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Women’s 50

© STARDOM

#50 Sayaka Kurara, 25, STARDOM

6 points, 1 vote, highest vote: 15th

By Tim Hunter

Sayaka Kurara is probably not one of the 50 greatest wrestlers in the world, if you only go by in-ring skill. She is still relatively new to the sport. She doesn’t have an athletic background. She didn’t even know what wrestling was until 4 years ago. And still, I would never say that she doesn’t belong on this list.

For someone who came into the scene with this little knowledge, she has a better understanding for pro wrestling as an artform than most. What she lacks in athletic ability, she makes up for by the size of her heart, her selling, impeccable timing and an unwavering connection to the crowd.

Obviously Kurara was a little lucky, as she was chosen to be a key figure in the most important and best pro wrestling storyline in several years (Tam Nakano and Saya Kamitani), which catapulted her into a major spot way before it would be usual for someone of her experience level.

Kamitani used Kurara as a pawn in her disturbing game to drive Nakano into madness. I don’t think she would have been chosen by Tam to be in this role if Tam didn’t see things in Kurara way before we ever did and, once again, Tam would be right. Kurara won the Cinderella Tournament, the New Blood Tag Team Championships and the Goddesses of STARDOM tag league in 2025, so it is clear the company is very much behind her. I can’t wait to find out what the future will bring for her.

Recommended Match in 2025: Sayaka Kurara & Tam Nakano vs Natsuko Tora & Saya Kamitani – STARDOM, February 24

© WWE

#49 Lyra Valkyria, 29, WWE

6 points, 2 votes, highest vote: 16th

By David Hayter

There is no denying that Lyra Valkyria had an absolutely tremendous first seven months of 2025, only to slowly slip into the background on “Monday Night Raw” as (ugh) Maxxine Dupri took centre stage. Lyra herself is fully aware of this, posting memes on X (seemingly daily), reminding Adam Pearce to (you know) book her and Bayley on the show every once in a while.

She really should be better utilised because, when Lyra ran the Intercontinental Division, she was the highlight of WWE programming, delivering technically excellent, fast-paced and wonderfully creative matches with the likes of Becky Lynch, Bayley and Dakota Kai. Lyra has a real flair for smooth transitions and old-fashioned European storytelling through slick mat work, even within the cartoonish confines of WWE.

Sadly, her biggest misses would come at WWE’s marquee events (“WrestleMania” & “SummerSlam”), but in a way it’s fitting that this workhorse shone away from the spotlight. Before being abruptly reduced to 30-second backstage skits, she delivered brilliant tag team TV matches alongside Bayley against both The Kabuki Warriors & We Are Not Friends. Even her scenery-chewing, horrifically wooden acting has won the fans over. In short, she’s both endearingly lame and ferociously credible – a fitting tag team partner for Bayley indeed.

Recommended Match in 2025: Lyra Valkyria vs Becky Lynch vs Bayley – WWE, July 13th

© WWE

#48 Asuka, 44, WWE

7 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 14th

By David Hayter

At 44 years of age Asuka did something genuinely miraculous: she not only returned from a major knee surgery that kept her on the shelf for 15 months, but she managed to completely disguise the lingering effects of injury through pure ring craft. Asuka invented a new way of moving. Unable to sprint for the early part of her return, the Empress of Tomorrow instead used boxing and MMA footwork to cut the ring in half, creating the illusion of speed with crafty spins and side-steps. She was literally missing a step and using it to her advantage as she remerged to do everything in her power to put Jade Cargill over.

That wasn’t Asuka’s only evolution. Her biggest development came as a character. The slowly building story of her jealousy over Iyo Sky’s close relationship with Rhea Ripley culminated in a dramatic heel turn and the onset of her abusive, Stockholm syndrome-like manipulation of Kairi Sane. It would seem that during her time on the couch Asuka had been watching Drag Race, because her new presentation is that of a dementedly camp and self-involved queen. She’s been so wildly watchable that her backstage segments have become a fixture of “RAW” and Asuka has even mixed her new heel persona into her wholesome Kana-chan TV channel (giving it a darker edge). In ring, she’s now shaken off any of the limitations of injury and has delivered great TV matches with Rhea (twice), while alongside Kairi Sane she has been central to the revitalised women’s tag division that reinvigorated “RAW” in 2025. (David Hayter)

Recommended Match in 2025: Asuka vs Rhea Ripley – WWE, September 22nd

© Mei Suruga

#47 Mei Suruga, 26, ChocoPro

7 points, 2 votes, highest vote: 16th

By Chris Whitehead

Mei Suruga is perhaps one of the most under-utilized wrestlers on the joshi scene, one who seems content to be the big fish in the small ChocoPro pond but who could flourish being a big fish in deeper waters. Nonetheless, Suruga had a greatly enjoyable year and wrestled at least 110 matches across at least 18 companies in 2025 spanning Japan, the US and beyond. I saw her and Emi Sakura do their travelling match live and in-person for the first time (this time with doors!) at an indie show in a warehouse in downtown LA, and saw Suruga immediately get over as an underdog babyface to a crowd that appeared to be largely unfamiliar with her work. They are a perfect pairing and their match always works – because of Suruga’s selling and underdog charm.

Suruga held the Super Asia Championship for nine months of the year before losing it to Rina Yamashita in a great match, then later captured the DPW Women’s World Championship at the DPW 4th Anniversary show (before DPW went on hiatus). In October, she wrestled AZM in a match perhaps only the two of them could have, a match that perfectly captured the goofy and goblin-y sides of both, as well as the workrate “high-speed” style that AZM is the global touchstone for, but which Suruga is just as capable of delivering when given the right opponent.

Recommended Match in 2025: Mei Suruga vs AZM – ChocoPro, October 30th 

© Chris Gannon

#46 LA Taylor, Freelance (UK)

8 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 13th (Panel Poll tie breaker)

By Sarah/AwfullyWaffly

You can’t not notice LA Taylor. Standing 6ft tall with a mane of bright blonde hair, she’s got “it” – presence, aura, whatever you want to call it – and her in-ring ability backs it up. She’s a powerhouse, capable of whisking her opponents off their feet…and, inevitably, smashing them back down again. She’s aggressive, fast, and dominant. Based in Cornwall, Taylor is a regular competitor in Southern UK promotions like SWW, TCW, as well as performing in the family-friendly Megaslam.

2025 saw her return to RevPro for the first time since 2022: first, losing a hardfought bout to Kanji in London, then making an appearance in the Women’s Revolution Gauntlet at “High Stakes”, where she ran wild on the villainous Cut Throat Collective. As an individual competitor, she’s a force to be reckoned with.

But she really shines as half of a tag team. She and Skye Smitson were formerly part of a faction with UK tabloid fave Lana Austin (“The Lana Austin Experience”), but after cutting their ties and rebranding as just “The Experience”, they’ve smashed their way across tag divisions in the UK and beyond. Last year saw them snatch the TNT Women’s Tag Team Titles from the Big Beefy Bitches; they also defended their RCW titles in both Barcelona and Bristol; at the time of writing, they’d held both titles for well over a year.

It’s kind of heartwarming, too, that though The Experience are both, individually, competing in Progress’s Super Strong Style 16 Women’s Tournament, they’ve decided a win for either of them is a win for both of them. Expect to see more gold in one or both of their futures.

Recommended Match in 2025: LA Taylor vs Kanji – RevPro, February 2nd

© STARDOM

#45 Momo Watanabe, 25, STARDOM

8 points, 1 votes, highest vote:13th (Panel Poll tie breaker)

By David Hayter

Joshi wrestling exists in a surreal space-time continuum all of its own. In this accelerated universe, Momo Watanabe feels like a late-career veteran, famed for introducing young wrestlers to the roster with a barrage of ultra-hard high kicks as she skulks in the shadows of the H.A.T.E. faction, playing third (or arguably fourth) fiddle behind Saya Kamitani, Konami and, at times, Rina. Eleven years deep into her career, the ultra-reliable and perma-sleazy heel Momo feels like STARDOM’s answer to Tomohiro Ishii: a reliable veteran capable of stealing the show, even if her days in the spotlight appear numbered. But then you’re confronted with the fact that Momo Watanabe is only 25 years old and it dawns on you that her phenomenal composure and imposing physicality belies her youth. Forget being over the hill — she might not have even approached her prime!

