eastern Wrestling Alliance, Ultimate Professional Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling, Renegade Warfare Wrestling, NWA Québec, Can-Am Wrestling Federation , Canadian Championship Wrestling, Fédération Canadienne de Lutte, Fédération de Lutte Québécoise, Inter - Championship Wrestling, International Wrestling Syndicate, International Wrestling 2000, Hardcore Wrestling Federation, Royal Wrestling Ring, SHIMMER, Slam Angels Wrestling, Elite Wrestling Revolution, Montreal Wrestling Federation, and Canadian Professional Wrestling. Titles: ALF Champion Check out http://www.lufisto.com/ for more on LuFisto! |
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8
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Daizee Haze Daizee Haze was trained by Delirious and Kid Kash and made her debut in March 2002. 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. Titles: APW Future Legend Championship On June 21, 2009, Daizee defeated Portia Perez, Jessica James and Sara Del Rey to win Anarchy Championship Wrestling's first annual American Joshi Queen of Queens tournament. Haze also appeared on Dragon Gate USA's first pay-per-view Enter the Dragon, which was taped on July 25, 2009, and aired on September 4, accompanying BxB Hulk to the ring. |
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9
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Ariel Trained by Brickhouse Baker, Scott Ashworth, and Jose Perez, Ariel made her wrestling debut in 2001. Ariel quickly made a name for herself on the indy scene working for promotions such as Crush Wrestling, JAPW, BWO, BCW, PWF-NE, YPW, SCCW, SSCW, ACW, ACE, ACWA, GWF, JWA, P3Pro, G.L.O.R.Y., WXW, ROH, PLW, CSWF, UWF, APCW, EWA, EWA (MA) ,Powerhouse Wrestling, PWF Northeast, WWW, NECW, OSPW, NEWGEN, SCW, UWA, NWA Upstate NY, AWA, DPW, DDW, NHPW, and Shimmer. In addition, Ariel has wrestled for LLF, FILL, AAA, CMLL, and NGX. Titles: 10 Questions With... Ariel!
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10
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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. Titles: EWF Joint Championship ( with Leon Van Owen) 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. They continue to be an impressive tag team tandem in SHIMMER. |
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11
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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. Titles: DPW Women's Championship |
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12
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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. Kong continues to make an impact (no pun intended) on the wrestling scene with appearances in SHIMMER, Pro Wrestling Fusion and NEW. Titles: WWWA World Heavyweight Championship TNA tried their best to destroy Kong by having her job to Taylor Wilde on several back to back occasions. However, we don't take ridiculous booking into consideration when making this list. |
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13
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Hamada Trained by Aja Kong, Mariko Yoshida, Gran Hamada, and Gran Apache, Ayako Hamada debuted at the age of seventeen in 1998 for the ARSION promotion. She won her first title, the Twinstar of ARSION tag belts, on June 30, 1999. On April 8, 2009, it was announced at a press conference that the April 19 Ito Dojo show would be Ayako Hamada's final match in Japan as she had signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. On the August 27 edition of Impact! Hamada made her debut as a face defeating Daffney in a No Disqualification match. On November 8, 2009, Hamada made her debut for Shimmer Women Athletes, defeating Mercedes Martinez in a match taped for Volume 27 and losing to Sara Del Rey in a match taped for Volume 28. Titles: WWWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 x) |
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14
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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, Leilani Kai, "Sugar" Shane Helms and Johnny Slaughter. Daffney made her debut in November 1999 In 2009, Daffney made an Impact in TNA (pun intended) when she was put with Raven and Dr. Stevie and began feuding with Taylor Wilde and Abyss. Daffney has more than shown why she has moved up in our rankings this year. |
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15
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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). Titles: PWX Women's title |
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16
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Wesna Busic Trained by Crazy Sexy Mike and 2 Cold Scorpio, Wesna made her debut in 1998 and has become one of the most respected and feared female fighters in Europe. Wesna briefly appeared in the US in 2005 for Afa's WXW promotion, where she had an incredible battle against Mercedes Martinez. On April 26, 2008, Wesna returned to the US to face Mercedes as well as Amazing Kong for SHIMMER. In 2009, Busic continued working for SHIMMER having victories against Cheerleader Melissa and LuFisto and having tremendous matches against MsChif. Titles: ACW World Tag Team Championship (with Crazy Sexy
Mike) |
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17
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ODB Trained by Eddie Sharkey, Dan Schaffner, Terry Klinger, and in OVW, ODB made her wrestling debut in August 1998. She tried out for the first season of WWE Tough Enough and made the top 25. However she missed the final cut for the show. ODB made her TNA debut in October 2007. Titles: MPW Cruiserweight Championship On November 2, 2009, Dixie Carter announced on her Twitter page that ODB had signed a new multi-year deal with the company. |
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18
