The vast majority of female Pro wrestling legends are from the USA. But what about divas from other countries? Who are they, and how did they contribute to the WWE?
Today, we will talk about foreign female wrestlers and their professional achievements. Let’s get started!
Masami Odate
Masami Odate, better known as Io Shirai, is a Japanese professional wrestler. This strong and beautiful woman is a former NXT Women’s Champion who is currently signed to the WWE.
She started her wrestling career in 2007 by teaming with her older sister Mio. In 2012, she opted for a single career and won the following championships:
- In April 2013, Io won the World of Stardom Championship (she holds this title for over fifteen months)
- She won the title Goddess of Stardom
- Io Shirai was an SWA World Champion
- WWE experts named her the “ace” of Stardom
- Tokyo Sports named Io Shirai the 2015 and 2016 women’s wrestler of the year.
Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus is a Canadian WWE Diva. She is one of the not many female wrestlers who managed to keep the leading positions for seven years in a row (from 2000 to 2006). She won the Women’s Championship seven times and also became the winner of the Hardcore Championship. Due to her high achievements, PWI voted her The Greatest Diva of the Decade.
After 2006, Trish Stratus appeared at the following events:
- RAW’s 15th Anniversary (2007)
- Tag Team action on RAW (2009)
- Monday Night RAW (appeared as a guest)
Demi Bennett
Demi Bennett, also known as Rhea Ripley, is the first female Australian champion in WWE history. She is the only wrestler who was the inaugural NXT UK Women’s Champion and held NXT Women’s Champion and a former Raw Women’s Champion titles.
Rhea is one of the youngest WWE contributors on this list. She started her career in 2013, and now she is on the list of WWE Raw Women’s Champions.
Nicola Glencross
Nicola Glencross (ring names Nikki Cross and Nikki A.S.H.) is a professional female wrestler from Scotland. She started her career in Europe – she participated in Insane Championship Wrestling and Pro-Wrestling: EVE, and worked for Scottish Wrestling Entertainment. Nicola received a tryout with WWE in London in 2015. A few months later, she moved to the USA to start training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
As of today, Nicola is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the name Nikki A.S.H. In July 2021, she became the WWE Raw Women’s Champion.
Kanako Urai
Kanako Urai is a Japanese professional female wrestler who greatly contributed to the WWE. At the beginning of her career, she freelanced for JWP Joshi Puroresu, NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling, Reina Joshi Puroresu, Pro Wrestling Wave, Smash, and Wrestling New Classic. In 2016, she won the NXT Women’s Championship without losing a single match. Currently, she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Asuka.
In 2018, Asuka’s wrestling career didn’t develop as fast as it could because of her poor English. Vince McMahon, Chief Executive Officer of WWE, wanted her to improve her language skills. The situation forced Asuka to get help from top translators and English teachers and learn the language. Today, Asuka is still not fluent in English, but she does her best to become a better English speaker.
Savelina Fanene
Savelina Fanene performs under the ring name Nia Jax. She was born in Australia but later moved to the United States and became an American professional wrestler and WWE model. She won the Raw Women’s Championship while also won the Women’s Tag Team Championship two times with Shayna Baszler.
The interesting facts about Savelina Fanene are that she is a cousin of Dwayne Johnson and a participant of Total Divas, a reality television series about female wrestlers.
Screenshot source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRzaV77LdUR/