2025 was a golden year for Momo Watanabe, even though she felt like a spare part in the early months, when she was sent off to challenge Mercedes Moné in AEW. Little did we know then that the summer would belong to Momo. Suddenly, even as the scorching heat made Tokyo unbearable, The Black Peach was revitalised as the heel faction H.A.T.E. were recast as defenders of STARDOM against the existential threat that was an invading Sareee. Momo, along with Konami, would brutally put an end to Sareee’s threats of winning the 5 Star Grand Prix and, quietly, as if by stealth, Momo was picking up serious momentum. In a spellbinding run of matches, she blew through Suzu Suzuki, Saori Anou and, of course, Sareee to book a date with AZM in the final.

In a beautiful moment, the most despicable of H.A.T.E.’s heels was turned into STARDOM’s golden girl as she triumphed over her former Queen’s Quest stablemate AZM (the very woman she turned on to kick-start her heel run). Bathed in gold, Momo stood triumphant at the end of a nail-bitingly dramatic final and, fittingly, having dispatched AZM, she was on a collision course with Saya Kamitani, the other Queen’s Quest stablemate she had brutally betrayed. The eventual Saya–Momo match was sublimely worked but has been grossly underrated by fans who saw the result as too predictable and were (understandably) unhappy with the non-existent build — but I’d recommend everyone go back and rewatch the match now that time has passed. The blend of Momo’s heavy-handed offence and Saya’s contortionist bumping was sublime, and “The Crimson Nightmare” main event truly capped off Momo’s comeback year in style.

Recommended Match in 2025: Momo Watanabe vs AZM – STARDOM, August 23rd

© TJPW

#44 Mizuki, 30, TJPW

8 points, 1 votes, highest vote:13th (Panel Poll tie breaker)

By Eric Addy

One half of the legendary Magical Sugar Rabbits alongside AEW’s Yuka Sakazaki, Mizuki has been a permanent fixture at the top of the card for years. Having first captured the Princess of Princess Title in 2023, she firmly established herself as one of TJPW’s elite talents. Following an understated 2024, she kicked off 2025 with a bang, defeating Miu Watanabe on 4th January to become the Princess of Princess Champion once again.

Mizuki acted as TJPW’s rabbit talisman, steadying the ship for the promotion throughout much of the year with successful defences against the “Pillars” of her generation, including Rika Tatsumi and Miyu Yamashita. When it came to “crunch time”, she strategically set the promotion up for future success. First, she delivered an exceptional match with TJPW’s burgeoning star Yuki Arai, elevating her into main-event contention before then dropping the title back to Miu in what many consider to be TJPW’s Match of the Year. That encounter told the quintessential Mizuki story: an agile, crafty rabbit doing everything in her power to withstand the sheer strength of the most Princess of them all, “Miuderella”. It was compelling, captivating, and showcased Mizuki’s storytelling ability. As the ace Miu Watanabe now prepares to face Yuki Arai at Sumo Hall, it is clear that the groundwork for one of the biggest matches in the promotion’s history was laid by Mizuki during this vital 2025 transition period.

Recommended Match in 2025: Miu Watanabe vs. Mizuki – TJPW, 20th September 2025

© Chris Gannon

#43 Kanji, Freelance (UK)

8 points, 2 votes, highest vote: 15th

By Peter Edge

Kanji felt like the anointed one to face Mercedes Moné at Rev Pro’s Anniversary show and maybe dethrone her for Undisputed British Women’s Title, but the title match between the pair would come at “High Stakes” on Easter Sunday at the Doncaster Dome.

A fantastic match (honestly a contender for best match on British soil in 2025) would see Kanji outwrestle the CEO before Moné used her experience to take the victory. What followed would be an entertaining ‘odd couple’ relationship, which seemed destined to end in a split and another match in 2026 (because wrestling), but events have taken another turn after Alex Windsor’s upending of Moné in December.

In the meantime, Kanji would feud with Emersyn Jayne over the summer, with the feud ending at Rev Pro’s hundredth “Live in London” show in a really good 2/3 Falls match.

One of the most far-reaching weekend warriors on the British scene, Kanji has wrestled in multiple promotions wrestling Jay Joshua in two fantastic matches in ATTACK! and Resurgence, Kanji’s home promotion in the East Midlands, where she is champion (Mercedes made eyes at the belt in a Rev Pro skit) and a good match against Amari at Bridge Pro x Spinebuster, making an argument to be the best intergender match wrestler around.

The Amari match would happen at the end of the year in December, a month that saw Kanji lose her Progress Women’s Title to Rayne Leverkusen in one of multiple 4 star+ matches she had in Progress, which includes matches against Rhio as well as Nina Samuels.

Recommended Match in 2025: Kanji vs Jay Joshua – Resurgence, 27th September

© WWE

#42 Naomi, 38, WWE

9 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 12th (Panel Poll tie breaker)

By Social Suplex Staff

Naomi’s year in the ring was cut short in August after announcing that she was pregnant, but in the 7 months before she made a great impact, perhaps getting more over with fans than any at point in her run in WWE, thanks to her re-invention as a heel and the addition of a more dynamic personality.

Her career was revolutionised by a heel turn after being unveiled as the attacker of Jade Cargill in one of the many whodunits/whoisits associated with Paul Levesque’s booking tropes, leading to a match with Cargill at “WrestleMania”, the first women’s singles match at “Mania” that didn’t have a title on the line since 2006 and the first ever women’s non-title contest without a stipulation attached to it.

Draped with caution tape all over her attire, Naomi won the “Money in the Bank” match and then proceeded to cash in the briefcase during the Rhea Ripley vs IYO SKY main event match of “Evolution.” This was akin to what Seth Rollins did at “Mania 31”, with Naomi cashing in mid-match and walking away having won the WWE Women’s World Title.

However, after 36 days with the title, which did include a win on Night One of “SummerSlam” against Rhea and IYO in a Triple Threat, Naomi had to vacate the title due to her pregnancy. But, with perhaps the best year of her career, a partial year was enough to get Naomi into this Top 50.

Recommended Match in 2025: Naomi vs IYO SKY vs Rhea Ripley – WWE, August 3rd

© Chris Gannon

#41 Skye Smitson, 35, Freelance (UK)

9 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 12th (Panel Poll tie breaker)

By Sarah/AwfullyWaffly

The smaller, wilier half of The Experience, Skye Smitson makes a formidable heel – as her current feud with Amira Blair in RevPro demonstrates.

Blair nabbed an upset win over Smitson at the last show of 2025, leaving Smitson humiliated and fuming, vowing that she’d get revenge. She didn’t take long about it, either: when Blair was in manager-mode, accompanying Michael Oku to the ring at the first show of 2026, Smitson jumped her – almost earning herself a punch from Oku in the process.

Two weeks later, Smitson again grabbed her chance to catch Blair off-guard, smashing her with a steel chair while she was ringside supporting Oku in his match against Maverick Mayhew (and inadvertently setting up a whole feud for Oku against CPF in the process). Living up to her moniker, the Villainess has RevPro’s favourite couple on the backfoot, having made it very clear that she considers Blair fair game
whenever she’s inside a RevPro venue – whether she’s in her wrestling gear or not. Creating a compelling storyline without even a title attached in RevPro’s often underused women’s division? You’ve got to give her credit for that.

Elsewhere, Smitson is a decorated competitor – she held the EVE International Title last year, and, at the time of writing, was in possession of both the TNT and RCW Women’s Tag Team Titles (with LA Taylor). Her victory over Anita Vaughan in the first round of Progress’s Super Strong Style 16 Women’s Tournament gives her bragging rights, too – and makes her one to watch as the tournament progresses.

Recommended Match in 2025: Skye Smitson vs Alex Windsor vs. Nina Samuels – EVE, March 7th

© CMLL

#40 La Catalina, 25, CMLL

9 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 12th (Panel Poll tie breaker)

By Bex

La Catalina, a Chilean professional wrestler, currently wrestles in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and is fast becoming a rising star there. Throughout 2025, La Catalina has predominantly worked in CMLL and has had a short stint in Ring of Honor. During this stint, she had a great showing against Athena, challenging the “forever champion” to a competitive 9 minute bout all in the hopes of acquiring that Ring of Honor Women’s World Title. While Catalina ultimately fell short, the match itself was well-worked and a proving ground for Catalina on a modern American stage.

Upon returning to CMLL, Catalina was able to put on an excellent single match with Persephone, allowing both women to showcase a strong, hard hitting style that seems to be at its best when paired with each other – a similar feeling to her face-off with Olympia later in 2025! However, Catalina’s crowning moment of 2025 came at the hands of Mercedes Moné, as it does for so many other women this year.

