Power Ranking Alexa Bliss and WWE Raw's Entire Women's Division

The Superstar Shake-up resulted in the reshuffling of the Raw women's division and the ascension of Alexa Bliss to the top spot on the show.

While the Raw Women's Championship around her waist would suggest she is the No. 1 female on the roster from a storyline perspective, where does she rank among her peers in three distinct categories?

Is she as talented an in-ring worker as Bayley or Sasha Banks? How do her microphone skills measure up to Summer Rae's or Alicia Fox's? How might her popularity catapult her past them all?

Despite their recent absences from WWE television, where do Paige and Summer Rae rank among the top women's competitors the red brand has to offer?

As the brand attempts to rebuild its roster, and Superstars like Nia Jax seize opportunities to become the face of women's wrestling on WWE's flagship show, enjoy this in-depth look at all 10 of the Superstars who make up the Raw women's roster, ranked in order according to their scores in the three aforementioned categories.

10. Summer Rae

Credit: WWE.com

Summer Rae has been conspicuous by her absence from WWE programming. At one point, she was recovering from a neck injury, but last month, Dave Meltzer reported officials had no role for her at the time (h/t PWMania), and that appears to have remained the case.

Often overlooked and underrated, she is a hidden gem of sorts whose performance in the rivalry that pitted her and Rusev against Dolph Ziggler and Lana was the silver lining in that dark, dark cloud.

Her inability to establish herself as a significant player in the Women's Revolution, for reasons she cannot necessarily control and a few deficiencies she has not had the opportunity to work on during her time on the main roster, landed her at the bottom of these rankings.

In-Ring Work

There were flashes of an athletic, psychology-based worker inside of Summer Rae during her time in NXT.

Never the most technically sound, she knew how to generate a reaction based on her in-ring psychology and ability to manipulate a crowd. Her arrival to the main roster, coupled with a lack of significant ring time, contributed to the diminishing of the quality of her work.

No matter how driven she may have been to evolve as a worker, the opportunity simply was not available to her. The injury she suffered in 2016 only hurt her ability to achieve in-ring consistency. At a time when the women she worked so closely with in NXT were fueling a revolution on the main roster, she was forced to watch from the sidelines.

Score: 5

Mic Ability

While Summer Rae may be lacking from an in-ring perspective, she is a tremendously skilled talker. Dating all the way back to Florida Championship Wrestling, where she served as the general manager of that incarnation of WWE developmental, the Chicago native has always demonstrated an ability to talk or get her character across to the masses on the microphone.

Whether she was performing alongside Fandango or filling the role of Rusev's rebound after he dropped Lana in 2015, Rae has seized every opportunity to express herself and made the most of it.

There may be questions about her ability to perform between the ropes, but Summer Rae would benefit a Superstar, male or female, in search of a mouthpiece to help them better connect with the WWE Universe.

Score: 7.5

Popularity

A Superstar, regardless of gender, is only as popular as WWE Creative and management allows them to be. Unfortunately, Rae has not found herself on the receiving end of significant pushes all that consistently throughout her main-roster career.

Thus, she has struggled to gain traction with audiences.

In the few brief opportunities in which she was allowed to explore her star potential, such as the aforementioned Rusev storyline, she has excelled and gotten over. Again, though, inconsistency has doomed her character to the state of insignificance in which she finds herself.

One solid push would earn her a greater fan following.Unfortunately, such a thing does not appear imminent.

Score: 6

9. Dana Brooke

Credit: WWE.com

Dana Brooke is still a work in progress, a relatively inexperienced professional wrestler in comparison to the women around her. While it could be argued she belongs at the bottom of this countdown, there have been flashes that suggest she has the tools to become a solid entry into the Raw women's division if she can continue working with the best the industry has to offer to improve.

It will not be easy.

Brooke lacks timing and is at least third or fourth on the depth chart of babyfaces on Monday nights, limiting her television time and the number of opportunities she will have to compete in longer, more significant matches.

Still, she has a solid foundation upon which to build, as fans witnessed during her time in NXT.

In-Ring Work

During her time in NXT, Brooke worked the likes of Asuka and Bayley while partnered with Emma. Together, the two of them could have been a dominant force, but injury and disjointed booking prevented Brooke from getting on any kind of roll between the ropes.

It shows in her in-ring contributions. She is oftentimes a step off of what her opponent is doing—just enough that it becomes noticeable.

