The 411 Wrestling Top 5: The Top 5 Women WWE Should Sign

The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. We take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to participate and give us their Top 5 on said topic. So, onto this week’s topic…

Week 349 – The Top 5 Women WWE Should Sign

Who are the top 5 free agent women WWE should sign?

Kevin Pantoja
5. Nixon Newell – First of all, I’d like to point out that several of the top women on the indies aren’t on the list for certain reasons. Ivelisse isn’t listed due to her past with the WWE. I don’t think she’d return. Cheerleader Melissa and Madison Eagles also didn’t make it because I can’t see the WWE signing many women in their thirties (even if they did pick up Asuka). Tessa Blanchard would be an honorable mention. With that out of the way, things start with Nixon Newell, who has been making quite the name for herself recently. The 21 year old Welsh wrestler appeared in SHIMMER this year and has been getting rave reviews for her work despite not being very experienced. She’s young, talented, cute and is oozing potential. The WWE would be dumb to not try and sign her.

4. Candace LeRae – This one seems like a forgone conclusion, yet it hasn’t happened yet. Candace LeRae has been one of, if not the biggest name among females on the indies for quite some time. She’s seemingly been around forever, has held multiple championships and goes to war with men a lot of the time. She also happens to be the wife of NXT Superstar Johnny Gargano. With Gargano doing so well for the company this year, I think Candace has a really good shot. She’s already just as good, if not better than most of the women currently signed to the WWE and her plucky, underdog, adorable nature could make her the straight babyface female that NXT lost when Bayley got called up.

3. Santana Garrett – Like Candace, I feel like this signing has a good chance of happening. Santana Garrett has worked several NXT matches already and she’s located in NXT’s home state of Florida. Santana is probably most known for a TNA run but her really impressive body of work lies elsewhere. She has competed in Shine as well as Stardom over in Japan. Mixing it up with some of the top, hard hitting women in Japan like Mayu Iwatani and Io Shiari has only helped her improve. She also has a very marketable look and could be a potential star.

2. Evie – I’ve been raving about Evie for quite some time now. She competed in one of my favorite matches this year against Mayu Iwatani in Stardom back in February. Evie wrestled against Nia Jax last October and, like the rest of the girls listed here, has loads of potential. The New Zealand native has it all. The looks, ability, size and likeability. If you follow her on social media, you’ll see that she’s very relatable and down to earth. She even took part in a recent NewLegacy Inc. stream and had a blast playing GTA5 with the guys. Evie is currently one half of the SHIMMER Tag Team Champions with Heidi Lovelace (who also almost made the list) but could do so much more if the WWE picked her up.

1. Nicole Matthews – My number one with a bullet and has been for years. I remember seeing Nicole Matthews debut on SHIMMER 15 I believe. I watched her grow and develop to not just a great performer, but arguably the best in SHIMMER. Her team with Portia Perez, the Canadian Ninjas, was always very enjoyable. She shined in singles matches with Daizee Haze early on and eventually went on to win the SHIMMER Title. There is literally nothing this woman can’t do. She can cut promos in a serious or comedic vein, in the ring and she’s as skilled as anyone in the ring. From Jessie McKay to Madison Eagles to Joshi women, Matthews competes with them all and always delivers. She’s the closest thing to the complete package of women not currently in the WWE.

Mike Hammerlock
5. Jade/Miya Yim – Got no idea how long her TNA contract runs. Got no idea if TNA will still be in existence in another six months (I hope so, but that whole roster could be free agents). She’s 27 and she’s got some nice career highlights: TNA Knockouts Champion, Queen of Knockouts, Shine Champion, first person to win a pro wrestling championship in China. She’s got a full arsenal of kicks and suplexes. She can fly from the top rope or wreck you with a package piledriver. She’s got the ring skills, exotic looks and plenty of charisma (though TNA makes her spit out too many scripted lines). She’s also got decent size (5’7″), which sets her apart from many of the mighty mites following in the footsteps of AJ Lee. I was mildly surprised the WWE didn’t pounce on Yim before she went to TNA and figure it’s only a matter of time before she makes the jump.

4. Heidi Lovelace – Lovelace spends most of her time wrestling against guys. She beat a pile of dudes to win Chikara’s Young Lions Cup and knows how to work stiff with big impact moves to sell that she’s doing damage against bigger opponents. She brings crazy good intensity inside the ring. Also sells like a champ, which makes for great heat segments. Yet it’s really the intensity which will put her over in front of a stadium crowd. If you see a Heidi Lovelace match, you’ll have no doubt Heidi Lovelace is tough as hell. The intergender experience is something the WWE really ought to prize. There’s a group of women out there who are coming up through the ranks, working the high octane style we’re seeing from the men in the Cruiserweight Classic. Lovelace is one of the best.

3. Io Shirai – Shirai is the undisputed ace of the Japanese Stardom promotion, which is where the WWE found Asuka. Shirai is probably the best female high flyer in the business. She can work holds and strong style, because that’s pretty much mandatory in Japan, but her bread and butter is an aerial, babyface moveset that makes crowds go wild. She can rip a house down. If the WWE wants to collect the best in the business, then Shirai is a mandatory acquisition. Even better, as wildly accomplished as she is, she’s only 26. She could spend close to a decade leading the WWE women’s division if they went and got her now.

2. Erica Wiebe – Once upon a time, Olympic-level wrestlers were prime fodder for pro wrestling. They literally know how to grapple and they have elite athleticism. Wiebe is a Canadian who won gold in the 75 kg (165 pound) class at the Rio Olympics. Does she want to be a pro wrestler? I have no idea, but the WWE ought to find out. We’re talking a potential female Brock Lesnar here. Wiebe has dominated international competition for the past three years. She’s at the absolute top of her sport. Women’s wrestling is fairly new at the Olympic level. Traditionally pro wrestling federations couldn’t pluck trained female wrestlers from the amateur ranks. It’s high time to try the best from this new talent stream.

1. Princess Kimber Lee – Back in 2005, wrestling fans were convinced there was no way the WWE would look beyond its bodybuilder fixation to sign a guy like CM Punk, no matter how excellent he might be at pro wrestling. Turns out people were wrong about that. The WWE went out and got the kid who had taken over the indies. Last year Kimber Lee became the first woman to win a men’s federation’s overall title when she became the Chikara Grand Champion. It was fully deserved. She is a complete badass in the ring. At Beyond Wrestling shows in the northeast, she’s legendary. During the past year she and Chris Dickinson had an epic war in that promotion. Fans go crazy for her. We could speculate about what the WWE wants in female wrestlers, but Kimber Lee has the “it” factor. She’s got the innate ability to kick a match to the next level. Ideally you’re not looking for someone who can play the game, you want someone who can change the game. Kimber Lee might just be the woman who can do it.

YOUR TURN KNOW IT ALLS

List your Top Five for this week’s topic in the comment section using the following format:

5. CHOICE: Explanation
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1. CHOICE: Explanation