[The Quintessential Mark]

Sable
Ronda Rousey
Miss Elizabeth

 

[hypnobitch]

This is more difficult than it looks actually.

All 3 women were stars for sure but each in a very different way.

But I will go with ...

1. Ronda Rousey.
The reason I pick her is because her star power value coming in alone was huge and she comes from a real MMA background with huge success. WWE capitalised on the "baddest woman on the planet" gimmick and used Ronda Rousey to propel women's wrestling into main event scenarios and cemented it. That has never truly been done on a long-term basis before so you have to see the value in a big name like Rousey overall helping the entire women's wrestling scene.

2. Sable.
I pick Sable second because Sable probably to this day had the most over reactions for a female with a crowd in WWE history.
Sable was a product of the Attitude era and although she was not particularly huge on industry talent, WWE marketed her looks to a largely heterosexual attitude era male crowd and endeared her to other sections of the audience by having her break out of the abused valet role to stand up for herself against Marc Mero and became the bigger star.
Sable also was the catalyst for a women's division being reintroduced to WWE in 1998, it was her feuds with Luna Vachon and Jacqueline that was hugely over that resulted in WWE bringing back the Women's championship and division.

3. Miss Elizabeth.
Third place is by no means a detriment because Miss Elizabeth was a big star of "the federation Hulkamania years" of the 1980's.
Elizabeth was embraced by the fans because she was classy and did a lot by saying little, she was often the damsel in distress and her career storyline with Macho Man Randy Savage was how a relationship in wrestling should be done, it was organic and not forced like we see today.
Elizabeth was a staple of the early Wrestlemania events and was a big part of main event scenarios with top stars like Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.

 

[Rick Sanchez]

1. Sable

2. Miss Liz














3. Rousey

 

[SINdicate]

Sable
Liz
Ronda

Sable's at the top because of her contributions (alongside Chyna) in the late 90's to show that women can be badass.

Ronda is at the bottom because she 100% destroyed the women's revolution and any momentum any other woman was gaining. We had years of development in the women to where it was finally becoming entertaining and wasn't an opportunity to go for a piss break and WWE were making a conscious effort to make the fans invested in the brilliant talent that was hiding behind shite booking all along.

Until someone with zero wrestling experience came in, took the spotlight from the first ever women's rumble winner, squashed everybody, made little to no effort to protect the people she was working with (go back and watch how she mauled Alexa), and because of popularity she'd gained elsewhere, wormed her way into an historic, one-time deal - women main eventing Mania.

Women will never close another Mania and out of all the fantastic women in WWE, Ronda took that spot. I'm sure many will disagree with me, but I don't see why I should give a fuck about Ronda. WWE don't give a fuck about UFC, so why should I, as a viewer, care what she's done elsewhere? She had done nothing of merit in WWE and got a rocket up her ass to top of the card.

If WWE want me to watch their product and become invested in their stars over the course of 'x' amount of years worth of build, surely fans/viewers can't be expected to say nothing when all that is thrown aside for someone who is essentially a celebrity?

 

[domotime2]

hmmmm........this is actually a tough call. I can think of pros and cons for all 3.

Miss Elizabeth 100% added to the entire Macho Man presentation. Could Savage gotten to where he ended up without her? I say yes, but who knows right. Because of Miss Elizabeth, we got Mega Powers explode, we got the reunion at WM7...and she existed in the 80s. She was a household name and one of the 5 biggest stars in the company. BUT!!!!!! she didn't do anything reallllllllllly. Her acting was "do nothing, look concerned", and she did that well, but she wasn't a great talker or worker... but she definitely made it work, ya know?

Sable is as talentless as they come but she is easily a top 5 reason why the fans started to turn on WWF television. Was it more timing, luck, etc? Yes. Put any hot model in her position and nothing changes. Plus, Sunny was the real instigator of the "hottie" on WWF TV..but due to her personal issues, she couldn't catapult to the next level. It should have been her but she blew it. I think she was a major part of the attitude era, but as long as the WWF found another model in her place, i think nothing really changes. Or was she perfect? Was she just like the NEXT level hot where it did matter? Was she a WWF version of hot? Bigger than life? she was...but eh

