How would you rank some of these current women, from most skilled to least skilled, in the ring?
Candle: 1. Asuka
1. Asuka : Top to bottom the best female wrestler they have on any roster. While not necessarily a jack of all trades like some on this list, she's mastered the skill sets of striking, submission, and basic textbook wrestling. There isn't a female that works a cleaner, more precise, style than Asuka in my opinion. 2. Becky Lynch: Becky's done something few women have done, and that's ultimately create her own style of wrestling. Her moves feel like her signature offense, her finisher is uniquely her own, and unlike some I'm about to address on this list, she doesn't overreach as a competitor. She knows the parameters of her talents and excels at them. 3. Charlotte : Charlotte is a dynamo in my opinion. She's a jack of all trades in wrestling. She can be the muscle in the match, or the high flying risk taker, or the submission artist. Of the women listed, she's the most well-rounded in my opinion. Any preconceived notions of her aping her father end when she steps through the ropes, because while she modified and adapted the figure four, and laces in with the chops occasionally, she is by no means an old school wrestler. I put her at number three because she's good at everything she does, but she hasn't mastered one particular facet of her game like the women listed above. 4. Kairi Sane : Sane is a lot like Becky in that she's got an in-ring identity that is uniquely her. Cut the beautiful diving elbow out of the equation and she still wrestles a style that's all her own. If there's any critique of her style it's that she can go a bit reckless at times, but it does feed into her underdog, sugar sweet, kawaii babyface role really well that she pulls out no stops in the ring. 5. Sasha Banks: I've talked about Sasha's over ambitious nature before, and how it's knocked some four star bouts into the mediocre doldrums of three star encounters. If she stuck to her wheelhouse and didn't try to steal the show with a crazy spot every time she entered the ring, ironically enough I think she'd be capable of stealing the show. Her pre-call up bouts in NXT will go down as classics, and I'm still enamored with her bout against Asuka on Raw last year. I would love to see more of that Sasha Banks, but she holds herself back with overly elaborate and near-impossible to pull off or set up naturally spots. I've also heard rumors of her copping an attitude and pulling a big league card if she's in a match that she isn't going to win that she thinks she deserves to win. I don't know if that's true, but I sensed that sand bagging bravado in her match with Rousey at Rumble. Even if rumor and innuendo prove to be just that in this regard, Sasha still has one too many chips on her shoulder weighing her down. Io Shirai: I've seen Io work a few times in STARDOM, and I get why she was so highly acclaimed there. In NXTso far I feel like she's been boxed into the "Genius of the Sky" gimmick. Maybe she needs more time to adapt to the WWE style, if indeed such a style still exists, but something about her current showcase in WWE reeks of cold feet. Alexa Bliss: Bliss has the basics down pat, and she's also started finding her own groove as an in-ring performer. While I think it suits her to be a heel, I do believe the role hinders her from becoming a potentially prolific high flier. Twisted Bliss and Insult to Injury are two pretty unique and advanced aerial feats. While I do think there's untapped potential there, she's definitely got her tiny heel role down pat. She's not afraid to look like a coward, which is something that even the most seasoned heel wrestlers around today seem to be afraid to tap into. Nikki Bella : Nikki deserves more credit from the fans,but not as much credit as the WWE gives her. She's very capable of having a great one-on-one match, and I'd honestly love to see her more integrated into this era of women's wrestling in such a way that involves more interaction with the likes of the Four Horsewomen and Asuka. I think she'd be able to hang. Naomi: I'm a big Naomi booster to be honest. While she's not as technically proficient as the names listed above, she's still pretty damn good and capable of having a high profile women's match. I don't think she needs to be carried either, and I think there are a lot of critics that sleep on Naomi because she has an unorthodox style. Sonya DeVille: Sonya DeVille's just in the wrong place at the wrong time. While I do think her game needs some fine tuning and more allusion to her MMA background, I do think coming about in an era where half of the UFC's 4 Horsewomen are tearing it up on their respective brands casts quite a wide shadow over Sonya's credibility. I don't think she's been given many chances to showcase what she has to offer, but from the few singles matches that she has had, I can say she's competent, but definitely a work in progress. Brie Bella: I think Brie's talents have degraded over time due to time spent out of the ring. I've also heard theories that female athletes equilibrium changes after pregnancy, but I wonder how much of that is gender stigma and sport superstition. Either way, when she first came into the WWE with her sister they were a vast improvement over the Diva Search contestants that made up most of the roster, which means that they were at least half-competent wrestlers. Nikki's came and went without losing a step, and if anything has improved over some of her absences. I don't know what Brie's handicap is, but it's definitely knocked her down from being a competent in-ring competitor to someone who has hurt her opponents and herself. Accidents happen, but frequency is telling. Ronda Rousey: Rousey has benefited greatly from strong booking and being put in the ring with more experienced and talented ring generals. I do see many flashes of athletic potential though, and even some well executed moves that I wouldn't expect from her that just need a little bit of storytelling thread to tie them all together. I hope her potential is realized and that she doesn't leave another athletic avenue due to mounting pressure from critical reception, both from wrestling "journalists" and fans alike. Is she still green? Yeah, but she's definitely shown that she's not taking pro wrestling lightly and is putting in the training time. Mandy Rose: I'll be honest when I say that Mandy's a giant question mark to me. I do think she's still at a point where she needs to be carried, but I do sense the capacity for storytelling in her limited in-ring actions. It's not even all offense based either, which is all the more puzzling. To my knowledge the only move she throws is a very pretty bicycle knee strike. I can't recall any rudimentary throws or suplexes, just that pretty knee strike. Either way, there's potential there, and I think she just needs more time in the oven. I have no idea why her or Sonya were called up so early from NXT. Both women could've greatly benefited a little more development time. Nia Jax: I think Nia has all of the tools in front of her and is too afraid to use them properly. I've felt that way since NXT. There's always this stutter-step of insecurity in her actions that I think ultimately leads to her in-ring negligence. She's got a very limited powerhouse move set that's based on rudimentary wrestling. Anyone can hit a lariat. Anyone can hit a samoan drop. Anyone can deliver a leg drop. Nia can't seem to do any of these things convincingly despite having the frame and look to potentially make them look devastating. Yokozuna had the same exact move set, and he had far and away better matches than he had any right to have with such minimalist offense. I wish one of her Samoan cousins would pull her aside and tell her that she's going to do less damage delivering half the stuff she does as a shoot than she will with her half-****** scared attempts. Haku's lauded as a monster, and if you watch his hard hitting performances you'd get why, but you never hear about Samoans hurting anyone despite their propensity to lay it on thick. Nia needs that give zero f***s swagger. Until she finds it, I think she's more dangerous without it.