Considering what Eric Bischoff and WCW had done for Cruiserweight wrestling, when Madusa came on Nitro and threw the WWE Women’s Championship in the trash; there were some high hopes for what would come next. While those hopes were quickly snuffed out, the company did still have some uber-tough women over the years.
From valets, to American wrestlers, to even Joshi fighters, WCW showcased several different ladies over the years. But only a select few were considered amongst the toughest of all time. Some went on to become legends while others are about to get their flowers.
UPDATE: 2023/08/24 14:30 EST BY CHRISTOPHER DAVIS
12 Toughest Women In WCW History, Ranked
WCW would rise to popular cultural stardom during the 1990s. With the rise of WCW, came an increase in attention on professional wrestling factions, hardcore wrestling and the cruiserweight division. WCW would also give attention to the women of professional wrestling. While their women’s division didn’t garner the same success as their men, WCW employed some of the toughest women to ever step into the squared circle. Looking back, WCW’s women’s division was more comparable to today’s women’s evolution than the eye candy that WWE was producing during the same wrestling time period.
12 Midnight
Midnight was an absolute powerhouse from the WCW Power Plant. Before taking up professional wrestling, Midnight was an accomplished bodybuilder. In 1992, Midnight would win the Ms. Sunshine State bodybuilding competition. At 5’11 and 206 pounds, Midnight could match up with a lot of the men on the roster.
While her career wouldn’t last long in professional wrestling, Midnight had no issue going head-to-head with the men on the roster. Her ability to wrestle with both genders made her one of the toughest competitors to ever lace up the WCW boots.
11 Miss Madness
While Miss Madness may not have got to show off exactly how tough she was during her WCW stint, wrestling fans know Molly Holly is as tough as they come in professional wrestling. Miss Madness would first appear in WCW as Starla Saxon, working her way up the independent scene in 1997.
Yet, in 1999, Miss Madness showed up with Randy Savage, Madusa and Gorgeous George as Team Madness, Behind the scenes, Savage had asked Miss Madness to train his then-girlfriend Gorgeous George. Miss Madness would perform with WCW up until 2000.
10 Asya
Why did WCW name bodybuilder Christi Wolf, Asya? Because Asya is bigger than Chyna. Standing only 5’2 and packing on a 145 pounds of ripped muscle made Asya stand out in WCW. Like Midnight, Asya was not scared to mix it up with the guys on the roster and showcase her toughness.
Originally, she was introduced as Nurse Double D when accompanying Nature Boy Ric Flair to ringside in the spring of 1999. Yet, Wolf quickly became Asya as a heel member of The Revolution in direct opposition to Flair. Asya would remain a constant on WCW programming until the summer of 2000.
9 Babydoll
While Baby Doll didn’t wrestle, she’s double tough – you’d have to be to married to Sam Houston and your brother-in-law was Jake The Snake Roberts. Baby Doll was actually the one member of the family who worked under Grizzly Smith the longest.
As far as her pro-wrestling career went, the second generation wrestler was trained by Jake and got her start in World Class before coming to WCW. There, her most famous feud was when Dusty Rhodes defeated Tully Blanchard and forced Baby Doll to be his valet for 30 days.
8 Akira Hokuto
Toss whatever shade you want at Eric Bischoff (and yes, even now decades later some still do), but no one can deny his attempts to make WCW a truly global organization with an ever-expanding roster of superstars from around the world. Snagging the forever tough Akira Hokuto was a great move.
Thanks to Madusa’a urging, that meant several Japanese Joshi superstars like Akira Hokuto. After spending several years as the head of the Bull Nakano fan club, she debuted in WCW teaming with her.
7 Bull Nakano
Speaking of Bull Nakano, she might be the most well-known Joshi star to cross over thanks to her wars with Alundra Blayze in WWE. When Madusa fled for WCW, wrestlers like Nakano followed suit. The innovator of the Scorpion Cross Lock was able to continue her battles with Madusa for the WCW audience.
Their biggest match in the company happened at Hog Wild in 1996, where after Madusa won, she was allowed to dismantle the Bull’s motorcycle.
6 Meiko Satomura
Nowadays, global wrestling veteran and current NXT roster member Meiko Satomura is known as The Final Boss. But nearly thirty years ago, at just 17 years old, she was still learning the ropes and got the opportunity of a lifetime being a part of Nitro.
She was mostly used as an enhancement talent back then. But still at that young age, she showed signs of the great warrior she’d become.
5 Luna Vachon
There are several ladies on this list and all throughout the history of women’s wrestling that are considered at least as tough as plenty of the men – if not tougher. Among the top of that list is Luna Vachon. Had she been part of this era, no woman would be able to hold a candle to her in the ring.
Luna didn’t get a lot of ring time in WCW – in fact she only had one match. But it was the only time she got the chance to take on her old WWE rival, Madusa in a losing effort at Slamboree 1997.
4 Daffney
The dearly departed scream queen, Daffney was one of the bright spots during the latter days – the dying days of WCW. She debuted as David Flair’s girlfriend – his mentally deranged girlfriend – matching the same level of crazy as both he and Crowbar.
She was actually the first of many wrestlers to channel Harley Quinn and hers was infused with all kinds of character traits of Mallory Knox from Natural Born Killers. During her time in WCW, she even became one of two women to have held the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.
3 Jacqueline
Jackie debuted in WCW as Kevin Sullivan’s manager / girlfriend, and she spent most of her time during this period bodyslamming The Taskmaster’s opponents. That partnership came to an end when she smashed him over the head with a wooden chair which caused him to lose a loser must retire match.
She went on to manage The Harlem Heat and even have a feud with Disco Inferno, which caused him to get fired for a little while for not wanting to do the favors.
2 Sensational Sherri
Sensuous Sherri finally came to WCW in 1994 and immediately went to work double-crossing Sting and siding with The Nature Boy; which also put her in line with her old WWE rival the debuting Hulk Hogan. By the time she came to WCW, she didn’t wrestle that much (only four matches) for the promotion.
But by then, The Sensational Queen already gained a reputation of being one of the toughest wrestlers – lady or man to grace the squared circle.
1 Madusa
Before, after, and during her runs in WCW, there was never a tougher lady than Madusa. WWE was right to try and build their entire women’s division around her and so was WCW. But unfortunately, the North American audiences weren’t ready for her style of matches.
Perhaps more likely, the bookers weren’t ready to book her that strong either. She was one of the first female gaijin wrestlers to train and wrestle in Japan and was able to work a more rough and rugged style and the “hair pull and twist” wrestlers for her time.