Rhea Ripley continues to ride a high wave in the land of the WWE. Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) recently released its yearly list of the best of the best in women’s wrestling, and the WWE Women’s Champion hit the top spot.
Rhea Ripley Tops PWI List
A massive congratulations to the WWE star who took the top spot on the PWI 250 women’s list for 2023. It’s important to note she jumped from the #42 spot last year, into #1.
Still, Ripley’s 2023 PWI milestones don’t end there. She was one of two WWE talents hitting the top 10 list, with Bianca Belair ranking #3.
Jamie Hayter and Willow Nightingale from AEW took spots #4 and #8, respectively, while Athena, Ring of Honor (ROH) Women’s Champion hit the #6 spot. STARDOM’s Giulia hit PWI’s list at #2 and Tam Nakano, STARDOM Champion was #5 on the list.
Rounding out the PWI top ten list was Impact’s Deonna Purrazzo at #7, NWA’s Kamille at #9, and Impact’s Jordynne Grace in the 10th spot. A nod goes out to Saraya, AEW’s Women’s Champion who was all the way down at #52 but returned to the list for the first time since 2016.
Interestingly enough, for the first time since 2013, none of WWE’s Four Horsewomen are in the top ten. In fact, none of the stars made the top 20.
Charlotte Flair came on the list at #21, while Becky Lynch hit #29, and Bayley was at #41. Mercedes Mone (once known as Sasha Banks in the WWE) didn’t hit the list as she did not meet the factors needed around activity during the time of grading.
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In addition, PWI itself is experiencing a bit of a historic jump. It’s gone from ranking the top 50 female wrestlers to 100, then 150, and this year’s was 250.
When it comes to the WWE Women’s Champion, she’s had an incredible year. She started 2023 off with a bang by winning the Women’s Royal Rumble. She would move on to defeat Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 39 (Night One) to win the SmackDown Women’s title.
The company would rename it “WWE Women’s Championship”, plus giving it a redesign, making her the inaugural holder of this title. Plus, on the personal side of things, she recently got engaged to AEW’s Buddy Matthews.
