Which WWE Superstar is the Real Future of Women’s Wrestling?

Without question, women’s wrestling has never been more popular than it is in 2018. WWE has made a concerted effort to wash away the grease of the Attitude Era and present their female Superstars in the exact light as their men. While we all know who will carry the ball for the men’s division in the future, the face of women’s wrestling is a far less discussed topic.

At this very second, there are exactly five female Superstars who have potential to be the face of WWE‘s women’s division. To be frank, this could be a list of four, but I’m feeling generous today.

In order of likelihood:

1. Charlotte Flair

2. Ronda Rousey

3. Sasha Banks

4. Nia Jax

5. Asuka

Now if Asuka has a Shawn Michaels-esque showing at WrestleMania, then I’ll have my myself a plate of bar-b-qued crow, but I think that she’s been drastically inflated by orchestrated invincibility. But when Ronda Rousey inhales that streak at WrestleMania 35, what exactly does Asuka have left?

Anyways.

Even if Asuka has a dynamite match, a lot of that will be due to her opponent and number one this list, Charlotte Flair. The SmackDown Women’s Champion laid low in 2017, but she’s already back at the apex of the division in the first quarter of 2018.

Because this is professional wrestling, she is most certainly losing to Asuka at WrestleMania (remember, Asuka has to stay perfect for Rousey). But the loss will free up Charlotte to jump to RAW in the Superstar Shake-Up later this spring.

During Charlotte’s vacation to SmackDown, RAW has added two WWE Hall of Famers: Ronda Rousey and the emerging Nia Jax. As they rose, it was Sasha Banks who endured the most stagnant year of her career. Despite being one of the purest talents in the company, it seems that WWE is hesitant to hand the keys over to Banks. A lot of her running in place is due to WWE spending the second half of 2017 clearing the road for the arrival of Asuka and Rousey. And that poor pace just landed Banks in the Lady Pimp WrestleMania Battle Royal.

Despite all of the noise about Rousey, Nia Jax reached a point where she’s demanding our attention. Her ceiling may be infinite, but we need to see a little more data before we can anoint her. Besides, the best question surrounding Nia Jax is who will be the next Superstar to beat her.

That puts us somewhere between Charlotte and Rousey. Despite what you’ll read on Twitter, Ronda Rousey has been tremendous. Considering she’s only a few months into her WWE journey, we can only say she’s overachieved. Sure, she’s had a few wonky spots, but you’d have to be ignorant to dismiss her potential. If she can flash an innate ability to capture a crowd while being proficient in the ring, WWE may have just stumbled into a prettier version of Brock Lesnar.

But those are some lofty expectations for someone who has yet to have a match.

So that leaves Charlotte, who right now is actually the greatest women’s wrestler of all time. And at 31-years old she’s just entering her prime, even more, she’s about to have about to have her best supporting cast yet.

Like Nia Jax, Asuka, Sasha Banks and Ronda Rousey, Charlotte is a rare talent but comes without a caveat. While her peers fight to establish their earliest characters, Charlotte has already developed heel and face personas in less than 4 years. Look for her to revert back to her evil ways later this year but that switch will be a welcome change—the throne awaits its sinister queen.