Creating the Ultimate Women's WWE Superstar from Today's Roster
To be an effective WWE Superstar, a wrestler needs to have it all: looks, charisma, athleticism, a connection with the crowd, the right mindset to put it all together and the luck to pull it off.
Nobody is perfect, and there are always trade-offs with people who have exhibited great technical abilities but no promo skills or who look like a million bucks but can't walk to the ring without tripping over their feet.
It's impossible to find someone who has it all, so WWE has a wide range of talent to fill the landscape.
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But what if there were a way to assemble these elements together and create a Frankenstein's monster of a WWE Superstar with the best of all worlds?
Who would be used as benchmarks in order to make this perfect wrestler with all the tools and none of the drawbacks?
In this two-part series, we will be breaking down some of the components available to us from today's roster to assemble our ideal male and female wrestlers piece by piece. In honor of the announcement of WWE Evolution, let's start with the women.
The Look
Even though the perception of women's wrestling is steadily moving beyond the conventions of the past, the female Superstars' presentation in WWE still doesn't quite match up to that of the men.
In older eras, looks took clear priority over wrestling ability in almost all cases, and there are still remnants of that attitude today. While women are presented more as athletes than ever before, WWE still produces content focused solely on their looks that would be unlikely to be seen for a male superstar.
The introduction of Nia Jax as a main-event player on Raw has changed perceptions to a degree, but for the most part, WWE's roster suggests it still prefers smaller women. Just look at the popularity of Alexa Bliss for an example of that, and how Mandy Rose's character in particular focuses entirely on her looks.
While there is now diversity in hair colors, ethnicity and sexuality, wrestlers whose looks combine athleticism with beauty will have an advantage over others as they are more widely marketable both outside and inside the ring.
Stacy Keibler was a gorgeous model with her legs as her selling point, but she couldn't wrestle. Chyna had the look of a bodybuilder, but was, sadly, treated like a monster in some ways. Nowadays, a healthy mix of everything is what is most desirable.
With all this in mind, NXT's Lacey Evans combines good looks with the muscles to look like a powerful threat, and she has a distinct style that works with her character, making her the pick in this section.
The Personality
A WWE Superstar's character is a major part of their package because it will drive storytelling.
It's hard to find too many women in WWE who have much of a character beyond just being an enthusiastic and passionate babyface or a cowardly heel.
There isn't much of anything separating someone like Asuka from Ember Moon or Vanessa Borne from any other woman who just thinks she's better than everyone.
Nikki Cross is one of the few with some actual character traits, but playing the part of a violent maniac isn't for everyone and wouldn't be the ideal baseline to go with. That goes double for the members of The Riott Squad, who act like discount versions of Cross.
Instead, it would be better to pick someone like Bayley for a babyface, as she projects positivity, and someone like The IIconics for heels, as they are about as obnoxious as anyone gets.
Being able to exude that character with charisma and project that to the audience through promos is integral to getting this across.
When someone can't cut a promo, it severely limits their ability to connect to the WWE Universe and push storylines along by convincing the audience to believe the act.
There's nobody better on the mic in the women's division than Bliss, who becomes increasingly confident with every promo and is able to get her lines out without stumbling over her words or coming across like a bad actress.
Since she's able to sell the arrogant Goddess of WWE character so well through her mic skills, she is the go-to example for this part of the formula.
The Ring Skills
If you talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. Therefore, the ideal female Superstar in WWE needs to be able to get the job done in the ring.
The roster has tons of supremely talented women to choose from in this regard, which is amazing considering how bleak things were just a few years back.
For the most part, you can pick almost anybody and feel confident in their technical abilities and athleticism.
Some are certainly less advanced than others. Lana, for example, is still relatively new to this facet of performing, while Carmella has never had the prowess of a super-credible competitor.
Natalya is a great example of someone who always knows what she's doing in the ring, but we can do even better if we are looking for some extra pizazz.
Another contender is Mickie James, who is one of the most decorated women in WWE history, spanning different eras and showing that she has just as much to offer in 2018 as she ever did.
But the simplest and easiest choice to make for our perfect female wrestler would be the collective skills of The Four Horsewomen.
Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Becky Lynch are grouped together as ring generals for a reason. They set a new standard for matches, even in NXT, and they continue to showcase their skills on the main roster.
Among those four, Flair and Banks are probably the two who stand out the most, so picking either of those as the template for athleticism and action between the ropes is a no-brainer.
The Reliability
The final piece of the puzzle is making sure this woman is reliable in all aspects, as none of this matters if the performer is unable to do her job.
It does no good for someone to be a popular character who can talk, wrestle and look like a million bucks if she can't stay healthy long enough to work the grueling schedule.
Longevity is a necessity, so the perfect performer has youth on their side and no nagging injuries to be problematic.
Ideally, this wrestler would have all the wisdom and talent just built into them without having gone through all the bumps to learn along the way.
The women's roster has several talents in their mid-20s, like Sonya Deville, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan at 24, just to name a few.
Taynara Conti and Aliyah are both 23, but it's Toni Storm who is the youngest at only 22, which gives her the nod in that department.
Beyond health, there's also the need to handle responsibilities and be professional.
It's never good to have an employee with a history of substance abuse, has problems with the law, gets into fights backstage, lets their ego get in the way or anything that could be an issue and stand in opposition of putting on the best possible performance with no friction.
Most of WWE's women seem to be great in this regard, but even if she were still able to perform, someone like Paige would have to be ruled out because of her arrests and past behavioral problems.
Since we aren't privy to everything that goes on behind the scenes, this is the hardest to compare and pick from, but Naomi seems to be a great representation of all of these factors.
The Best Option Available
With all this in mind, it's impossible to pick and choose each individual attribute and merge them together to create a real person. But when judging the roster based on these qualifiers, who is able to check off the most from the list?
That answer is probably Becky Lynch. She's talented in the ring, beautiful, has a unique look and style, believes what she says in her promos, has fun, seems to be a total sweetheart and extremely passionate, has proved her trustworthiness and has virtually no negatives working against her.
It's convenient she will be facing Carmella for the SmackDown Women's Championship at SummerSlam, where she will most likely win and become the representative of the blue brand's women's roster.
For the most part, there isn't a better-rounded woman for the job than Lynch.
Check back next week for a breakdown of how the same process can be done to create the ultimate male WWESuperstar!
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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