Her power-based offense is fun and plays to her history as a fitness model. She is consistently trying to put a twist on her otherwise pedestrian offense that at least makes it look innovative, which she deserves credit for. If she could ever get her timing down to the point she could seamlessly match that of her opponent, she has the potential to be one of the more athletic performers on the roster.

Until that happens, she will continue to look out of place against women who have been competing in squared circles across the globe for the past decade. Consequently, her weaknesses will, unfortunately, remain obvious.

Score: 6

Mic Ability

Brooke has shown an ability to get over on the mic. As a heel in NXT, she was so condescending to her opponents and fellow on-screen personalities, going as far as to pat backstage interviewers Dasha Fuentes and Tom Phillips on the head, that she became the equivalent of this era's Mean Girls.

A lot of the work she put in during her stint with NXT was unraveled when she was promoted to the main roster and stuck as a submissive sidekick to Charlotte.

Add to that the fact her promos sometimes feel forced and unnatural, and you have a performer whose work on the mic, like her exploits in the squared circle, is underdeveloped.

That is more of an indictment on management within WWE for opting to bring her up to Raw and SmackDown Live before she was ready rather than the lack of preparation on the part of the performer. That decision is one that could continue to haunt Brooke throughout her career if she does not develop into the performer she has the potential to be.

Score: 6

Popularity

When she finally turned on Charlotte after months of degradation and humiliation, Brooke generated a loud pop that should have been the start of a sustained babyface push. Instead, she has wandered into a C-level feud with Emma that keeps her on television but has erased any momentum that incident created.

She has not been able to regain that traction and, as a result, is a heat-less character at a time in her career when she cannot afford it.

Score: 5

8. Alicia Fox

Credit: WWE.com

Alicia Fox is the longest-serving member of WWE's women's roster. Part of the company since 2008, she is the one female performer bridging the gap between the Diva Search Era and the Women's Revolution. A fierce competitor with a slightly unhinged personality, she has most recently been featured prominently as part of 205 Live as the love interest of the villainous Noam Dar.

A selfless performer who is as likely to put her fellow wrestlers over as she is to end their nights with a vicious scissors kick, Fox remains a loyal and valuable part of the division. More importantly, she is adaptable, playing both heel and babyface on a whim.

In-Ring Work

The first thing one notices about Fox's ring work is her leg-based strikes. She is adept at using her long legs to deliver sidekicks, ax kicks and the aforementioned scissors kick to punish her opponents. Those kicks have been a staple of her arsenal since she became an active member of the WWE roster some nine years ago.

Those moves set her apart from others on the roster in that no one else uses them. Only Charlotte Flair is physically capable, but she opts for a more ground-based offensive move set.

The second thing one notices about Fox's performance is the dash of sloppiness that permeates her otherwise solid work.

Fox brings a frenetic energy to her matches that creates timing mismatches and can, and oftentimes does, create a disjointed contest. Some of that is her fault for failing to cut a slower pace, but at the same time, she was brought up at a time when the women were given three minutes to perform, including entrances, so a more rushed nature to her performances can almost be understood.

Whether one sympathizes with her or explains away the sloppiness or not is inconsequential. The one certainty is that there is a cap on the score that can be realistically handed out to the former WWE Divas champion.

Score: 7

Mic Ability

There have been several times over the course of her career, either in taped or live interview segments, when she has been a more than competent talker. Whether she was in the midst of a romantic fling or debuting on the main roster as a wedding planner-turned-mistress of Edge, Fox has proved capable of engaging audiences and not coming across as forced or unbelievable. 

Then there is her wild, slightly psychotic character who screams incoherently and can be handled only in small doses.

It is an overbearing persona whose words cannot be deciphered.

When she drifts into that area, the effect of her character is diminished significantly. That is the exact opposite of what mic time should accomplish.

Score: 6

Popularity

Despite her longevity, Fox has never been presented as a major force in the women's division, limiting the level of popularity she has achieved in her near decade with WWE.

When she captured the WWE Divas Championship in 2010, the win came from out of nowhere. She was never allowed to build fan support or momentum for herself in that role, becoming a lame-duck champion. In 2014, she feuded with Paige and underwent the character change that saw her descend into madness and, not so coincidentally, become as over as she had been in years.

Unfortunately for Fox, inconsistent booking has led to her inability to sustain popularity.

Score: 6

7. Paige

Credit: WWE.com

There was a time when Paige was the undeniable future of WWE's women's division. Whichever course the female portion of the roster took, it would do so with her at the helm. The second-generation professional wrestler was different, intense and young enough that management had every reason to believe she would be around for the next decade.