At June’s “Fantastica Mania” in Arena Mexico, Catalina faced off against Mercedes Moné for the CMLL Women’s World Title. Catalina here got to show off her excellent groundwork and her slick transitions and was able to hit some huge powerful moves on Mercedes for some nailbiting near falls. Despite taking the loss here, Catalina came away from the match looking stronger and prouder for it.

Recommended Match in 2025: La Catalina vs Mercedes Moné – CMLL, June 20th

© Chris Gannon

#39 Millie McKenzie, 25, Freelance (UK)

9 points, 2 votes, highest vote: 14th

By Chris Gannon

A few months ago I wrote a piece on Millie on why she was a wrestler that everyone should know about.

At 25, she’s one of the most accomplished wrestlers on the independent scene and somehow still has yet to work in America. She is, to date, the only woman to have held all three titles in Sendai Girls, has held countless titles throughout Europe and has range enough to work a no-rope, bloodsport style match, deathmatches, and everything in between, with an incredible knack for knowing when she can be playful and when it’s time to really get down to business.

One of the most natural tag wrestlers on the scene, any show with a Millie McKenzie match is guaranteed to have one great match on it.

Recommended Match in 2025: Millie McKenzie & Charlie Evans vs Emersyn Jayne & Rhio – Eve, May 2nd

© Chris Gannon

#38 Amira Blair, Freelance (UK)

10 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 11th

By Peter Edge

Known by many as Michael Oku’s manager/valet, Amira has made waves in wrestling for her outrageous personality. A happy-go-lucky babyface in some promotions and a deranged and vain in EVE: Riot Grrrls of Wrestling, Amira has entertained many with her antics.

The perfect testimony to the ability to switch roles came at a meet and greet after a Rev Pro show in Coventry. When I got talking to Amira, I asked her to record something for the EVE Discord, a server she has been known to enter to berate fans in character; she switched from the graceful face accompanying her partner Michael to an unhinged rant about her kayfabe treatment by authority figures in the company. That afternoon, she would beat Alexxis Falcon in a decent match which the crowd was really into. It’s a testament to how good Amira is at getting a crowd into her matches as a babyface.

In EVE, Amira would turn heel with her Pretty Psycho teammate Zoe Lucas and feud with Rhio and Emersyn Jayne for the tag team titles, which saw the Pretty Psycho pair win the belts via forfeit after Emersyn was unable to appear on the early August show. It would be a reign that lasted just 20 minutes when forced to defend the titles in a triple threat match against Lallie and Hard Up North and being eliminated quickly. (Amira might have a point about that unfair treatment.)

Bringing title belts that Amira insists weren’t bought on Temu, she and Zoe claimed to be the forever real tag champs and became a regular feature on EVE shows, with the end of the year seeing her in a skit that went viral on social media and saw her qualify for the She-1 by winning EVE’s Got Talent at “Let’s Slam Santa”, judged by Will Ospreay, with a cover of “You Raise Me Up” by Westlife using her instrument of choice, the Nose Flute.

While that above paragraph sounds unhinged, it was an experience live and one of the most entertaining segments in British Wrestling in 2025, and it also gave her notoriety, with cameos in Speedball Mike Bailey’s vlog and an endorsement from Mercedes Moné in an Instagram skit, in which Amira was bullied into playing Mercedes’ theme with the instrument now associated with Blair.

Amira’s inclusion in the 50 is a perfect example of what this list is. Amira’s talents are not just confined to in-ring. There’s an argument she’s the best promo in (not just British women’s wrestling, but) all of British wrestling and is the woman on British shores that has made best use of her time in 2025.

Recommended Match in 2025: Amira Blair vs Skye Smitson – EVE, December 5th (with the pre-match hijinks included)

© Chris Gannon

#37 Anita Vaughan, Freelance (UK)

11 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 10th

By Peter Edge

Anita had a 2025 which saw her stock elevate thanks to a heel run in EVE, more consistent use in Rev Pro and a tryout with WWE during “Summerslam” week.

Kicking the year off in EVE, Anita Vaughan would be revealed as the mystery attacker of Skye Smitson backstage in January and would squash Skye to take her International Title. A heavy involvement in the Riot of Violence match would put a rocket on Anita’s push, with Vaughan getting matches with Kris Statlander in July, dropping the belt to the AEW star in a good match and then with Queen Aminata in a banger on “Forbidden Door” weekend. She was a highlight in the working relationship between EVE and AEW to the point that she was invited to the WWE tryout in New Jersey during “Summerslam” week.

Anita would be featured more regularly in Revolution Pro as her IRL best friend Safire Reed’s enforcer in the new and improved Cut Throat Collective after Safire took leadership in a successful coup of the top heel group in the RevPro women’s division.

She and Safire would make up the final of the Femme Fatales tournament in wXw, with Anita failing to repeat her 2024 victory against her mate in a cracking match. She also had a really good match at EVE on their September show and was part of a fun fourway against Yuu, Statlander and Alex Windsor at the highly publicised “Elite Encounters” show.

Recommended Match in 2025: Anita Vaughn vs Queen Aminata – EVE, August 23rd

© Chris Gannon

#36 Rhio, 29, Freelance (UK)

12 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 9th (Panel Poll tie breaker)

By Bex

A staple of the British independent scene, Rhio has been having a standout year in terms of in-ring work and accomplishments across various promotions. Despite a nasty heel turn in the latter half of 2025, Rhio has been running the roster ragged over in Pro Wrestling EVE, holding onto their main title since November. She has declared outright war on any imported talent, claiming it to be unfair for them to swan in and get title shots. Whether you agree or disagree, Rhio has been putting up quite the fight to stake her claim as the most dangerous woman in Europe.

Outside of EVE, Rhio has been crowned the inaugural 4th Rope Champion in 2025, picking up a win over Tiara James, Nikki Blackheart, and Alexis Littlefoot to take the title. Since her crowning, she has defended against Killer Kelly over WrestleCade weekend. Back in the UK, she also has the distinction of being the first woman to hold ICW’s World Heavyweight Championship, defeating Kenny Williams back in August. Since then, she has defended against Theo Doros, Colten Gunn, and Kenny Williams again – this time in a hardcore King of Insanity match. More recently, an excellent title challenge in RevPro saw Rhio step up to Mercedes Moné to close out her year with a barn-burner of a match.

As 2026 begins, Rhio looks towards her EVE championship defense in the main event of “Wrestle Queendom VIII”, an event which has sold out the Indigo at the O2. Beyond that, who knows what the next year holds for the most dangerous woman in Europe? At the very least, she’ll be leading the pack.

Recommended Match in 2025: Rhio vs Kanji – Progress, August 25th

© Chris Gannon

#35 Miyu Yamashita, 30, TJPW

12 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 9th (Panel Poll tie breaker)

By Peter Edge

Miyu Yamashita’s 2025 saw her more in the background with the ascendance of Mizuki and Miu Watanabe but her quality would still remain when the bell rang.

With five 4 star+ singles matches in her 2025 catalogue with matches against Mizuki, Kidd Bandit, Arisu Endo and Dani Luna (in wXw) the cream of the crop, Yamashita has had a fun year.

In TJPW, she would get to the Elite Eight of the annual Princess Cup before being eliminated by Endo in a really great match. But a lot of her significant work came outside of her home country, with a good match with Lucia Lee on very short notice in EVE and a fun match with Luke Jacobs in Italy’s Squash A Jobber promotion.

Miyu would also have a really good match against Kanji in her Rev Pro debut (in Coventry of all places) on her end-of-year European tour, which also included a decent match against Alexxis Falcon and her belter against Luna in Germany.

Miyu would go on excursion to North America where she had Natalya’s best match in years at “Bloodsport” during “WrestleMania” week, as well as a good match with Indi Hartwell, with Miyu having two appearances in the TonyVerse with an eliminator match against AEW World Women’s Champ at the time, Toni Storm, and as a part of a four-way for the interim ROH Women’s TV belt, where she was pinned by Mina Shirakawa.

While her 2025 was quieter than previous years, just a tease of a match between Miyu and Jamie Hayter at “Wrestle Queendom” on March 8th caused a buzz amongst fans.

Recommended Match in 2025: Miyu Yamashita vs Mizuki – TJPW, April 18th

© Chris Gannon

#34 Konami, 29, STARDOM

13 points, 1 vote, highest vote: 8th

By Tim Hunter

Konami, while being a despicable heel, was at the same time one of the most heartwarming feel good stories of the year.

