Congratulations to Stephanie Vaquer, who has been named the top female wrestler in the world by Pro Wrestling Illustrated for 2026.

PWI released its annual top 250 for women's wrestlers, and despite missing some significant time due to injury this year, La Primera edged out a trio of AEW stars to claim the top spot on the list.

This ranking system, much like the PWI Top 500, has very strict criteria. The publication's evaluation period runs from October 1, 2025, to September 30 of this year, and a wrestler must have competed in at least 10 singles matches during that time frame in order to qualify.

As a reminder, our evaluation period extends from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026, and the criteria include:

In-Ring Achievement
Influence
Technical Ability
Depth/Quality of Competition
Activity (minimum 10 singles matches or six such matches in six months of the period) pic.twitter.com/jdoYVj8N00

— PWI (Pro Wrestling Illustrated) (@OfficialPWI) November 12, 2026

Attributes such as in-ring achievement, influence, technical ability and quality of competition are then taken into account when ranking those wrestlers who qualified for the list.

Stephanie Vaquer entered last October as the WWE Women's World Champion, having defeated IYO SKY to win the title at WrestlePalooza the month prior. She carried the gold all the way into WrestleMania 42, where she competed in her first-ever match at the 'Showcase of the Immortals."

La Primera lost the match and her title to Liv Morgan, who was also ranked in the top 10 by PWI, and took several months off from in-ring competition due to injury. She returned to action earlier this fall and won the Women's World Championship back from Morgan at a house show in her home country of Chile, but promptly dropped the belt back to Liv at Money in the Bank.

Vaquer was scheduled to face Becky Lynch in a No. 1 Contender's Match last month, but was pulled from that match due to a reported illness and has yet to return to return from television. Lynch, who was not ranked in the top 10 this year, will instead challenge Morgan for the gold at Survivor Series: WarGames at the end of this month.

Five of the top 10 women ranked in the PWI 250 call All Elite Wrestling home. Willow Nightingale, Thekla and Mercedes Moné came in just behind Stephanie Vaquer, with all three women holding the AEW Women's World Championship in 2026. Persephone came in at no. 7 behind Liv Morgan, while Kris Stalander finished in the No. 10 spot.

Rhea Ripley joined Vaquer and Morgan among the WWE representatives in the top 10, coming in at no. 9

PWI 250 full list:

1. Stephanie Vaquer
2. Willow Nightingale
3. Thekla
4. Mercedes Moné
5. Saya Kamitani
6. Liv Morgan
7. Persephone
8. Syuri
9. Rhea Ripley
10. Kris Statlander