Rousey's knock is how short she was in the business and how little she moved the needle. Miss Elizabeth was a top 5 figure during a HOT time in the company. Sable was a top 5 figure during a HOT time in the company. Rousey was a top 5 figure during a "eh/bad" time in the company. Plus, a lot of the "firsts" that happened with her in the company were forced WWE good will shit. Jump on the women bandwagon and try and look good... BUTtttttttttttttttttttttttttttt with that said, holy shit, the women main evented WRESTLEMANIA. That would've been LAUGHED at only 2 years ago. We're not talking way back when, but i'd say 2 years ago, people would have laughed at your face. Now, i think they blew it by not doing Becky vs Rousey... and by having a shitty ending to a stupid triple threat match.... but, hey, they did main event... BUT if it was a 1v1 with becky, then i'd say it was all Becky. I think Rousey's in-ring talent is obviously better than all 3, and sadly, she's about the same in the talking department.

I'm going

1) Miss Elizabeth
2) Ronda Rousey
3) Sable

 

[TripleG]

Its hard to compare them since they all brought something different.

Elizabeth was probably the greatest female manager in WWF history. Sable was the definitive sex symbol for the WWF and ushered in that whole era of women, and Rousey was a legit fighter that made the transition to wrestling and brought a level of credibility to her in ring presence.

Miss Elizabeth was the only real female star during her time. Wendy Richter had her falling out with the company, and Women's Wrestling was all but forgotten by 88-89 in the WWF. But Elizabeth was a manager and was attached to one of the biggest stars, The Macho Man, so that allowed her to be a constant presence on TV, and for the little that she did, she worked beautifully. I mean her story with Savage is arguably the greatest love story ever told in wrestling history, and she was vital to the success of The Mega Powers' storyline (both the rise and the fall), and to this day, I still say that is one of the top two best storylines in company history (the other being Austin Vs. McMahon).

Personally, I think she deserves to go into the WWE Hall of Fame, even if she wasn't a physical presence on the show. Again, she was there to be a manager, and she offered emotional investment, sympathy, and a compassionate presence on a show full of roided up and intense muscle heads. Compared to other managers, she also offered something different from the likes of Bobby Heenan, Slick, Jimmy Hart, Paul E Dangerously, Jim Cornette, and the rest, and it wasn't purely sex appeal either. She was an important component for storylines and she made Randy Savage better by being attached to him.

However, her contributions were entirely as a manager and not a wrestler, so it is really hard to compare her to Sable and Rousey in that regard.

Sable transitioned from an Elizabeth type, to a wrestler, and her popularity helped to bring back the dormant Women's Championship. She brought an over the top sex appeal that was common at the time, and broke new ground by being in Playboy and things of that nature. However, I don't look back on her as fondly as I do Elizabeth. Where I can point to storylines and moments that Liz had that were vital to my enjoyment of the show, Sable didn't really have that. Aside from her story with Mero to get her into the action, there wasn't really that much. They sold her as a wrestler, but she was NOT good at it. At best, you'd get a good mixed match out of her, but watching her go one on one with another woman is downright miserable. Also, her promos were terrible. Liz wasn't great on the mic either, but she also didn't talk much and said more with her actions and facial expressions, but Sable was coming up at the time when everybody was expected to talk, and her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. I give her credit for being as over as she was and being used to start up the women's division again, but she was a sex symbol that they tried to convince me was more than that, and I couldn't buy it. To me, Trish Stratus was better at being both a sex symbol and a wrestler, and sold herself well at being both. And even the other sex symbol types that were there at the same time as Sable like Terri Runnells and Sunny were better managers that talked better, did more, and could elicit some emotional responses from me.

Now Rousey brought credibility as a fighter. Her career in MMA and Judo gave her instant cred, similar to how guys like Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar had instant cred when they came in. However, success in real fighting and real sports doesn't always equate to a smooth transition into a work. Does anybody remember Sylvester Turkay? Or how about Daniel Puder? Fortunately, Rousey did mostly really well in her matches, bringing intensity and believability. The biggest issue with her were her promos, which were just awful. I felt she was a type that didn't need to talk as she was believably bad ass on her own, but what do I know? But hey, more than anything else, it was her legitimacy and name recognition that allowed for the first all women WrestleMania main event. Yes Becky got over, but I think they were leaning towards Charlotte Vs. Rousey as the closer before that happened. I think Rousey's involvement made it possible for that to happen, and she deserves credit for that.

