Peacockery Pick: WWE 50 Greatest Women Superstars (Episode 1 – #50-36)

It’s the 50 Greatest Women Superstars as determined by WWE. A limited run series, this aired early in 2021 on Peacock and WWE Network.

Episode 1 covers entrants 50-36.

Sarah Schreiber is our host. She notes we are looking at late 1993 to today, as in when the Women’s Title came back that one time before getting the trash can treatment. Outside of Moolah, we didn’t get many women before 1993. Well, we didn’t get many of them for a while after 1993 either.

This is based on in-ring accomplishments and creating legendary moments. Being a WWE-produced list, it probably also has a small basis on their standings with the company.

50: Toni Storm – We meet Toni Storm and her glasses. Nigel McGuiness says she’s an 80s rock star, which 2023 Toni might disagree with. Toni won her way to the finals of the Mae Young Classic and a title shot at Evolution. She won the NXT UK Women’s Title from Rhea Ripley in a heck of a battle (go watch any of their matches). She focused on dominance in NXT.

Toni, of course, has gone on to win the AEW Women’s Title and become quite the actress.

49: Kaitlyn – I loved some Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn joined season three of NXT and joined forces with AJ Lee. She would go on to win the Diva’s title from Eve Torres, have a rivalry with AJ, and prove herself dominant.

She would largely go on to leave the wrestling business post-WWE, but did reappear for a Mae Young Classic run.

48: Kay Lee Ray – KLR wins the NXT UK Women’s Title and holds the title for over 500 days. She wants the best in the world.

Current viewers know her as Alba Fyre, half of the witchy tag team with Isla Dawn that needs to be BACK ON TV.

47: Sonya Deville – With a background in MMA, she amassed victories over top superstars. Her dominance was on display in the first Elimination Chamber match with partner Mandy Rose, but soon it would get to Sonya being tired of being second tier to Randy. She’s a fighter, y’all.

Since this aired, she found her way into a leadership position on SmackDown, got into it with Naomi, and had a brief women’s tag title run before being derailed by injury.

46: Shotzi Blackheart – My girl! Shotzi says she’s our daddy and rolls up on her tank. Who am I to argue? She turned heads in NXT. She got a big match against Io Shirai, which led to her leading a team at War Games. Really she should be on every War Games.

Since this, she’s hopped shows a bit, is usually the host of the NXT version of Halloween Havoc, has a supernatural exploration show with Scarlett, and is currently on SmackDown.

45: Kelly Kelly – Lots of good play-by-play mentions for Kelly, but we cycle back to her debut in ECW as an exhibitionist. She won a fan vote on Raw, earning her a title shot against Brie Bella, which she won. Jerry Lawler made loud Jerry Lawler noises.

In her post-WWE career, she appeared on the show “WAGS,” has her own wine, and is an influencer on Instagram.

44: Candice LeRae – Candice jumps off things and will do anything to get an edge. Her debut was in the Mae Young Classic, then joining Johnny Gargano in NXT. After disappointments, she became the Poison Pixie and is a big part of The Way.

Unfortunately not much has happened with her in-ring career since this, though hopefully she’ll get a regular shot.

43: Nikki Cross – We meet the twisted sister version of Nikki from Sanity. She was a big deal and had a Last Woman Standing Match against Asuka that holds up today. She joined SmackDown, minus Sanity. She would team with Alexa Bliss to win tag gold.

Beyond this special, she would become a superhero, tag champion with Rhea Ripley and a 24/7 Champion. She’s on the Raw roster, mostly on Main Event lately.

42: Layla – Layla would debut and quickly become the first British Women’s champion. She formed LayCool with Michelle McCool and co-owned the titles.

She retired in 2015 and has mostly stayed out of the spotlight.

41: Ember Moon – Ember appears at Takeover with red eyes, an aura and a string of wins. She would win NXT Women’s Champion, then make her way to Raw. She came back to NXT, where they still couldn’t figure out how to use her.

After this countdown, she left WWE and is competing for AEW and Ring of Honor, primarily being the reason I pay for the HonorClub app.

40: Eve Torres – Another Divas Seach Winner, Eve wins the Divas Title pretty quickly on Raw. She had a big WrestleMania moment at WM 28, teaming with Beth Phoenix.

Nowadays she is a speaker and self-defense instructor who makes very sporadic appearances on WWE TV.

39: Lacey Evans – She has that retro look and the “Women’s Right.” You know the story. She also competed in the first women’s match in Saudi Arabia.

As we all know, she has repackaged 83 times before leaving WWE a few months ago. Now she runs a cafe.

38: Jazz – This seems LOW. We learn about Jazz destroying men and women in ECW. Next, she joins the Alliance and sets her sights on Trish Stratus. She does it, winning the Women’s Title and having a standout match at WrestleMania.

After her WWE run, she had a record-setting title run in NWA and is currently in the mix of Impact.

37: Maryse – I’d put her 20 spots higher just for being actually perfect. Breaking in via the Diva Search, she earned a full time contract and was going for Michelle McCool’s title. Maryse set a record run with the title that wouldn’t be broken for five years. She would team with Miz to face John Cena and Nikki Bella at WrestleMania.

Since this aired, she’s continued to appear sporadically with Miz as well as co-starring in their reality show.

36: Nia Jax – She’s not like most girls. She steamrolled through NXT, then moved to Raw. Her friendship with Alexa Bliss would fall apart, with Nia winning the Raw Women’s Title at WrestleMania.

She left the company but has recently returned to pick a fight with Mami which seems ill advised. She also screamed, “MY HOLE!” on television.

That’s part one, what do you think? Who do you think WWE will put as #1 on their countdown?