Written off by many, after some tough injury breaks and a completely botched feud against long time friend and teacher Syuri that ended in a serious concussion at “Dream Queendom 2024”, it looked like it could be all over for her. She hadn’t been a big player in STARDOM for a long time anyway, so who knew what 2025 would bring for her?

Well, it brought a big time comeback to her old strength, if not beyond, and a run that would ultimately be rewarded with the second highest trophy in all of STARDOM, the Wonder of STARDOM championship. She took the incredibly sad and unfortunate ending to 2024 and completely turned it on its head to become an absolute menace to the entire STARDOM roster. She started out by beating up Starlight Kid so badly that she was left with a bloodsoaked mask, then she would find the huge upset against Sareee in the opening night of the 5-Star Grand Prix in undoubtedly one of the most heated matches of the entire year, and finally she would beat Hanan up so badly (in tune to her ridiculous music) that Hanan was out of action for months, before dethroning Starlight Kid and ending the greatest title reign all year.

Last but not least, she would steal the show in a phenomenal performance with Saya Iida at “Dream Queendom 2025”.

Recommended Match in 2025: Konami vs Sareee – STARDOM, July 27th

© Chris Gannon

#33 Suzu Suzuki, 23, STARDOM

13 points, 2 votes, highest vote: 10th

By Tim Hunter

It is difficult to talk about Suzu Suzuki’s year without accentuating what a rough time she had throughout 2025. While her exact medical condition has not been publicly disclosed, it is very apparent that she is going through something that makes her life as a professional wrestler harder and harder to live out. Her body is going through changes caused by medicine she has to take, and the breaks she has to take between the shows she chooses to wrestle on become longer and longer.

This doesn’t mean, however, that she is still not one of the greatest and most charismatic young wrestlers in the world, who can have absolutely fantastic matches at her leisure anytime she is able to go. When the year started off for her with a red belt challenge against Saya Kamitani, she immediately made it clear that anyone who’s writing her off is a damn fool in a match that whipped the sold out Korakuen Hall into an absolute frenzy. She continued to have one of the greatest (and at the same time most underrated) performances of the entire year against long time friend-turned-rival Mei Seira at “All Star Grand Queendom”. Later in the year she would have an absolutely insane series of matches with the great Sareee.

At the same time she started her own unit, Mi Vida Loca, which was instantly a huge success and is now without a doubt one of the most entertaining assets STARDOM has to offer.

Recommended Match in 2025: Suzu Suzuki vs Sareee – STARDOM November 3rd

© AEW

#32 Harley Cameron, 32, AEW

14 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 7th

By Sarah/AwfullyWaffly

Three words for you: feel the wrath!

From unpromising beginnings as part of the QTV stable, Harley Cameron has become one of AEW’s most likeable personalities – and she’s put in the work to make sure she shines in the ring, too. There’s a reason she picked up PWI’s Most Improved Wrestler of the Year award in 2025. (Editor’s Note: She also picked up a win in the same category in the Wrestling Observer Awards.)

Her year started with a feud against Mercedes Moné; inevitably, she lost when the two had their big blow-off match at “Grand Slam Australia 2025”, but her shenanigans with the “Mini Moné” puppet were a highlight of the show for those of us who like our wrestling silly. After some time out injured, Cameron returned in time to take part in the first ever women’s Blood and Guts match – and to form a tag team with
beloved babyface Willow Nightingale and take part in AEW’s first ever women’s tag title tournament.

And that’s where Cameron really earned her “most improved” accolade. The Babes of Wrath overcame the wildly overpowered team of Mercedes Moné and Athena in the first round, destroyed the Sisters of Sin, and went on to defeat the Timeless Love Bombs – the team most people would’ve pegged as the obvious inaugural winners. Babes of Wrath have developed a joyful chemistry together, with powerhouse
Nightingale often using Cameron as a weapon, but woe betide anyone who underestimates Cameron as a singles wrestler these days. She’s shown she’s got more to offer than just insane charisma, and only seems to be getting better. Also, how many wrestling ventriloquists can you name?

Recommended Match in 2025: Harley Cameron & Willow Nightingale vs Athena & Mercedes Moné – AEW, November 5th

© WWE

#31 Rhea Ripley, 29, WWE

15 points, 1 votes, highest vote: 6th

By David Hayter

Rather quietly, Rhea Ripley has managed to have one of her best years as a performer despite stepping away from the world title scene. Of course, a large part of her success has been due to the WWE’s long overdue decision to cave to fan pressure and bring together “RhIyo” (Ripley and Iyo Sky) as an onscreen duo. But even outside of wrestling with or against Sky, Rhea had a tremendous 2025 by having thrilling matches against unexpected opponents. She had a barn burning street fight with Raquel Rodriguez, which seemed to reinvigorate her opponent’s career prospects, a pair of great TV main events with Asuka, and a particularly strong match with Kairi Sane. Naturally, as one-half of RhIyo, she’s spent most of the year hitting her signature hot tag and Razor’s Edging her opponents into oblivion, but she’s also shown some dexterity. Facing Guilia and Asuka she’s been able to show off her technical chops, and paired with Lash Legend she’s demonstrated her surprisingly impressive lucha chops (it’s easy to forget that Rhea’s not actually that big).

However, aside from being either the most or second most over act on “RAW” each week, her year has, of course, been defined by her relationship with Iyo Sky. Through great singles, triple threat and tag matches, their relationship has blossomed. Iyo started as the lovable troll who Rhea simply couldn’t beat, but through competition they’ve emerged as best friends and tag partners. This union has brought out a more creative, protective and sassy side of Rhea’s personality, as she casts off the one-dimensionality of years past.

Recommended Match in 2025: Rhea Ripley vs Iyo Sky vs Bianca Belair – WWE, April 20th

© Marigold

30. Miku Aono, 35, Marigold

17 points, 2 votes, highest vote: 12th

By Eric Addy

Throughout 2025, Miku Aono has rightfully earned the reputation of being an ironwoman. Donning a magnificent suit of armour for her marquee matches, Miku doesn’t just look the part, she lives it. She was the only wrestler to participate in every single Marigold show since the promotion’s inception, a feat of endurance that speaks volumes about her dedication. Despite only capturing the Marigold World Title in October 2025, Miku was undoubtedly the Marigold MVP for the calendar year, acting as Marigold’s “shining gold” centrepiece for their house show tours and never once phoning in a performance.

Miku possesses an uncompromising, hard-hitting style, defined by thunderous lariats and cracking kicks honed through meticulous training at the dojo. There were several house shows this year where I found myself watching a Miku match and asking, “Why are you trying to kill Utami Hayashishita on a random house show?” Of course, I loved every second of it. She is an absolute ‘sicko’ with a love for wrestling so profound that she is willing to put her physical well-being on the line every single night.

Marigold’s product would likely have taken a noticeable nosedive without her presence. She carries the heavy load of the touring schedule, providing the stability that allows stars like Mayu and Utami the space to rest when necessary. “No Days Off” Miku Aono is one of the premier wrestlers in the current scene, and it is high time she received her flowers as one of the best in the world.

Recommended Match in 2025: Miku Aono vs. Utami Hayashishita – Marigold, October 26th

© Chris Gannon

#29 Mio Momono, 27, Marvelous

19 points, 4 votes, highest vote: 14th

By Eric Addy

If Takumi Iroha is the brains of the operation at Marvelous, then Mio Momono is undoubtedly its heart. Marvelous simply isn’t the same without her, a fact made painfully clear during her five-month absence due to a serious elbow injury. Her return match is one of my “vibe matches of the year”. On 13th July 2025, she went “hard in the paint” in front of an adoring crowd, reminding everyone exactly what they had been missing. Even the post-match promo became an instant classic, as Senka Akatsuki – unable to contain her genuine joy – exclaimed “I’m so happy!” It was the kind of pure, unscripted emotion that defines the tight-knit Marvelous roster.

Despite that lengthy stint on the sidelines, Mio’s in-ring work is so exceptional that she remains a mandatory inclusion on my list. While she is internationally renowned as one of the world’s premier babyfaces, exceptional at taking punishment before mounting a fiery comeback, Marvelous viewers will know that she is equally adept at a stiff, fast-paced, and uncompromising style. She delivers open-handed strikes and Chigusa Nagayo-style German suplexes with frightening ease. She also is an adept tag team wrestler, and her successful partnership with Yurika Oka as “Bob Bob Momo Banana” continued, as they bookended the year holding the Sendai Girls Tag Championship.

