Ranking the Top 10 Men's and Women's Wrestlers in WWE, AEW Right Now (2024)

To determine the best men's and women's wrestlers in WWE and All Elite Wrestling is a daunting task, if only because of the overwhelming number of spectacular workers who exist across both rosters.

The abundance of excellence in both companies is mind-blowing, with positions in the top 10 being fluid every week. A fantastic performance here, a jaw-dropping feat there and what you thought you knew about who's the best in the world suddenly changes.

For now, who are the 10 best men's and women's wrestlers across WWE and AEW and why?

Let's take a look.

10. Kris Statlander

9. Hikaru Shida

8. Britt Baker

7. Bianca Belair

6. Thunder Rosa

It is a testament to the health of women's wrestling in major promotions that talent like Rosa, Belair, Baker, Shida and Statlander are in the bottom half of this list.

Rosa and Baker were responsible for one of the best contests of 2021, their Lights Out match on the St. Patrick's Day episode of Dynamite; while Belair was one-half of a consensus Match of the Year candidate against Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 37, not to mention the show-stealing performances against Becky Lynch and Bayley that proceeded it.

Shida is a stellar wrestler responsible for some extraordinary matches against Serena Deeb while Statlander has made the most of the opportunities presented to her by showing off her power, athleticism and personality in every performance.

On any given day, any of these five women could easily be in the top five. That is how great the quality of women's wrestlers in WWE and AEW is right now.

10. CM Punk

9. AJ Styles

8. Cesaro

7. "Hangman" Adam Page

6. Gunther

Much like the women's side of things, the sheer number of male wrestlers turning in extraordinary work is almost unfathomable. Yet, here is a list consisting of five names who could go into the ring right now and deliver a five-star match with anyone.

Imagine being CM Punk, missing seven years of in-ring action, and returning to the squared circle as if nothing had happened. He has picked up right where he left off, most recently turning in 45 minutes of ring time with MJF in a much-anticipated main event that lived up to the expectations.

AJ Styles and Cesaro may be victims of so-so booking of late, but there is no taking away their abilities between the ropes or the fact that, after two-plus decades as professional wrestlers, they remain among the best WWE has to offer. Just ask Grayson Waller, Austin Theory or Ridge Holland, all of whom have benefited from working with them of late.

How loaded are the rosters of WWE and AEW? "Hangman" Adam Page is fresh off two five-star classics against Bryan Danielson on Dynamite, and he slots at No. 7 on this list. If that is not an indicator of the depth in the industry in the top two promotions, nothing is.

Gunther may have lost his previous name and its capital letters, but he will still chop the life out of you before rocking you with a forearm and driving you to the mat with a powerbomb. The Ring General earned his nickname and an argument could be made that he belongs higher on the list.

Becky Lynch is the Raw women's champion and one of the biggest personalities in WWE. Just because she has a fancy nickname, outlandish outfits and is a great promo does not take away from her in-ring prowess.

Big Time Becks is a fantastic professional wrestler, something we have seen on display countless times since her return from maternity leave in August at SummerSlam. Her matches with Bianca Belair and Liv Morgan have been essential to their growth as performers and have helped Lynch rediscover her groove.

With a huge pay-per-view match upcoming against Lita, and a presumptive showdown with Belair as they look to continue their rivalry at WrestleMania 38, Lynch will have the opportunity to put an exclamation point on her most recent run with emphatic reminders of why she belongs in one of these top five positions.

Anyone who paid even a modicum of attention to his work in NXT already knew Adam Cole was a top-five wrestler in either company. His work since debuting in AEW has only served as support to the claim.

Cole has been nothing short of spectacular, proving his excellence against the likes of Jurassic Express, Christian Cage, Best Friends and, most recently, Orange Cassidy in a Lights Out match on the Beach Break episode of Dynamite.

Like his mentor in NXT, Shawn Michaels, Cole makes up for his lack of size with a penchant for timing and drama. He knows what move or spot to put where to maximize the reaction of the crowd. Whether it is rocking an opponent with a superkick from out of nowhere or selling to build heat, he is a smart, cerebral performer who pays attention to the little things and it shows.

