10 Best Brawlers In Women's Wrestling History, Ranked
Jessica Wilkins While technical wrestling helped build the wrestling industry and technically sound wrestlers are often celebrated as some of the best in the world, there is also a place in professional wrestling for brawling fights. Wrestlers who are able to throw fists may not always do so in a visually pleasing way, but that does not mean it is any less impressive than executing moves. Putting on a good brawl is not as common in wrestling in comparison to technical wrestling, particularly for female wrestlers.
RELATED: 12 Toughest Women In WCW History, Ranked
Finding women wrestlers who can brawl with the best of them is not particularly easy. Considering that the wrestling industry promoted looks over talent for so many years, some women did not show off their physicality in this way. However, those that did are among the most feared wrestlers in the entire industry.
10 Masha Slamovich
In a short period of time in mainstream wrestling, Masha Slamovich has quickly entered the conversation for being one of the toughest women to step inside a ring. Her no-nonsense style has made her a must-watch talent and she is now getting the mainstream recognition for it.
Now a fixture with Impact Wrestling, Slamovich has been featured in high-profile matches for both Pro Wrestling Guerilla and Game Changer Wrestling, both of which have featured brutal brawls and hardcore stunts that have made headlines. The future looks bright for Slamovich, but it looks very dim for her opponents.
9 Jazz
There are few women who can claim to have worked in ECW full-time, and Jazz is one of them. With an incredible toughness that has created a long career fighting both women and men, Jazz has traveled the world and used her signature strength and fits to create a consistent career.
RELATED: Emma & 11 Other Forgotten Names Who Impacted WWE’s Women’s Evolution
As the longest reigning modern-era NWA World Women's Champion, Jazz has proven her toughness in multiple promotions. Jazz is still performing into her fifties and is still just as tough as the day she started, with few wrestlers daring to mess with the Female Fighting Phenom.
8 Luna Vachon
The Vachon family is known as one of the most dangerous and wild families in all of professional wrestling, and Luna took incredible pride in that legacy. Across numerous promotions around the world, Luna was as tough as they came inside of the ring.
Many fans would argue that Luna was not an appreciated talent during her time as an active wrestler. Particularly during her WWE stints, she was rarely given the time to showcase her talents, but anytime that she did fans were treated to a wild brawler who would take down her opponents with reckless abandon. Thankfully, today fans realize just how important Luna was to the evolution of women's wrestling.
7 Shayna Baszler
As more mixed martial artists transition to professional wrestling, it is easy for fans to forget how legitimately tough the fighters are. By the time Shayna Baszler began wrestling in 2015, she had already been a feared kickboxer and fighter and was one of the most feared competitors in the industry.
RELATED: 5 Best WWE Women's PPV Main Events (& 5 Worst)
With strong grappling and striking abilities, Baszler was a force to be reckoned with in combat sports and she transitioned easily into the world of wrestling by using those skills. Baszler is not afraid to brawl when it is necessary and she has already proven that she can do it in all areas of the fight game.
6 Bull Nakano
In the mid-nineties, women's wrestling was hardly a focal point in North American professional wrestling programming. When it was featured, it was not hard-hitting action. However, Japanese audiences were much more used to women competing in brawls, which is precisely where Bull Nakano got her start.
Nakano began competing in All-Japan Women's Pro Wrestling in 1983 at a young age but began to wrestle a much more hard-hitting style later in her career. With imposing height on her side, Nakano used her size and strength to dominate opponents and is considered a legendary competitor in Japan to this day.
5 Jamie Hayter
British wrestling has gained considerable attention over recent years, and fans from all over the world are now very appreciative of the hard-hitting style. Today, there is no female wrestler who can execute the style better than Jamie Hayter, who is in the midst of a career-high due to her reign as AEW Women's Champion.
Despite her height and small frame, Hayter is able to throw punches with the best of them and has established herself as a feared competitor. Whether it is in AEW, in the UK or an extended stint in Japan, Hater is one of the best on the current wrestling scene.
4 Mickie Knuckles
While death match wrestling may not be every wrestling fan's cup of tea, others consider it to be the most exciting form of professional wrestling. The blood and gore of death matches attracts fans due to the sheer brutality of the matches, which is the exact type that Mickie Knuckles has built a career on.
RELATED: 8 Valid Reasons Why Fans Don't Like Hardcore Wrestling
While Knuckles has only had brushes with mainstream success, she has built a name for herself on the independent circuit as one of the hardest hitters in the game. Weapons like light tubes and glass may be a big part of her repitoire, but there is no denying that Mickie Knuckles would be perfectly comfortable dismantling opponents with her bare hands too.
3 Awesome Kong
Awesome Kong is the kind of wrestler who truly broke the mould of women's wrestling due to her look, size and strength in comparison to other women around her. Very few women have dominated companies the way Kong did, particularly at the height of her Impact Wrestling run in 2007.
With two reigns as Knockouts Champion, Kong was one of the women who helped make the division such a success. While she officially retired from active competition in 2020, there is no denying the impact that she had on the wrestling industry as someone who was capable of dismantling any opponent in her path.
2 LuFisto
Despite LuFisto's recent exposure to mainstream wrestling not being well received by fans, there is no denying the impact that she had on women's wrestling. The Canadian independent scene may not seem like an impactful place in comparison to the United States, but Lufisto left her mark on history.
By working hard to change legislation for wrestling, LuFisto made it legally possible for her to perform intergender matches in Canada because her brawling style is more conducive to wrestling men. Due to her incredible strength and striking power, LuFisto has always maintained a spot in the intergender ranks and takes pride in being able to take on any challengers, regardless of gender.
1 Aja Kong
For almost four decades, Aja Kong has been a major part of the women's wrestling scene around the world, and she has ruled with an iron fist. As a mainstay in Japan, Kong has maintained a menacing hold on her spot as one of the most feared competitors to this day.
She uses her size and strength to throw opponents around like rag dolls in ways that few wrestlers have ever been able to do. Aja Kong deserves the recognition of being one of the few wrestlers to maintain a career for numerous decades, and for also being one of the most feared wrestlers of her generation.
NEXT: 10 Best Technical Wrestlers In Women's Wrestling History, Ranked