It is impossible to watch Mio “pinging” around the ring without a smile on your face. Her 2025 may have been more muted due to the injury, but she remained one of my absolute favourites to watch. She even provided what was likely the best under-ten-minute match of the year: a blistering encounter against Utami Hayashishita during the closing stretch of the Marigold vs. Marvelous gauntlet on 8th August 2025. It was a hidden gem in a year of bountiful MOTYCs, proving that even in a “muted” year, Mio Momono is world class.

Recommended Match in 2025: Kizuna Tanaka & MIRAI vs. Mio Momono & Senka Akatsuki – Marvelous, July 13th

© Chris Gannon

#28 Alex Windsor, 32, AEW

20 points, 3 votes, highest vote: 9th

By Peter Edge

Alex Windsor’s year would start with a run to the final of the She-1 in EVE in what was a losing effort to Nina Samuels. In the moments afterwards, it was announced that Alex would face Jamie Hayter at “Multiverse Rumble”, culminating in a match that would get rave reviews.

Alex would be put into position to face Syuri for the IWGP Title at EVE’s “Hit Me Baby One More Time” in a very good match, after which she announced post-defeat that she was All Elite.

She fitted into AEW quickly, being aligned with Toni Storm as her platonic friend, and she also grabbed the attention of fans from her debut at “All In” with the word “WINDZAAA” frequently heard and shouted by audiences, especially at “Forbidden Door” in what was a fun match but played out under a soundtrack of British people shouting “WINDZAAA” far after the bit stopped being funny. She also challenged Sareee for the IWGP Title on an RoH show that was well received.

Taking a break from AEW as her fiancé Will Ospreay needed an operation on his neck, Alex would appear frequently for Revolution Pro, feuding with Safire Reed and the Cut Throat Collective – the group she used to lead but was kicked out of at the “13th Anniversary” show during “Forbidden Door” Weekend in the UK – throughout the autumn, also making a cameo appearance at EVE at the “Elite Encounters” event.

Fancied by many to face Mercedes Moné for her Rev Pro Undisputed British Women’s Title when pundits were fantasy booking Moné’s opponents in the days after Moné’s winning of the title on Jan 5th, Alex would be the first to make a challenge to Mercedes and her British title but would have wait to challenge on the final “Collision” of the year in Manchester’s Co-op Arena in an open challenge.

At just shy of 11pm local time on a Wednesday night, Windsor would pin Moné to win the British Undisputed Title, events that would be shown three days later on tape delay on December 20th.

Recommended Match in 2025: Alex Windsor vs Jamie Hayter – EVE, February 7th

© CMLL

#27 Persephone, 24, CMLL

20 points, 3 votes, highest vote: 7th

By Social Suplex Staff

While being a full time CMLL wrestler, Persephone quietly had a monster year in 2025, wrestling over 100 matches across three continents.

Presumably driven to keep improving, and with buzz to her name, in addition to holding down the fort at Arena Mexico, she found herself in the Tokyo Dome, London’s 02 Arena and Crystal Palace and various venues across the US and Mexico. While being able to act as a solid ruda and base for her técnica partners in Mexico, and using her personality and character without slipping into ‘cool heel’, she is the standout of the current crop of CMLL luchadoras. Perhaps even better suited to the US style than to lucha (where she can wrestle as a powerhouse heel or babyface), like many women in 2025 her best match of the year was with Mercedes Moné in a classic in Arena Mexico. She was also the star of the International Women’s GP Cibernetico match. She also had a well received match with Athena for the ROH Women’s Title.

The best is yet to come for Persephone, with plenty of time on her side, who will celebrate her sixth anniversary this year, and is still only 24. With a dual contract with CMLL and AEW in her pocket, expect to see more of her in the US in 2026.

Recommended Match in 2025: Persephone vs Mercedes Moné – CMLL, October 17th

© Stardom

#26 Rina, 19, STARDOM

21 points, 4 votes, highest vote: 14th

By Chris Whitehead

Long identified as a future star, 19 year old Rina celebrated the seventh anniversary of her debut in 2025, a year in which her potential was fully unlocked. With her schooling now behind her and finally being able to wrestle full time, she competed in a new personal high of 111 matches across the year. No longer a ‘future great’ and now a ‘currently very good’, she has firmly moved into the realization phase of her career.

Throughout the year, Rina was elevated by both her booking and her performances, making runs to the final of the Cinderella Tournament and the semi-final of the 5-StarGP, along with capturing the Artists of STARDOM Championships (with partners Konami and Fukigen Death) for the first time. She had long established her character work as “the Pink Devil” but further elevated her promo game and has become truly fearless, entertaining and caustic on the mic – with a potty mouth a British comedian would be proud of – and is unafraid to say anything to anyone, most especially the “old hags” that make up her senior wrestlers on the roster.

She also leveled up her in-ring game, especially as a singles wrestler, having at least a half dozen ‘notebook’ quality singles matches across the year, all of which make up the best singles matches of her career. Particularly notable were her two matches with AZM in the 5-StarGP and her match with VENY on the Hana Kimura memorial show. Most notable of all was her match in February against Starlight Kid for the Wonder of STARDOM Championship, a true classic in her home prefecture and her statement that 2025 would be her breakout year.

Recommended Match in 2025: Starlight Kid vs. Rina – STARDOM, February 24th

© WWE

#25 Stephanie Vaquer, 32, WWE

23 points, 2 votes, highest vote: 8th

By David Hayter

La Primera’s rise from the NXT mid-card to being the reigning and defending WWE Women’s Champion heading into “WrestleMania” has been both precipitous and truly astonishing.

Originally slotted behind Giulia in the pecking order, Stephanie Vaquer stampeded past everyone in developmental and half the main roster, thanks to her blend of pleasingly violent in-ring work and a genuine, believable, and wholly relatable charisma. Stephanie is that rare combination — a humble badass, who is both ice-cool and charmingly understated.

Of course, the Devil’s Kiss and Booker T’s crass fake orgasms may have helped, but Stephanie was turning heads before that spot got over. Her icy aura and high-flying offence had the fans’ wrapped around her little finger from her debut. She proved impossible to resist, delivering bangers whether matched with Iyo Sky or Fallon Henley, and, in Jordynne Grace, she found both a perfect opponent and tag team partner.

Like Iyo Sky before her, WWE had great ideas for Stephanie all the way up until the moment she won the world title, and then she stalled, mired in a terrible programme with her totally unbelievable “friend” Nikki Bella. Thankfully, Bella is now in the rear-view mirror and Vaquer has a serious programme with Liv Morgan to sink her teeth into, which is bringing La Primera’s highly underrated Spanish-language promo game to the fore.

Recommended Match in 2025: Stephanie Vaquer vs Iyo Sky – WWE, September 20th

© Chris Gannon

#24 Natsupoi, 30, STARDOM

23 points, 3 votes, highest vote: 11th

By Chris Whitehead

2025 was a year of losses and defeats for Natsupoi. Somehow only working 13 singles matches in a year where she wrestled over 100 matches. She lost more than half of those singles matches, and lost every single one that was of consequence.

Most notably, in July she lost her first ever match for the World of STARDOM championship, getting out-smarted and out-manipulated by Saya Kamitani, more so than out-wrestled. A loss to rising star Rina followed in the 5-StarGP Quarter Finals in August, and a loss to best friend Sareee came in December. She lost her friend Tam Nakano to retirement. She, along with Nakano and Saori Anou, lost the Artists of STARDOM Championships in the spring. She told Sareee that she had lost her joy for wrestling and needed it to be beaten back into her and then still lost their match.

Is this hardship and suffering leading to a path of redemption and success? The heart says yes, but the head says no. She admitted, as part of the press tour for the highly successful “Tenth Anniversary Show” that she and Anou co-produced, that she considered retiring but remains motivated by the goal of a potential Tokyo Dome main event match. After the year turned to 2026, she announced her marriage to NJPW’s Shingo Takagi and expressed her wish to wind up her career, retire permanently and become a mother.

The only question is if she goes out in a blaze of glory first. One thing we can be sure of is that, as one of the best sellers and emoters in the game, she will go down fighting. As one of the most popular wrestlers on the STARDOM roster, she will do it with the crowds loudly in her corner: urging, wishing and begging for her to win one last big match, to do it for Tam, to do it for the fans, and most of all, to do it for herself.

Recommended Match in 2025: Cosmic Angels (Natsupoi, Saori Anou & Tam Nakano) vs Neo Genesis (Starlight Kid, AZM and Miyu Amasaki)

© Chris Gannon

#23 Nina Samuels, 37, Freelance (UK)

24 points, 4 votes, highest vote: 10th

By Peter Edge

2025 would be the year that Nina dropped the titles she had gained in her “belt collector” era, dropping the CXW, W3L and BLW Women’s Titles and also the more prominent titles in her collection of both singles titles in EVE and the Women’s Title in Progress.