Injuries and controversy in her personal life have forced her to the sidelines, with her most recent match occurring on the June 27, 2016, episode of Raw. She teamed with Sasha Banks to defeat Charlotte and Dana Brooke.

Despite her absence and the uncertainty surrounding her future, Paige remains on the of the most talented and promising members of the Raw women's roster.

In-Ring Work

Paige is a ferocious competitor. From her strikes to her suplexes and slams, everything looks legitimate and, more importantly, looks like it hurts. She is an unforgiving force between the ropes.

A product of the British wrestling scene, she is a stiff worker. Whether she throws an uppercut or catches her opponent with a superkick, there is a snug execution that does not allow for many misses or botches.

With that said, her move set is not an expansive one, making her a more effective babyface than a heel. When she is absorbing a beating and can fire off her signature stuff during a fiery comeback, she is at her best. When a heel, tasked with carrying the match and dictating the pace, her work suffers.

That is not necessarily a bad thing.

Ricky Steamboat would never have been able to channel his tremendous skill set into a villainous role. It was not in his makeup. While Paige has the personality to be a heel, her in-ring work is reflective of a babyface fighting from underneath.

Her best work has come in that role. Look no further than her matches with Emma in NXT or main-roster matches against Charlotte and Nikki Bella.

Unfortunately, circumstances beyond the squared circle have robbed fans of watching the immensely talented performer ply her craft over the past year.

Score: 8

Mic Ability

Paige is a skilled talker whose attitude is one of her greatest strengths. She is sarcastic but can be fierce and serious when the occasion calls for it.

The problem with her, like so many other Superstars in WWE, is the scripted nature of the promos. Sometimes, what she says feels forced or unnatural. Her delivery is not as strong as it should be in those cases, though how can anyone expect her words to be spoken with conviction when they are scripted by someone not entirely in tune with her character's motivations?

It is a major issue that plagues most of the WWE roster, from opening-match guys like Curt Hawkins all the way up the card to Roman Reigns.

Still, even with the unfair restrictions placed on her and her fellow performers by writers, she still conveys her message far better than most of her female counterparts.

Score: 8

Popularity

Unfortunately for Paige, her injury and the issues that led to her disappearance from WWE television have immensely diminished her prospects. Once one of the most over performers of any gender on the roster, her absence has proved the "out of sight, out of mind" theory.

Without television exposure every Monday night, she has fallen into wrestling irrelevancy. She has been in the news for other reasons, which neither fit WWE's family-friendly image nor appeal to a company oftentimes on the receiving end of criticism from her significant other, Alberto Del Rio. 

There is no guarantee Paige will return to Raw, either.

If she does not, if her life outside the ring adversely affects her ability to return to Vince McMahon's company and realize the potential so many saw in her, it will be one of the greater disappointments of this decade.

And fans will miss out on the opportunity to watch her grow into the future Hall of Famer so many had her pegged as when she debuted on Raw the night after WrestleMania XXX and captured her first championship.

Score: 6

6. Nia Jax

Credit: WWE.com

Nia Jax is the most dominant female on the Raw roster.

An unstoppable force of nature who has run over her opponents when the opportunity presents itself, she has a killer aura about her that breeds intimidation. There's also a silent badass that leaps off the screen any time she sets foot in an arena, an element of her act that is starting to catch on with audiences.

The cousin of eight-time WWE champion The Rock, she looks and carries herself like a star. There is a presence about her when she steps through the curtain that few other female performers have. Like Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and even Kevin Owens, Jax owns the fact she does not look like most of her contemporaries, and it suits her well.

In-Ring Work

There is no razzle-dazzle when it comes to Jax's in-ring work. She is a punisher, a performer whose best stuff comes in the form of clubbing blows and slams. She is a throwback to pummeling big men like Barbarian, Warlord and Haku, all of whom knew what they were good at and rarely ventured from their comfort zones.

They did not have to. The difference between those Superstars and Jax is experience.

Those brutes spent years in the industry before finding stardom in WWE. Jax is still relatively green. With not even a handful of years of experience, she still shows that off from time to time.

Sometimes, it manifests itself in the form of mistiming. Other times, she appears lost. To her credit, in both instances, she has enough wherewithal to recover quickly, never bringing too much attention to her missteps.

She is hardly the most adept wrestler on the roster, but what she does, she does well—and with confidence. In an industry wherein performers are constantly under the microscope, deviating from that pattern would do her more harm than good.

Score: 6

Mic Ability

Nia Jax rarely talks.

