Over the past several years, WWE has shown more of an interest in booking strong women’s wrestling, with a number of stars truly breaking out as some of the most popular WWE Superstars regardless of gender.
2022 would not be a great year for women’s wrestling within WWE, thanks to a number of issues including inconsistent booking, a depleted roster for much of the year thanks to releases, injuries, and the exits of Naomi & Sasha Banks. With a smaller roster on hand for the main roster women of WWE, these would be the 10 best women’s wrestlers in WWE for 2022.
10/10 Alexa Bliss
Returning to the ring after an extended hiatus at the 2022 Elimination Chamber, the first half of Alexa Bliss’ 2022 would see her wandering up and down the card as a part of the Monday Night Raw roster without any real purpose.
During the year, Alexa would fail to accomplish anything of real note aside from a brief run as WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion alongside Asuka. The end of her 2022 would provide a bit of a kick, as she would regularly be seen teasing a return to an alliance with Bray Wyatt while she would also score a shot at Bianca Belair’s WWE Raw Women’s Championship for early 2023.
9/10 Ronda Rousey
Making a surprise return in the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble, Ronda Rousey would win the match, one of the worst-rated WWE Matches of the year, before challenging Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 38. The Baddest Woman on the Planet would fail to win the match at Mania, one that was a bit polarizing to fans, though she would capture the belt at WrestleMania: Backlash.
Ronda would have a brief reign as SmackDown Women’s Champion, before being cashed in on by Liv Morgan. The two would feud over the Summer and into the Fall, with Rousey turning full heel and becoming champion once more at Extreme Rules.
8/10 Dakota Kai
After being released in early 2022, Dakota Kai would make a genuinely shocking return to the company at SummerSlam, a move directly made by Triple H following his rise to power backstage. Kai would join Bayley & IYO SKY to form the Damage Control faction on Monday Nights, and would also capture the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship twice alongside SKY.
Dakota would take part in the first-ever main roster WarGames match as well, wrestling the majority of the match as one of the most experienced WarGames participants from her time in WWE NXT. As she heads into 2023, Kai will hopefully get something more to sink her teeth into.
7/10 Asuka
Always a popular name within WWE, Asuka would have a strong year in terms of in-ring performances within WWE, though her storylines would mostly fall flat or be nonexistent. Tending to be used as a side character, Asuka would feature in one very strong PPV Championship Challenge, as she would wrestle Bianca Belair & Becky Lynch inside of Hell in a Cell.
Towards the end of the year, Asuka would begin teasing a return to a more serious character, something that she used during her time in Japan before joining WWE, so there is a chance that her 2023 will be a major turn for someone who has deserved much more over the past few years.
6/10 Liv Morgan
After having a rise to superstardom in 2021, Liv Morgan would become an even bigger star in 2022. Kicking off her year by continuing a feud with Becky Lynch, Liv would eventually form a brief team with Rhea Ripley that saw the two vying for tag team gold on the main roster. Following Ripley’s not-so-shocking heel turn against Liv, the young babyface would align with AJ Styles and Finn Balor for a brief feud with the Judgment Day, eventually ending with Balor turning heel and taking over the faction.
Liv would finally find true success when she would win the Money in the Bank Briefcase, successfully cashing in on Ronda Rousey and becoming SmackDown Women’s Champion for a few months, even defeating Rousey at SummerSlam. Since losing the belt, Liv’s stock has started to fall in terms of popularity and overall interest, so 2023 should be a very interesting year for her career as she looks to make a strong comeback.
5/10 Bayley
Making her long-awaited return to action at SummerSlam, Bayley would shock the WWE Universe by debuting a brand new faction, with her bringing Dakota Kai and IYO SKY out as her new teammates. Together, the women would be known as Damage Control, a unit that has had some not-so-great booking as a whole.
While Bayley’s consistent losses to Bianca Belair were extremely questionable, killing Bayley’s momentum and hurting her overall presentation, it is hard to deny that she didn’t give it her all in each of her performances. Still one of the most consistently great women’s wrestlers in WWE, Bayley’s 2022 provided a number of strong matches, though better booking would have made it even better.
4/10 IYO SKY
Making her main roster debut at SummerSlam alongside Dakota Kai & the returning Bayley, IYO SKY would make quite the impact on Monday Night Raw throughout the second half of 2022. Always being a standout during her time in NXT, IYO would prove to be a great addition to the main roster’s women’s division from the jump.
During this period, SKY would capture the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship twice alongside Dakota Kai, while the duo would also wrestle on major shows including Clash at the Castle, Crown Jewel, and in the first-ever main roster version of WarGames. While she has been a great tag wrestler in 2022, in the coming new year, IYO SKY is a name to watch as a breakout singles star.
3/10 Rhea Ripley
Rhea Ripley saw a significant rise in popularity in 2022, with her spending the first few months of the year as a popular babyface on Raw, aligning with Liv Morgan to form a new fan-favorite babyface tag-team. With WWE being WWE however, the duo would not last long, as Ripley would turn on Liv and would find a new team in the form of Judgment Day.
Under Edge, Ripley struggled, though once Finn Balor took control of the faction, and once Triple H became the creative force behind WWE, Ripley’s stock would continually rise in the company. Dominant performances, fun character work, and strong matches would help Ripley have a memorable 2022 during her time on Raw, even getting physical with a number of male wrestlers for intergender action.
2/10 Becky Lynch
Entering 2022 as Raw Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch would have yet another great year as a singles star within WWE. The Irish superstar would kickoff her year with a strong title defense against Liv Morgan on an episode of Monday Night Raw, as well delivering a fairly underrated match against Doudrop at the 2022 Royal Rumble PPV.
Becky would get the chance for a marquee singles match with Lita before dropping her championship to Bianca Belair in one of the best women’s matches of the year at WrestleMania 38. Though she would suffer an injury during the Summer, Becky’s 2022 was still overwhelmingly strong as she looks to continue that trend in 2023.
1/10 Bianca Belair
Carrying the WWE Raw Women’s Championship since WrestleMania, where she defeated Becky Lynch in what is undeniably the best WWE Women’s Match of 2022, Bianca Belair would spend the year on top of WWE’s red brand. Her reign would be defined by her feuds with Becky, which saw her face off against The Man on two more occasions, once inside of Hell in a Cell, and again at SummerSlam, as well as her program with Bayley.
Inside of the ring, Bianca proved to be one of the strongest women in all of wrestling, continually showcasing her strong power-based moves while remaining a popular babyface champion within WWE. 2022 was the year of Bianca Belair, as she now marches into the new year with championship gold still around her waist.