Winning the She-1 and becoming the Ace of EVE, she would gain the international title of the company in the process in a tournament where the EVE Championship and International belt would be on the line. She lost the latter in a two-fall three way with her EVE Championship on the line in fall one, which Nina won before scrapering off before fall two took place, in which Skye Smitson beat Alex Windsor for the International Title.

Her 483 day reign as EVE Champ came to an end on the “Anniversary” show at the hands of Nightshade. A feud ending match (in EVE) against Safire Reed after years of strife between the pair was an excellent bout. Nina’s summer saw her attempt to seek a return match for the International belt, with Nina winning a fun five-way under the Absolute Chaos branding which EVE gives multi-person matches at “EVE x The World” at “Forbidden Door” Weekend against Bozilla, Rayne Leverkusen, Trish Adora and Billie Starkz just hours after participating in a trios match on the other side of London at Rev Pro’s “Anniversary” show. Londoners will tell you that going from Crystal Palace to Walthamstow in under 90 minutes is a feat more difficult than trying to win a five-way wrestling match.

That win earned her a shot at Kris Statlander’s International Title which she lost but was a brilliant match, a match that I would put in Kris Statlander’s top 5 matches of what can be considered Kris’s best year so far.

Meanwhile in Rev Pro, Nina would be entangled in the Cut Throat Collective storyline beating Safire Reed in a Winner Becomes Leader match but then got kicked out of the group in a successful coup by Safire and the other members of the team (Kent Brockman was right about democracy not working), and she would end the year feuding with Safire and new CTC member Anita Vaughan along with former CTC leader Alex Windsor.

Progress would see Samuels hold their women’s title in the first half of the year before losing the belt to Rhio at the “Super Strong Style 16” show and would feud with the special guest ref on that night, Kanji, which would finish with Nina losing a ‘Loser Leaves Progress’ match in September.

Nina’s Q4 saw Nina taking bookings for four companies (five if you want to count her ROH cameo in Cardiff against Alex Windsor) compared to the nine in 2024’s fourth quarter, with Nina playing beloved babyface in Riot Cabaret, despised heel in EVE and her current role in Revolution Pro Wrestling, in which her current alignment is in doubt. But no matter what the fans’ opinions of Nina are on a given day in a given promotion, they would all admit that Nina Samuels’ homemade brownies – a staple of her merchandise offering at shows – are world class.

Recommended Match in 2025: Nina Samuels vs Kris Statlander – EVE, 5th September

© Chris Gannon

#22 Utami Hayashishita, 27, Marigold

26 points, 3 votes, highest vote: 10th

By David Hayter

Despite being only 27 years of age, Utami Hayashishita finds herself drifting in something resembling a personal hinterland. She is unmistakably in her post-imperial phase and, much like the long-trousered, balloonmaker version of Kazuchika Okada, she appears to be in the midst of a mid-career crisis. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Utami is clearly having the time of her life in Marigold – living out her Ikeman idol fantasies, piercing her tongue and measuring beautiful women’s butts (yes, really). However, for all her experimentation and freedom outside of the ring, Utami has felt strangely shackled to the ghost of her former self within it. 2025 should have been the year of her grand resurgence: having won the inaugural DreamStar Grand Prix in 2024, she would start the year by dethroning Sareee in a very good, if not quite great, match to become the second ever Marigold World Champion.

The scene was set for Utami’s second great title reign of her career, but sadly, while times had changed, Utami hadn’t changed with them. She is no longer the Super Rookie champion surrounded by a murderers’ row of the world’s greatest female wrestlers; instead she is the standard bearer for a promotion building from the ground up with a promising, but not fully formed roster. Utami’s greatest attributes – her incredible selling and a remarkable ability to endure pain and exude resilience – felt oddly out of place in a promotion that needed Utami to be a dominant, assertive, individually impressive, ticket-shifting champion and star.

It’s perhaps unsurprising then, that while Utami had strong title matches with Mayu Iwatani and Miku Aono, her best work came away from the spotlight. Utami was her most brilliant self on tour, in the preview tags, taking neck bumps and lariating her would-be contenders into oblivion. Her big centrepiece singles matches against Mirai and Takumi Iroha often underdelivered, but her overall body of work, in the most unfashionable of venues, shone through. Utami deserves great credit for that, even at a time when her future as an ace feels eerily uncertain.

Recommended Match in 2025: Utami Hayashishita vs Mayu Iwatani, Marigold, August 30th

© Chris Gannon

#21 Mika Iwata, 29, Sendai Girls

29 points, 3 votes, highest vote: 9th

By Chris Gannon

Mika Iwata is a performer with surprising depth. When you first see her stern face and brutal-but-precise striking you feel like you have the full measure of her, and on that impression alone you could be impressed; but the more you see her work, the more layers and quality you see in her performances. 2025 saw her celebrate her tenth anniversary and those layers and quality have been added the hard way over time.

It doesn’t take long to realise that she’s an incredibly expressive fighter, wearing an incredible amount of emotion on her face. Although there is a fairly well known running meme of Iwata always losing, her actual match record tells a different story with a 36-23-6 record in 2025.

Iwata put on a clinic while falling short in her challenge for the Sendai Girls’ World Title against Chihiro Hashimoto, an incredible match that pitted Iwata using her speed and precision against Hashimoto’s size and technique. Beyond the Hashimoto match, while perhaps not having a series of breakout instant classic singles matches like her battles with Saori Anou in years past, she and Anou did face off once again, this time in a tag match pitting Anou and Natsupoi against Iwata and Hashimoto, an enjoyable match that weaved together multiple friendships and rivalries.

Recommended Match in 2025: Mika Iwata vs vs Chihiro Hashimoto – Sendai Girls, September 23rd

© Chris Gannon

#20 Safire Reed, 22, Freelance (UK)

30 points, 3 votes, highest vote: 8th

By Peter Edge

On a night where eyes were on the main event of “Multiverse Rumble” between Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor, Safire Reed alongside Emersyn Jayne nearly stole the show with their 4 star cracker. An integral part of the EVE roster in 2025, Safire played her part in multiple crackers. In the Ironman role of the War Games/Anarchy in the Arena hybrid match called “Riot of Violence”, Safire was joint MVP of the 8-woman war alongside Skye Smitson.

Starting as a heel in the calendar year, she turned face by costing long time rival and number one heel in EVE (Nina Samuels) the EVE Championship in May, with the feud-ender July match at the Big Penny Social a top 5 match of the year in EVE and her second half of the year at The Big Penny saw her as a part of a great tag match with DASH Chisako against VENY and Nina Samuels, as well as an exciting match against Dani Mo.

The junior member in age of the top heel group on the women’s side of Revolution Pro Wrestling, The Cut Throat Collective, Safire was at the core of a dissension storyline which started at the “High Stakes” show on Easter Sunday.

Accused in storyline of not being “cut-throaty enough” by group leader Alex Windsor, Safire would win a number one contenders tournament to get the Moné match as Rev Pro promoted it at “Summer Sizzler” in Wolverhampton and put in a great performance in a 12:45 match that, while good, could have done with 5 more minutes.

The dissension storyline came to a head with Alex Windsor being kicked out of the group after a trios match with Alex, Safire and Nina Samuels against Moné, Kanji and Dani Luna, and Safire would become leader of the CTC in the autumn and feud with Alex with a match likely in the first half of 2026.

Safire would win the 8th edition of the wXw Femme Fatales tournament beating her Hyperactive and CTC teammate Anita Vaughan in the final, joining illustrious names such as Toni Storm and Meiko Satomura on the honour roll of victors.

Safire and Anita would garner attention throughout the year on the British scene with fun matches with Medusa Complex (Millie McKenzie and Charli Evans) at Bridge Pro, Lallie (Lana Austin and Hollie Barlow) at Progress and The Experience (LA Taylor and Smitson) at TNT, with the pair getting an invite to Bayley’s Lodestone seminar in Orlando where she finally got to meet her childhood hero John Cena.

