Detailed findings

Some of the most popular women in wrestling are not wrestlers at all. Examples include Lilian Garcia, who made her mark on the sport as a ring announcer. Garcia was the first female to announce at WrestleMania, and the first woman to be in WWE for more than 10 years. Another example is Dixie Carter, who rose to prominence while serving as president and chairwoman of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, the second largest wrestling promotion company in the country after WWE. Despite never competing in the ring, Carter was a two-time runner-up for Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s “Woman of the Year” award.

As one might expect, the most popular female wrestlers are typically — or stereotypically — young, attractive, and glamorous. Many have worked as models, dancers, or cheerleaders. They have also appeared on the covers of magazines such as Playboy. While that might outrage feminists, this is also a list of powerful and assertive women, some of whom have risen to top managerial positions in wrestling.

Methodology

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), formerly known as World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF), is the largest professional wrestling company in the world. Its wrestlers compete under two main brands, SmackDown and Raw.

To determine the most popular women in wrestling, 24/7 Wall St. ranked all female WWE Superstars according to an index based on Wikipedia page views, IMDb credits, and Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s “Woman of the Year” awards. The number of first place, runner-up, second runner-up, and third runner-up “Woman of the Year” awards were combined into a total score and given full weight in the index. The number of television appearances, based on IMDb credits for WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, and WWE NXT programs, were given a half-weighting and were included the index. Daily average Wikipedia pageviews for the period August 6, 2017 to August 6, 2018 were given full weight and included in the index. A wrestler’s debut year in the WWE is based on her first IMDb credit in one of the WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, and WWE NXT programs. Only women who are considered Superstars by WWE or who have won PWI’s “Woman of the Year” award were considered.