That is not necessarily a bad thing. Nor will it hurt her score for this section. When she does, it is short, sweet and gets her point across without any of the obnoxiously scripted nonsense the other females on the roster are exposed to.

Talking is not something that necessarily suits her character, so when she does open her mouth on Raw, what comes out of it is intimidating, serious and means something within the context of her ongoing story.

That is beneficial for her as a performer and the growth of her character.

Score: 7

Popularity

Nia Jax's connection to the audience did not form overnight. The response to her early squash matches upon her arrival on Raw was not ideal. They were often greeted with silence. Perhaps that had everything to do with the fact Strowman was pummeling jobbers at the same time in a more vivid and interesting fashion, but they did not inspire much interest.

Then she began mixing it up with the likes of Bayley and Sasha Banks, proving herself as an equal to those women. Her booking helped, for sure. Protected in the sense she is portrayed as an unstoppable force who only falters when two or more of her opponents band together to put her down, she has garnered heat as the monster of the women's division.

Like fans have taken to Strowman and Brock Lesnar, they have also taken to Jax.

Look no further than the May 1 episode of Raw, when Alexa Bliss talked trash on the entire women's roster. That is until she backed up into Jax. The crowd roared at the prospect of the arrogant new champion being dismantled and silenced by the larger, more ferocious and relentless Jax.

Recent booking trends suggest that time will come.

Jax offered backup to Bliss as long as the Raw women's champion understands she is coming for her shot when the time is right.

That story, as it plays out, will only lead to an uptick in Jax's popularity. 

Score: 8

5. Emma

Credit: WWE.com

Emma is one of the most naturally gifted professional wrestlers on the women's roster.

A master technician, she somehow managed to blend superb in-ring skills with an goofy babyface persona in NXT to become one of the first female breakout stars that brand produced. A turn to the dark side allowed her to show off some confidence and cockiness while putting the focus on wrestling.

Unfortunately, the Aussie has proved somewhat injury-prone, which has caused several disruptions in pushes and left her on the sidelines, watching from a distance as other women are credited for igniting the Women's Revolution she jump-started.

In-Ring Skill

There are few women who can claim to be on Emma's level between the ropes.

She has the innate ability to stretch her opponents, utilizing a series of submission holds to ground them and pick their limbs apart. She is also not opposed to throwing her body around the ring in the name of doing her opponent harm, as witnessed with her corner splash, affectionately known to NXT fans as the Emmamite Sandwich.

There is an athleticism and fierceness behind Emma's offense that sets her apart from her opponents.

When she connects with an uppercut in a match with Paige, it looks like it legitimately hurts. When she traps Becky Lynch in the Emma Lock and adds some torque, it appears quite painful. Her offense is snug and has an authenticity that makes it so effective.

It has been a while since fans have had the opportunity to see Emma in an extended, competitive match. Unfortunately, WWE Creative has demonstrated an inconsistency in her booking that has prevented her from routinely mixing it up with the top female performers Raw has to offer.

Her injury history has not helped matters.

In fact, one has to travel all the way back to TakeOver: London to see the incredible in-ring performer spoken of here. On that night, she provided Asuka with her first true test under the NXT banner. Though she lost, she reminded fans of just how talented she is.

Delve even further into the annals, and you will find several incredibly tough matches with the aforementioned Paige and even a few bouts with young, inexperienced Charlotte Flair and Bayley, both of whom Emma helped develop and put over on their respective journeys to the top of the wrestling world.

One of the best wrestlers contracted to WWE, she has probably earned the right to show what she can do against the most talented performers in the company. To do so, she will have to remain healthy and make the most out of the early creative given to her upon her return.

Grade: 9

Mic Ability

If there is one weakness of Emma's overall performance, it is her work on the microphone.

Oftentimes, she comes across nervous or reserved. It is as if the same charisma she demonstrates within the confines of a wrestling match evaporates. She is unable to channel and convey it to the masses verbally. It does not come as easy to her on the mic as it does in the ring.

That has almost certainly hurt her career advancement.

Even someone like Charlotte, who struggled on the mic at first, hit her stride and found a confidence Emma has never been able to attain.

She has personality. It is on full display in her body language and facial expressions. Unfortunately for her, that is not conducive to a strong grade in this category.

Grade: 6

Popularity

Emma's inconsistent availability has severely hurt her popularity with the WWE Universe.

Injuries have halted pushes, the most notable being the 2016 back injury that derailed a program with "The Lass Kicker" Becky Lynch.