Recommended Match in 2025: Safire Reed vs Emersyn Jayne – EVE, February 7th

© Chris Gannon

#19 Takumi Iroha, 33, Marvelous

36 points, 4 votes, highest vote: 6th

By Eric Addy

I am going to be a bit bold with this one. Please do not @ me in the Social Suplex Discord. Takumi Iroha is the most underrated wrestler in the world. Takumi is the brains of the operation at Marvelous. Effectively, anything of quality happening within that promotion is down to her due to her direct influence on all major storylines. She is the ace, the head coach, and the booker. She is the woman responsible for the meteoric rise of Senka Akatsuki, both through her rigorous training and her extraordinarily well-paced, intelligent booking of Senka throughout 2025. This culminated in Senka finishing second in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Rookie of the Year Award, a feat that is honestly absurd given the relatively small footprint of Marvelous compared to mainstream companies such as STARDOM, TJPW and Marigold.

Of all the names on this list, Takumi is placed high due to her importance to the joshi independent scene in 2025. While she was steering the Marvelous ship as a double champion and guiding Senka’s journey, she also found time to heat up the tag team division. Her tag team partnership with her friend Sareee, “Spark Rush,” dominated the independents and stood out as one of the best teams of the year.

Furthermore, Takumi and Senka were the undeniable centrepieces of the Marigold vs. Marvelous inter-promotional feud, which remains one of the best-booked cross-company rivalries in recent memory. These deliberate decisions made in 2025 have laid the groundwork for Marvelous to book the massive Yokohama BUNTAI for their 10th anniversary on 5th May 2026. Thanks to the renewed interest she helped spark during the 2025 calendar year, Takumi Iroha has proven that she isn’t just an outstanding wrestler, she has a clear vision and a strong will to see it through.

Recommended Match in 2025: Sora Ayame vs. Takumi Iroha – Marvelous, April 6th

© AEW

#18 Thekla, 32, AEW

37 points, 2 votes, highest vote: 3rd

By Bex

The Toxic Spider came crashing onto American television in May and hasn’t let up since. However, even before that, Thekla spent the beginning of the year closing out her tenure in STARDOM, including an excellent Ring of Honor Women’s Title match with the “forever” champion Athena wherein they promised to each other that they’d run it back one day, perhaps in the States. After her controversial ejection from STARDOM wherein she turned on and attacked STARDOM’s president, Taro Okada, Thekla turned her toxic sights upon All Elite Wrestling.

She made her debut in May after plenty of spiders had haunted the broadcasts leading up to it and has since put the division on notice. Early in her tenure with AEW, Thekla took the Sisters of Sin (Julia Hart and Skye Blue) under her wing to form the Triangle of Madness – Shakespeare’s Three Witches if said witches had stumbled their way through punk rock raves along the way. Thekla herself has been put in several high-profile spots early in her career with AEW: taking part in the Casino Gauntlet at “All In: Texas”, challenging Toni Storm for her AEW Women’s World Championship in a four-way match, and taking part in the first ever women’s Blood and Guts match in AEW.

With her hyper-flexible, eerie style, Thekla has set herself up as a fearsome competitor in-ring and, with her sharp wit on the mic, she’s proven herself to be wildly charismatic and a standout in the roster. Despite all her achievements in AEW, Thekla’s initial crowning glory was her incredible feud with Queen Aminata. What initially seemed to start as a standby match between Aminata and Thekla after Jamie Hayter got injured spun out into a quietly underrated feud for me – two women working stiff and hating each other for nothing except vibes. The feud tentatively culminated in a no holds barred match but a lot of fans are eager to see it reignite.

Especially given that, early in 2026, Thekla captured the AEW Women’s World Championship from Kris Statlander in a strap match. 2026 is about to get a whole lot more toxic if you’re all elite.

Recommended Match in 2025: Thekla vs Athena – STARDOM, January 13th

© Chris Gannon

#17 VENY, 27, Freelance (Japan)

38 points, 4 votes, highest vote: 7th

By Eric Addy

It would be understandable if you came across VENY on this list and weren’t quite sure who she was (pipe down, joshi fans). VENY rarely crosses the precipice into the mainstream; she’s never appeared in STARDOM or Marigold, and her appearances in TJPW are sporadic at best. She doesn’t care, and frankly, she doesn’t need it. She’s perfectly content being the Queen of the Independent Scene, travelling from show to show to beat the shit out of your favourite rookies, landing on her feet with a no-catch moonsault, pinning your promotion’s favourite and then bouncing without further elaboration.

VENY is like a cross over between Mean Girls’ Regina George and Shuji Ishikawa: she’s fabulous, magnificent and refuses to compromise on her stiff-yet-acrobatic wrestling style. Despite a reputation to look out for herself – an understandable trait for a freelancer – VENY’s 2025 was defined by her efforts to help SEAdLINNNG’s young talent flourish. During her five-month reign as the top champion, her primary feud was with Honori Hana, who was returning from a long absence due to COVID-19 complications. VENY immediately established Honori as a genuine “psycho killer,” culminating in a title match where Honori delivered a shoot headbutt so violent it left VENY with a massive hematoma. In a rare “chink in the armour,” VENY offered a verbal admission of respect, stating “Wow, you really did damage to me!” That is as high a rub as VENY provides.

She subsequently moved on to mentor the standout SEAdLINNNG rookie, Selene Misora. Having specifically selected VENY as her senior, Selene was immediately elevated by their encounter on 19th September 2025, where she looked like a total badass under VENY’s tutelage. VENY remains one of the true gems of the independent scene, and long may she reign.

Recommended Match in 2025: Honori Hana vs. VENY – SEAdLINNNG, May 30th

© Chris Gannon

#16 Willow Nightingale, 32, AEW

41 points, 6 votes, highest vote: 6th

By Chris Whitehead

I met Willow once at an indie show, before she was officially “All Elite”, and told her she was one of my wife’s favorite wrestlers but also that my wife is not a wrestling fan. She told me a lot of people gave her a version of that compliment. That stuck with me and I sensed that she knew that if she could get a real breakout moment on TV that she could become a legitimate star.

That breakout happened over the last few years but feels like it was firmly cemented in 2025, with a string of high rated matches, both in America and overseas, and becoming one half of the inaugural AEW Women’s Tag Team champions.

In AEW there was the long term payoff of a (planned) singles win against Mercedes Moné on the last day of the year, cementing her as a double champion, adding the TBS Title to her formerly won tag titles. Willow had highly regarded outings in three of the signature AEW match types: Casino Gauntlet, Anarchy In The Arena and Blood and Guts.

Outside of AEW, Willow continued to give back to the indies and indulge her love of wrestling in Japan: there was an under-rated singles match with Miu Watanabe in TJPW, an underwhelming “traditional women’s four way” at the Tokyo Dome with Persephone, Thekla and Momo Watanabe, an appearance in EVE and a potential scouting match with Maya World at the West Coast Pro Wrestling anniversary show.

The true ceiling of Willow’s starpower has likely not been reached. A babyface with her level of crowd connection is a rare commodity. Truly, this is someone you could put onto a chase for the women’s world title and build the company around for a few months. But no matter what lies in store for her next, Willow will be out there, working hard, smiling and winning people over with the kind of charisma you can’t teach. The world could use more Willow Nightingales.

Recommended Match in 2025: Willow Nightingale vs Mercedes Moné – AEW, December 31st

© Chris Gannon

#15 Saori Anou, 35, STARDOM

44 points, 5 votes, highest vote: 7th

By Chris Whitehead

Celebrating her tenth anniversary in the middle of the year, Saori Anou had yet another year of being one of the hardest working wrestlers in the world, wrestling an average of one match every three days, while also being one of the most dependably good wrestlers in the world. (The lack of any injuries in the last few years is a marvel, between her schedule and her predilection for neck bumps and violence.)

On her home turf of STARDOM, she was a booker’s dream: a ‘plug and play’ top star who can be slotted into any program as needed. She competed for every title for which she is eligible during the year: the top two singles belts, the World and Wonder Championships, the Goddesses (tag) and the Artists (trios) titles. Yes, her Cosmic Angels team lost the Artists belt, and yes all her other challenges ended in a loss, but a top star so willing to lose, and to elevate their opponent while doing so, while never losing the support of the crowd on the way is an extremely rare and valuable asset for a company.

STARDOM made the most of Anou in that way, as they continued to build the future of the company, with her two key singles championship losses coming to their two top stars: Saya Kamitani and Starlight Kid. Anou also finally had a ‘proper’ singles match with her old friend Tam Nakano, as the two had one of the most gruesomely hard hitting matches this decade, wowing an unsuspecting and unprepared Korakuen Hall crowd with a level of violence that lingers long in the memory of those who saw it.