Don't be surprised to see him advance up future editions of this list as he gets the opportunity to work with marquee stars in higher-profile bouts.

It is almost easy to forget about Io Shirai, which is an indictment on WWE if anything.

The Genius of the Sky has been in NXT her entire run with the company. An infinitely better wrestler than the women she has the opportunity to compete against at this point, it is easy to forget she is a top-five talent who could step onto Raw, SmackDown, and Dynamite, and have a genuine Match of the Year candidate with any top competitor on those shows.

Her lightning-quick offense and unrivaled aerial arsenal make her one of the most captivating watches in the industry while her ability to figure out where the dazzle goes in every match is what makes her special. That she has single-handedly stollen two War Games matches is only further indicative of her greatness.

Hopefully, she gets the opportunity to star alongside the original Horsewomen of NXT and the other, uber-talented women on the main roster because her fans have earned the opportunity to see her excel on the biggest stages imaginable.

There is no denying Kenny Omega has been a standard-bearer for professional wrestling for the better part of a decade now. He has been one-half or one-quarter of some of the best matches the industry has turned out over that time and has been a major contributor to some of their greatest matches.

A battered body and shoulder injury slowed him a bit over the last year, but he still asserted himself as an elite in-ring performer.

Look no further than the match against Bryan Danielson at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. Their 30-minute war was an instant classic that earned rave reviews from fans the moment the bell rang to signal its end. And rightfully so.

When The Best Bout Machine returns from the aforementioned shoulder injury that understandably affected some of his work over the last six months, do not be surprised to see him catapult himself back to the top of this list, hellbent on proving himself, his fans and his nickname right.

After all, nothing about Omega suggests he will be content with a No. 4 ranking.

There is a real argument to be made that Serena Deeb should be even further up this list. And if you are unfamiliar with her or questioning why she ranks where she does, odds are that you have not been paying attention.

She has exploded back onto the national scene and wasted little time showing up the rest of the women's roster in AEW by being the best it has to offer. A technical master who can target, isolate and torture an opponent, she is a bit Dean Malenko and Bret Hart all rolled into one.

A mat magician, The Professor of Professional Wrestlingis as technically proficient a professional wrestler as there is on this list. She can outwrestle any opponent and better yet, tap them out with her trademark Serenity Lock.

We have witnessed her excellence in a show-stealing series of matches against Hikaru Shida, not to mention one of the best matches of 2021, the Double or Nothing Buy-In battle with Riho.

Deeb may not be flashy or over the top, but she doesn't have to be. All you need to know about her, she tells you through her in-ring excellence.

A phenomenal professional wrestler who is missing that one defining performance on a PPV stage to elevate her even further on this countdown.

There will inevitably be those fans who take exception to Roman Reigns ranking ahead of Kenny Omega on this countdown because, well, that is the current state of professional wrestling fandom these days.

To suggest The Tribal Chief is not a top-three performer, though, would be to dismiss his body of work over the last year; really, dating back to his return at SummerSlam 2020.

The Head of the Table has been responsible for Match of the Year candidates and some of the most extraordinary storytelling of any wrestler in either promotion. He finally found himself as a helm smashing through his own cousin, Jey Uso, then Edge and Bryan Danielson. He conquered Cesaro, beat Finn Balor and holds a victory over Brock Lesnar in Saudi Arabia.

Simply winning matches doesn't make him one of the best, though. It is the strength of his performances in those matches and what he brings to them that has earned him his spot on this countdown.

As important as one's ability to do cool moves, execute high spots or pack a match with sweet sequences are facial expressions, body language and the ability to generate a reaction from the audience. No one excels in those departments better than Reigns right now.

A master storyteller with a penchant for the dramatic, he meshes his own physical skill set with superb character work, and the result is some of the best work of any performer in any company.

You don't have to like him or his placing on this list. One spot is subjective, probably. But it would be foolish to suggest he does not belong in this realm of performers from WWE and AEW because he has been the lifeblood of the former for the last two years.