With that said, it never felt like WWE Creative was fully behind Emma. Her pushes were half-assed, at best, and she lost more than she won. That is not an effective way to build anyone up in today's WWE.

Switching her character from the fun-loving babyface she was in NXT to a heel, then to an overly sexualized throwback to the Attitude Era before reverting her back to her original heel persona left fans wondering which Emma they should throw their support behind.

The losses and the creative inconsistencies have undeniably hurt her popularity. Even then, the reaction she received when she walked through the curtain the night after WrestleMania 33 suggests there is a WWE Universe that wants to throw their support (or jeers) behind her.

They are just waiting for a reason. Until WWE Creative supplies that, the Aussie's popularity will be adversely affected.

Score: 7

4. Mickie James

Credit: WWE.com

Mickie James will one day take her place alongside former rivals Trish Stratus and Lita in the WWE Hall of Fame.

One of the best wrestlers of her generation, she carried the mantle for the sport in the wake of those women's retirements from the sport. She was the lead babyface of the women's division for nearly four years, and during that time, she kept the art of wrestling alive while the company opted to surround her with former models straight from the Diva Search.

Now back in the company in which she achieved her greatest success, James brings experience and acts as the elder stateswoman of a Raw women's division otherwise featuring bright young stars.

In-Ring Work

Like Alicia Fox earlier in our countdown, James is the product of a time when women were given as little as two minutes to attempt to have a competitive and entertaining wrestling match. Thus, there are times when her work appears rushed and a bit off the mark.

Not always, but there is a sense of urgency when watching James perform, especially on live television.

That is a small criticism given the strength of her work otherwise.

James' forearm strikes, long a trademark of her style, are as realistic as they have ever been. Her kicks are hard, her attacks relentless and her babyface comebacks energetic. This was all on full display at TakeOver: Toronto in 2016, when James challenged Asuka for the NXT Women's Championship. Though she did not win that match, she reminded fans she is one of the finest workers of her generation.

Always a more effective babyface than heel, James' style suits that of an energetic heroine overcoming the oppressive assault of her heel opponent and responding with an explosive comeback. Perhaps that is why her work has improved since making the switch before WrestleMania 33.

Score: 8

Mic Ability

Fans around for James' 2006 megapush remember just how effective she was as a character. As the psycho stalker of Stratus, James was routinely given mic and screen time to get her character over, and she did so with great success.

Able to walk the fine line between overzealous fan and unhinged lunatic, she got a character over that never should have worked as well as it did, and much that can be attributed to her work as a talker.

Her current run, which began on SmackDown Live, has seen James lash out at this generation of female talent for taking credit for a Women's Revolution she believes she started a decade earlier.

Since jumping to Raw, though, she has been silenced. Her lack of creative opportunity has left James an afterthought as the writing team focuses primarily on Alexa Bliss and Bayley.

Not allowed to express herself, her mic abilities have been wasted on Monday nights, at least to this point.

Score: 8

Popularity

The aforementioned lack of attention WWE Creative has given James has hurt her exponentially. The six-time women's champion has not been allowed to build any sort of following or momentum, instead left to wander aimlessly throughout the Raw women's division.

The most recent episode of Raw saw James and Dana Brooke approach Nia Jax, only to be laid out by the surging No. 1 contender. Her status as a tackling dummy will only prove detrimental to her attempts at getting over with the audience.

James is an all-time great, a future Hall of Famer whose contributions to women's wrestling in WWE cannot be denied. She carried the ball for the sport at a time when the company was far more concerned with Diva Search contestants and former models than women who could wrestle.

Unfortunately for her, popularity hinges on a WWE Creative team that has not shown the ability to focus on more than one or two women at a time, as evidenced by the recent events with Bayley and Bliss and last year's series between Sasha Banks and Charlotte.

James does not figure into the women's title picture, so unfortunately it appears the majority of her time will be spent standing around backstage in taped vignettes, with her next opportunity at a substantial story left up to the crack writing team behind the recent mediocre episodes of WWE's flagship show.

Popularity: 7

3. Bayley

Credit: WWE.com

Bayley is a Superstar the likes of which WWE has never produced. She is a role model for young girls, a portion of the audience the company has seemingly never made an effort to appeal to. A former fan, she fought and clawed her way to the get to the show she grew up watching.

A revelation in NXT, she battled Sasha Banks in some of the most emotional matches in WWE history before moving to the main roster, where she captured the Raw Women's Championship in 2017 and successfully defended it at WrestleMania 33.