She celebrated her tenth anniversary along with friend and partner Natsupoi by producing their own show and having a tag classic with Chihiro Hashimoto and Mika Iwata, before having maybe the best 5 minute time limit draw in history right afterwards with Natsupoi. (There was also singing and dancing.) In addition to that, Anou continued to be perhaps the second most important person in Oz Academy in 2025, holding their Openweight Championship for 8 months of the year, in addition to continuing to give back to her friends, peers, mentors and seniors, working over a dozen indie and produce shows.

Wrestlers this unselfish, this dedicated and this damn good are uncommon and it was a pleasure to witness Saori Anou’s 2025 in real-time.

Recommended Match in 2025: Saori Anou vs Tam Nakano – STARDOM, April 2nd

© Chris Gannon

#14 Kris Statlander, 30, AEW

44 points, 5 votes, highest vote: 7th

By Bex

A mainstay of All Elite Wrestling since its inception, Kris Statlander has always, despite injury and setback, been a workhorse for the company. One of their most consistent in-ring performers, Statlander has been a load-bearing pillar of the women’s division. 2025 saw her gain the recognition she deserved for that. At the start of the year, Statlander was given a great showing in the Owen Hart tournament, ultimately falling to Jamie Hayter in the semi-finals. The loss, however, didn’t set her back for long. After winning the #1 spot in AEW’s Casino Gauntlet, set for their biggest show of the year, Statlander turned her gaze to gold outside her home promotion.

In her Pro Wrestling EVE debut, Statlander defeated Anita Vaughan to become their International Champion, a title she has since defended twice, once against Nina Samuels and another time in a fatal four way against Anita Vaughan, the retiring Yuu, and Alex Windsor. This initial title win preceded the biggest win of Statlander’s career. At AEW “All Out”, she pinned the then-champion Timeless Toni Storm to become the AEW Women’s World Champion in a shock win.

Statlander’s reign as world champion saw her defeat Mina Shirakawa, Jamie Hayter, Toni Storm (in a singles competition rematch after the four way), Mercedes Moné, and Thekla. Throughout her reign as champion, Statlander fended off advances from the menacing Death Riders, including a cathartic moment where she denied Jon Moxley to great applause, and finally mended fences with her best friend Willow Nightingale, reuniting Statingale on our screens. She also was part of the inaugural women’s Blood and Guts match, cleaning house with the world title belt and taking a nasty fall onto a bed of nails courtesy of Marina Shafir.

As one of the best in-ring performers in the AEW women’s division, it’s no surprise that Statlander’s reign allowed her to mix it up with some of the best, with the result of giving an excellent catalogue of matches. Despite dropping the title to Thekla in a bloody strap match at the start of 2026, Statlander’s elite legacy is untouched in terms of her in-ring output.

Recommended Match in 2025: Kris Statlander vs Anita Vaughan – EVE, November 7th

© WWE

#13 Iyo Sky, 35, WWE

61 points, 3 votes, highest vote: 2nd

By David Hayter

It’s been such an incredible year for Japanese women’s wrestling that at times it can be easy to lose sight of just how much Iyo Sky has achieved. There is a legitimate case to be made that, at the end of 2025, Iyo is the most successful and undeniably over Japanese star to have ever transitioned to the US market. Not only is Iyo astonishingly popular, but she has achieved a remarkable feat that has flown under the radar. Despite speaking entirely in a second language, Iyo’s star power has forced WWE (of all places) to make her the centrepiece of a near year long storyline centred around her emotional relationships with first Rhea Ripley, then later Asuka and Kairi Sane. There is, of course, some over-acting involved, but it’s worth reflecting that in a mix of Japanese and at times broken English and without a manager, Iyo has been at the heart of a storyline that WWE has sunk great swathes of TV time into. In doing so, Iyo has fundamentally changed WWE’s presentation of foreign stars and has pathed the way for the likes of Stephanie Vaquer to present themselves as main characters, on their own terms, in a mix of their native language and English.

Then there’s the wrestling itself. Built on the back of a very crafty storyline where Iyo was overlooked and treated as the third wheel by the cocksure giants Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair, Iyo would triumph in a dazzling “WrestleMania” triple threat – which was the year’s finest example of WWE’s choreographed moments and drama driven layout done right. Truth be told, in terms of pure in-ring work, if it weren’t for Ilya Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes, Iyo would have practically been having WWE’s match of the year contest with herself. Her match with Rhea Ripley at “Evolution” was absolutely wild, culminating in Naomi’s memorable and well crafted cash-in. Ultimately, whenever WWE need to make a new star (Stephanie Vaquer, heel Naomi) or deliver top tier action while engaging the crowd on “RAW”, they turned to Iyo (and/or RhIyo).

More than just a fan favourite, Iyo has proven herself to draw across the world. In London, with John Cena already long since announced, WWE was facing a “RAW” (around 75% sold) and “Smackdown” (around 70% sold) so low in sales that, in an effort to move tickets, they announced Rhea vs Iyo for “RAW” and CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns for “Smackdown”. “RAW” ended up opening all available seating for a total sell out at absurd prices, while “Smackdown” eventually drew a conventional sell out with no extra seating made available after hefty price cutting. Not bad going for little old Iyo – of course, she would repeat the same trick in Japan sending Marigold’s flagging ticket sales sky rocketing for her dream match/reunion with Mayu Iwatani.

Finally, it’s worth noting that, after years as a heel, Iyo has emerged as that rarest and most precious of commodities: a white meat babyface who is completely and utterly beloved by fans the world over. Sure, she’s cool stylistically speaking, but she manages to be the purest of good guys without even the slightest hint of backlash and that is no mean feat in 2026.

Recommended Match in 2025: IYO SKY vs Rhea Ripley (vs Naomi) – WWE, July 13th

© STARDOM

#12 AZM, 23, STARDOM

62 points, 7 votes, highest vote: 6th

By Chris Gannon

Despite only being 23, AZM is the most tenured member of the STARDOM roster having debuted at 11 years old. This means that she could potentially be the youngest entrant to the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame, as she will be 26 on the fifteenth anniversary of her debut.

Right now she doesn’t have the headlining record to garner the votes needed, but the match quality is certainly there with her series of matches against her eternal foe, Starlight Kid, setting the high watermark for what the High Speed title could mean in the company. Despite her long tenure and reputation, AZM has only challenged for the top two titles in her company once, with both matches being in 2025, a year in which she also took the NJPW Strong Women’s Title from Mercedes Moné.

In 2025, she made it to the finals of the 5-StarGP, which along with her (unsuccessful) challenge for the Wonder of STARDOM Title in the semi-main event of the biggest show in STARDOM history April, showed that she is still in the top mix of the card, even without having fully broken through with a reign of either top belt or a tournament win. AZM has won an award in every 5-StarGP that she has participated in, and is the only 2 time winner of the Fighting Spirit award, and the only 3 time winner of the Technique/Skill award.

With time on her side, it’s entirely conceivable that by making that breakthrough, within the next three years AZM could bolster her resume enough to be in serious consideration for being in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame.

Recommended Match in 2025: AZM vs Saya Kamitani – STARDOM, September 27th

© AEW

#11 Athena, 37, AEW

80 points, 5 votes, highest vote: 1st

By Social Suplex Staff

How do you solve a problem like Maria Athena? On the surface, everything is in place for her to have graduated from being the “forever” ROH Women’s World Champion and into AEW proper, mixing it up permanently with the top stars there. And yet, four years into her run it still hasn’t happened and there is no real indication as to why.

“The American Joshi” started her year mixing it up with real joshi wrestlers, competing in five matches in Japan, including the pre-show of the “Wrestle Dynasty” Tokyo Dome show where she somewhat strangely, based on her ROH booking, was the one to lose the fall. She rounded that trip out with a singles match against Thekla that was likely Thekla’s (successful) AEW tryout match, but largely failed to stand out in any of these matches, which is admittedly a tall order with the quality of the STARDOM roster. She was also given showcase matches in Arena Mexico and The O2 Arena on other AEW crossover shows. She did wrestle more matches for AEW than ROH in 2025 – progress of a kind – but had more of her standout matches under the ROH banner, defending her title in memorable matches with Mina Shirakawa, Thunder Rosa and Persephone.

Her most impressive outing was against Mercedes Moné in the semi-finals of the Owen Hart Cup in a truly excellent match. That match seemed to give her momentum into the summer, as she went on to win the Casino Gauntlet at “All In”, allowing her to challenge Toni Storm at “Forbidden Door”. 2026 offers another fresh opportunity for this to hopefully be Athena’s true breakout year in AEW.

Recommended Match in 2025: Athena vs Mercedes Moné – AEW, April 16th