No wrestler in either company recognizes her star power and carries herself as the most important person in the room like Charlotte Flair. She is very much her father's daughter in that aspect, too.

The Queen thrives on the energy of the crowd, whether they are booing her out of the building or greeting her regal entrance with an enormous ovation. She looks the part, acts the part and has the in-ring skills to back it up.

She can soar through the air with a picture-perfect moonsault from the top rope to the arena floor one moment, then completely outwrestle her opponent by taking her to the mat, working a leg and setting her up for the Figure Eight.

That Flair can throw rights, lefts, chops and big boots only help to round out her mat game.

There are a lot of fans and critics open in their disdain for the constant pushes she receives, but the level of her performances in big match situations directly influences WWE's decision to go back to her. If she wasn't as excellent as she is, she would not get the opportunities she does.

Somewhere along the line, critics confused nepotism with greatness. Flair isn't where she is today because of who her dad is. She is still headlining WrestleManias and PPVs because she can back up any push once the bell rings and her body of work supports that.

Somewhere around 2020 and the cinematic wrestling craze, we all started to take Seth Rollins for granted.

The Monday Night Messiah and the eye-for-an-eye nonsense may have been embarrassingly bad at times but he has seized an opportunity over the last year to remind fans why he is still among the top two wrestlers in the world with legitimate Match of the Year candidates.

The feud with Edge was outstanding and really reinvigorated the support for Rollins as one of the best in the world. If you forgot or were somehow misguided into believing Rollins was washed or too much of a character guy to be great anymore, you were proven wrong by the SummerSlam match with Edge.

Then the SmackDown match in New York.

Then the Hell in a Cell match at Crown Jewel.

If that was not enough, some of the late-year battles with Kevin Owens, Big E and Bobby Lashley served as reminders. Then came Royal Rumble and a masterpiece in storytelling against Roman Reigns.

Rollins has managed to do what so many others find difficult: He has mastered the fine line between overemphasizing character at the expense of in-ring work. He does both extremely well and he can be counted on to deliver to the best of his abilities against any wrestler.

This is about to be the year of The Visionary and no one should be surprised if, when this list is inevitably revisited, Rollins' name is at the top.

Sasha Banks might be the best big-time performer in WWE's women's division.

When the lights are at their brightest and the stage its biggest, Banks excels. As we saw last April at WrestleMania 37 against Bianca Belair. Faced with the historic nature of the match, and with the eyes of the wrestling world watching her headline the first night of the biggest show of the year, Banks balled out.

She was the best wrestler on night one of that event, relishing in the opportunity to showcase her abilities in front of a worldwide audience. It wasn't the first time, either.

Whether she was making history at WrestleMania 32 against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, or battling The Queen inside Hell in a Cell months later, or winning tag team gold in Elimination Chambers, Banks has always managed to save her best for the most important matches and moments.

Like any great athlete at the top of her or his game.

The Boss is the Tom Brady of WWE's women's division, a legit contender for GOAT status.

Imagine being told six years ago that your career was over.

Then coming back three years later, going on a monster heel run as The Planet's Champion and main eventing two more WrestleMania's before your run with the biggest wrestling company in the world comes to an end.

Then opting to continue your run in another promotion, hellbent on proving you still have it against the best wrestlers in the world.

That is the path Bryan Danielson's career has taken since 2015. Once left to wallow in retirement due to concussions and a neck injury, he has once again proven to be the best wrestler on the planet, doing the unthinkable while having Match of the Year candidates against Roman Reigns, Edge, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page.

Critics have thrown gold stars at him like he's a preschooler who just learned his alphabet.

The quality of in-ring work, fueled by his technical acumen and an unrelenting striking capability, has captivated audiences and left them wondering how anyone could have thought Danielson was done as an in-ring performer.

He is so far ahead of everyone else at this point that it will take a minor miracle for another wrestler to eclipse him. It is not out of the realm of possibility but the strength of Danielson's work is otherworldly right now and his placement at the top of this list was the easiest decision of them all.