As the heart of the summer approaches, Bayley is in an unenviable spot. The creative team behind Raw has wildly mismanaged her character to the point audiences are turning on it. Luckily for her, and for the women's division on wrestling's flagship show, she is an elite performer capable of overcoming the issues.

In-Ring Work

Bayley's in-ring work has improved significantly with every passing year.

Upon her arrival in NXT, it was apparent that she was out of her league as a performer under the WWE umbrella. The more she learned at the WWE Performance Center, and the more she worked with fellow Four Horsewomen Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks, the more her skills became apparent.

Her ability to generate sympathy from the WWE Universe is her greatest attribute. At her core, she is the consummate babyface. She excels when fighting from underneath. At her best, she uses body language and facial expressions to convey pain and agony but summons her heart and intestinal fortitude to fight through it.

The babyface comeback she employs is among the best in the business. There is nothing at all complex or overly complicated about it. She does not take any major risks outside of the flying elbow that pays homage to Randy Savage and mixes in just enough pandering to elicit a red-hot reaction from the audience.

Her Bayley-to-Belly finisher is simple yet effective and can be hit out of dozens of different sequences and positions, making it an attribute not all female performers can claim.

Perhaps her greatest trait is her ability to work quality matches with all sizes and shapes.

She can get an excellent bout out of the smaller, less experienced Alexa Bliss. Then, a few weeks later, she can work a classic "big vs. little" formula against the unstoppable Nia Jax. In between, she will deliver classic encounters with Banks and Charlotte, convincing the audience to invest emotionally in her plight in every case.

In a day and age when so many wrestlers are concerned with hitting all of their spots and doing moves for the sake of doing them, Bayley has the ability to draw raw emotion. Like her or not, that is at the heart of what it means to be a live-action performer.

Score: 8.5

Mic Ability

If Bayley has one obvious weakness, it is her mic work.

Often appearing hesitant or nervous, she is clearly not comfortable behind a mic. She admitted as much in the 2017 ECW Press book NXT: The Future is Now, in which she credited the late Dusty Rhodes for working with her on promos every day, no matter how frustrated she became.

No longer part of the developmental brand, her deficiencies on the microphone are still evident.

Sometimes, she appears lost or, perhaps more accurately, is at a loss for words.

While that does not necessarily make for the most fluid wrestling promo, it is not always a bad thing.

Again, Bayley's character is based on the idea she is a lifelong wrestling fan living the dream in an industry she has admired since childhood. Not of the machine that churns out Superstar after Superstar, she is lucky to be competing among so many enormously talented professional wrestlers. 

It makes sense that standing in the ring, staring out into the WWE Universe would inspire awe or discombobulate her momentarily. If that element was played up by announcers a bit more, or even mentioned in an off-hand comment by a rival, her apprehension could easily be worked into her on-screen persona.

The more opportunities Bayley receives on the microphone, the more comfortable she will become and the more likely she is to evolve as a talker.

For now, her score is limited by the mediocrity of her promos.

Score: 6.5

Popularity

Coming out of NXT, there was no Superstar more beloved by the WWE audience than Bayley. She was of the fans, by the fans and for the fans. They embraced her and helped her rise to a level of stardom few could have expected for the Californian.

That wild enthusiasm for the hugger continued on Raw, where her arrival to the main roster was greeted with a thunderous ovation and unyielding excitement.

Unfortunately, WWE Creative's inability to grasp what made Bayley so effective and popular in NXT became all too apparent. She was presented as a front-runner, a Superstar who could beat Charlotte, Banks, Jax and others on her own. It lost sight of the fact Bayley became so beloved because she did not always win but always gave everything she had.

It was the most endearing part of her character, and in short order, it was stripped away by WWE Creative.

The effect has been obvious. At Extreme Rules, the fans in Baltimore booed Bayley and cheered mean girl Alexa Bliss to victory in a Kendo Stick on a Pole match. That bout reflected everything wrong with Bayley's main-roster persona in that it portrayed her as an innocent good girl unwilling to stick up for herself and unleash her inner beast when necessary.

That is a far cry from the Bayley who, after months of criticism and defeats at the hands of Banks, tore into her rival at TakeOver: Brooklyn and obliterated her with an inverted head-scissors from the top rope before delivering a Bayley-to-Belly to capture gold.

Like any comic book that loses the heart of its character and suffers fan backlash, WWE Creative is learning a difficult lesson about what happens to personalities that no longer reflect the ideals and characteristics that once made them so beloved.