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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 continued to be the leader of the Beautiful People in TNA wrestling. They added a third member, Madison Rayne, and continued to dominate the Knockout division. Her ability to carry the non wrestling member of the Beautiful People is more than enough reason to rank her in the top 25. TNA released Angelina September 3, 2009 due to visa issues. |
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19
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Madison Rayne After completing her training under Jeff Cannon, she started her wrestling career in the state of Ohio in 2004. On October 13, 2007, she made her debut in Shimmer Women Athletes as Ashley Lane in Berwyn, Illinois On April 26, 2008, Lane began teaming with Nevaeh, her frequent tag team in promotions such as OCW and IPW and fellow Midwest standout. On October 19, 2008, Lane and Nevaeh emerged victorious from a six-team Tag Team Gauntlet Match to crown the first Shimmer Tag Team Champions. They eliminated The International Home Wrecking Crew and The Experience. Later in the evening, they successfully defended the belts against The Canadian Ninjas (Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews). On May 3, 2009, at the tapings of Volume 26 Lane and Nevaeh lost the Shimmer Tag Team Title to Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews. Lane debuted in TNA as a face under the ring name Madison Rayne on the January 8, 2009 edition of TNA Impact! On the March 5 edition of Impact! Rayne aligned herself with The Beautiful People after assisting them in winning a 4-way tag team match. At No Surrender Rayne replaced Love, who had been
released from her contract prior to the event, and teamed up with
Sky in the Knockout Tag Title tournament finals, where they were
defeated by the team of Sarita and Taylor Wilde. Rayne continues
to be the only actual wrestler in the "Beautiful People"
since the departure of Love. Titles: OCW Women's Championship |
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20
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Sojournor "Sojo" Bolt
On December 2008, she competed in her last match for OVW after signing a contract with Total Nonstop Action. On the January 8, 2009 edition of Impact!, Sojo, along with Raisha Saeed and Rhaka Khan, formed the faction known as Kongtourage with Awesome Kong. On November 10, 2009, Bolt was released from her
TNA contract. Titles: 3XW Women's Championship |
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21
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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! In May 2009, Nicole and her tag partner Portia Perez defeated Ashley Lane & Neveah to win the SHIMMER Tag Titles! |
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22
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Angel Orsini Angel started as a professional no-holds-barred fighter competing in Japan. There she met 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 include 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. Angel seems to work primarily for one promotion these days, thus her not moving up in the rankings. |
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23
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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 of 2008 with a broken collarbone which kept her out of the ring for the remainder of 2008 and some of 2009. Her injury is the only reason she did not move up more on our list. 10 Questions With...
Cindy Rogers!! |
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24
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Taylor Wilde Trained by Rob "El Fuego" Etcheverria and Bill DeMott, Wilde made her professional debut in June 2003 under the name Shantelle Taylor. Titles: NVPW Women's Championship On the July 10, 2008 episode of TNA Impact, "Taylor Wilde" defeated Kong in the $25,000 challenge and won the championship. Wilde then retained the title in a rematch at Victory Road against Kong. While nearly destroying Kong's career (thanks to TNA's inept booking yet again) she seemed to put herself on the map. This year, Taylor had a secret admirer which led to a great feud with Daffney. In August she formed an alliance with the newest TNA Knockout Sarita after TNA announced that they were going to crown new Knockout Tag Team Champions. At No Surrender, Wilde and Sarita defeated Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky to become the inaugural Knockout Tag Team Champions. This win makes Taylor Wilde the first Knockout in TNA history to win the singles and tag team Knockout titles. |
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25
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Sassy Stephie Titles Debut match was a part of the first-ever Ladies Night for Ohio Championship Wrestling in 2007 She was trained by "Big Gunns" Jeff Cannon and has wrestled for SHIMMER, JAPW WD, Ohio Championship Wrestling, Ring of Honor, NWA Underground, Professional Girl Wrestling Association, and Insanity Pro Wrestling. |
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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. and Ron Beider for their help in compiling this list!!
Now onto #26 - 50
(Last Year's Ranking in parenthesis. NR=Not Ranked)
26. Amber O'Neal (35)
27. Madison Eagles (NR)
28. Lexi Fyfe (29)
29. Nevaeh (NR)
30. Amy Lee (33)
31. Jennifer Blake (23)
32. Hailey Hatred (20)
33. PINK (NR)
34. Jazzy Bi/Alpha Female (34)
35. Malia Hosaka (41)
36. Jessie McKay (NR)
37. Traci Brooks (31)
38. Missy Sampson (NR)
39. Annie Social (36)
40. Jana (39)
41. Kylie Pierce (38)
42. Allison Wonderland (NR)
43. Kacey Diamond (45)
44. Rain (43)
45. Kacee Carlisle (48)
46. Simply Luscious (44)
47. Jamie D (40)
48. Veronika Vice (50)
49. Allison Danger (47)
50. Roxie Cotton (NR)
Feel free to use our forum to comment on this year's list!
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