All of that taken into consideration, Bayley is still wildly popular. Fans want to cheer her, they want to see her succeed and they pop for her entrance in arenas all over the country. The recent hardships, as ugly and unnecessary as they have been, are not enough to greatly diminish what probably should have been a 10 in this category.

Score: 9

2. Alexa Bliss

Credit: WWE.com

Perhaps no Superstar came from out of nowhere during the most recent brand extension to captivate fans, achieve success and break through to the extent that Alexa Bliss has.

The first performer to win both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships has become someone WWE Creative can book entire divisions around, as fans are witnessing on Monday nights.

Little Miss Bliss has embraced the increased spotlight and proved everyone who doubted her ability to succeed at the next level wrong. This, despite never having a sustained championship push in NXT, where she was often overshadowed by Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Bayley and Sasha Banks.

Not looking back anytime soon, she has a bright future as one of the elite female performers on the WWE roster.

In-Ring Work

Bliss will never wow fans with an immense array of wrestling holds and maneuvers. She is not a skilled technical wrestler like SmackDown's Natalya or a flashy worker like Sasha Banks. What she does, though, is stick to what she knows and integrates enough of her character into it that the matches benefit anyway.

A classic heel, she insults opponents with slaps and hair pulls but also draws on her past as a cheerleader to generate athletic twists on traditional wrestling moves.

There is nothing overly complex about her skill set. Nor does there have to be. She is such an effective character worker that everything else falls nicely into place. She can play the overconfident villain, stepping over her opponent as if they were a piece in the yellow brick road to greatness. She can play the cowardly heel, begging off as a babyface mounts her comeback.

In either case, the narrative of the match is preserved because Bliss takes time to work on the little things rather than expanding her arsenal with 12 different variations of a suplex.

Could her timing use work? Of course. She has grown as a performer at such a rate that it is easy to forget Bliss has only been a professional wrestler for three-and-a-half years. Factor in she was rarely given the opportunity to perform in high-profile matches during her time in NXT, and it is clear Bliss has a lot of work to do before she becomes as proficient at the nuances of the mat game.

Fortunately for her, she has that athletic foundation and the character traits to allow her to deliver a satisfying match without having to expose her weaknesses.

Is her score in this category going to live up to those of Bayley or Banks? Of course not. But it is significantly better than it probably has any right to be thanks to an innate ability to manipulate crowds through body language, facial expressions and theatrics.

Score: 7.5

Mic Ability

Bliss shut down the "WHAT?!" chant.

That should be all one needs to know about her ability to command attention and convey her point on the microphone. She did something some of the biggest names the industry has seen over the past 15 years have tried and failed to do by turning the stupid chant around on the disrespectful fans who still think it is 2002.

To limit Bliss' ability to her containing the maligned chant would be unfair. The former NXT star embraced her role as the lead heel on both SmackDown Live and Raw and takes great pride in unloading her venomous insults on any babyface stupid enough to confront her.

She is so believable on the microphone it would not be out of the realms of possibility to believe the Raw women's champion is as mean and cold-hearted as she appears. She speaks with conviction but can also be sarcastic and funny when the occasion arises.

There will be some who suggest she comes across as scripted from time to time, and they would not be wrong. So much of a Superstar's presentation away from their in-ring performance (and sometimes that too) is scripted these days that the ability to be original or unique is nearly nonexistent.

In Bliss' case, those instances are far and few between. She puts enough of a personal twist on her performance that it cannot be accused of being too scripted, rehearsed or otherwise contrived.

The elephant in the room is the horrible Bayley: This is Your Life television segment that became the talk of the wrestling world in the wake of its inclusion on the May 29 episode of Raw.

Despite horrific writing and poor conception on the part of WWE Creative, Bliss did everything she could to hold it together. She went above and beyond, working circles around the stiff and wooden actors she was given to perform with in an attempt to make chicken salad out of, well, you know.

The strength of Bliss' performance has always been her mean-girl attitude and her ability to get herself, and whatever program she is in, over on the microphone. That remains true and will help her succeed in an industry as much about character growth as it is about in-ring contributions.

Score: 9

Popularity

Bliss is arguably the most popular female star on the roster.

Much of that can be attributed to the attitude she brings to her performance. She is not shy. Nor is she timid. She is not forced or wooden. She has personality, she knows she is good and she carries herself like a star. The audience responds in kind, treating her like a big deal.

That she has been presented as the face of the women's division on wrestling's most prominent show does not hurt. Making it on Raw is always guaranteed to earn you more fanfare than striking it big on SmackDown Live, something Bliss recently found out.

Popularity sky-rockets with increased exposure. That popularity should continue to increase as long as management continues to recognize the star it has on its hands.

Bliss is a heel who is cool, pleasing to the eye and is only just beginning her journey to sports entertainment supremacy. The future is hers, and fans recognize that. They want to join her for the ride. That will only serve to benefit her as she progresses.

Score: 9.5

1. Sasha Banks

Credit: WWE.com

"The Boss" Sasha Banks is the most complete female performer on the WWE roster.

That is a loaded statement given the depth of talent the Raw and SmackDown Live women's divisions contain, but when taking into account every facet of her performance, it is difficult to disagree.

A young performer who recognized the importance of developing a character while in NXT, she broke through and became an integral part of the Women's Revolution. Her work with Bayley, in particular, earned rave reviews and led to her arrival on Raw in 2015.

Over the course of the year that followed, Snoop Dogg's little cousin would make history with Charlotte, wrestling in television and pay-per-view main events as part of their championship rivalry. And with every passing week, she would continue to stake her claim to a spot at the top of this list.

Ring Work

Banks is the fiercest worker in WWE. She brings an aggression to her performance between the ropes others, outside of Paige, simply cannot match. When Banks ratchets up the intensity, she is as believable a worker as there is in the company. Every strike looks like it hurts, which is key to getting over as a female in the male-driven world of professional wrestling.

Not only are her strikes convincing, but Banks also employs a devastating submission in The Bank Statement that she precedes with an attack concentrated on the head, neck and back of her opponent.

Her work as a babyface forced her to alter what she did so well in NXT. She no longer controlled the pace of the match, so the offense dedicated to wearing her opponent down was no longer necessary. Instead, she was tasked with fighting from underneath and making a convincing babyface comeback that would ignite crowd excitement and make them believe she could come back from the match-long beating she had endured.

She excelled in that role, showing enough energy that fans would get behind her as she overcame a focused attack by Charlotte or a massive beatdown by Nia Jax.

It also allowed her in-ring charisma to shine. Whereas her performance was once dictated by being The Boss, she could pair the inspirational babyface shtick with her abundantly confident personality to great success.

The Bank Statement remained her finisher, staying over as an effective match-closer despite the shift in character, and Banks excelled.

Never afraid to take a risk, no matter how much it may hurt her small frame, Banks adopts a "fight until you can't fight anymore, then fight some more" mentality, and it has helped make every high-profile match she competes in feel that much more meaningful.

She may not be as technically proficient as others, and her arsenal may be a bit unconventional, but Banks is among the top two or three wrestlers on the women's roster without pause.

Score: 9

Mic Ability

Banks is one of those Superstars who would probably benefit from being allowed to be herself.

Though her promos are anything but bad, they do feel forced far too often to be entirely effective. Watching her perform on the mic, it oftentimes appears as though she is trying to find the best way to deliver words that are written for her rather than having the freedom to alter things to fit her own personality.

It is the one element of her performance that holds her back.

When watching Banks in a seated interview, such as on WWE Network's Breaking Ground or WWE 24, her passion is evident. While there is an influx of arrogance and attitude, she is relatable because she cares so much about the same industry the fans are so engrossed in.

Oftentimes, her Boss character feels as if it is amplified for the sake of the audience rather than being allowed to roll out organically, as was often the case in NXT.

Still, despite the creative issues facing her and her ability to properly get her character across to the masses, she still speaks with confidence and an attitude that reflects the personality at the heart of her persona.

Less interference from WWE Creative, and this may have been a runaway for Banks.

Score: 7.5

Popularity

Listen to the pop Sasha Banks generates when the opening chords of her theme song play.

This, after inconsistent booking on the part of WWE Creative. That is indicative of a performer fans have a great deal of respect for and a character that is bulletproof.

Like Bliss, she carries herself like a star, and fans buy into her as such. She is confident, and that self-belief is key to her continued connection with audiences who are tired of the cookie-cutter good guys who smile, take pictures with kids and slap hands.

Add to it the swag with which she approaches her performance, and you have a certain cool factor that appeals to the masses. That elevates her popularity and helps her to overcome issues with booking and inconsistent pushes.

As long as WWE does not take steps toward turning her into a dancing sidekick to Rich Swann, which it teased during the buildup to and at Extreme Rules, she will remain the popular female performer capable of striking it with casual and die-hard fans alike when given the opportunity.

Score: 9.5