 

[NondescriptWWEfan]

Sable

Elizabeth










Lousy

 

[cai1981]

1) RONDA ROUSEY: Many may disagree, but she got a ton of eyeballs on Wrestlemania 34 that would not have been there. She also got women into the Main Event of Wrestlemania 35 as well. Only problem with 35 was that they made her champ quickly and had her speak and wrestle often on TV where her inexperience turned people off...not to mention the horrible booking leading into the Main Event and the match that did not deliver even forgetting about the botched ending. Also, let us not forget that we got the very first ALL FEMALE PPV because of her star power.

2) MISS ELIZABETH: I know most people over 35 would have her ranked 1st, but take an objective look at her work (if you want to call it that). All she really did was move when the Macho Man told her to, bite her lip or her nails when Macho was in trouble in the ring and run to the back to get Hogan if Randy was in too much trouble. The only real things she did in the WWF besides what I mentioned was get a little physical with Sherri and rip her skirt off at the first Summerslam. She was far more involved in WCW later on and even got in the ring there. BUT, we all loved her!!!!! She got attention...and good attention because of her looks and good girl personality though she was with the "bad boy" Savage. Just watching her with Randy (especially in the early days when Savage was a heel) and how he treated her, made a everyone love her.


3) SABLE: T and A (and I am not talking about Impact or Test and Albert) only get you but so far. She was nothing more than looks! She wrestled, but was not all that good and succeeded when the female talent pool wasn't even a quarter of what is today. She got pops, but mostly because of drunk men with raging hormones watching her walk to the ring. Even after all the popularity she had, she sued the company and later came back. By the time she did, she was an afterthought. Even now with being married to the arguably the biggest star in wrestling (Brock), she is NEVER mentioned or thought of in a positive light by fans and her peers alike.

 

[ClintDagger]

1. Sable was a huge tv draw at one point, I think the only one that rivaled Austin during that time.

2. Liz was a big part of the biggest angle in company history.

3. And Ronda’s program with Becky & Charlotte probably cost them 500k+ viewers. I do think Ronda helped in 2018 but that was all more than undone by how much of a flop the 2019 WM program ended up being.

 

[Scholes18]

This is tough. Here’s my take.

1. Sable because of the ratings she pulled in. You can say she was untalented but Russo tried the same thing with hotter women like Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler and not hotter but Major Gunns in WCW and it did nothing. WWE did the same with Debra and it didn’t do the same numbers either. She clearly had something.

2. Rousey. While I don’t think she had the impact WWE had hoped in terms of numbers, I genuinely don’t think WWE would’ve went all in with the women like they have with her. I certainly don’t think women would’ve main evented WrestleMania without her involvement. She gets the second spot because she changed the direction of the company.

3. Elizabeth. Huge star and this isn’t fair to her but she loses out because she was associated with 2 of the most charismatic wrestlers of all time. I just wonder if she would’ve had the same impact if she was with Hacksaw Jim Dugan for example. She did play her role to perfection though and her involvement made angles better like versus Hogan, Flair and Jake the Snake.

 

[promoter2003]

Sable

Liz

Rousey


Sable helped to bring back attention on women's wrestling which was all but dead in Vince's eye due to Madusa tarnishing the WWE women's title. As someone said, it was her and Austin at points who were moving the needle on RAW. Sable just as Austin were the opposite of the huge stars of the 80's.

By this I mean, Austin was the opposite of a babyface Hogan of the 80's and Sable was the opposite of Liz in terms of not taking the same crap from Mero that Liz did initially. It was partly that old system that was being broken that made Sable so popular along with Austin.

Liz I put at #2. She may have seemed to not do too much, but that was deliberate. It made her big moments seem bigger when she actually did say something. Just look at this.

In a field of managerial greats like Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, "Classy" Freddie Blassie, and Captain Lou Albino, she stood out and became a star in a male dominated position.

Ronda Rousey at #3. I think the whole run was destined to flop because of her last days in UFC. She lost her luster, but on the flip side everyone knew she could destroy the roster. However, then it was clear how green she was being a pro wrestler. It was bound to get mixed results.

Sable and Liz had more real impact on changing the product. The women's movement was already on its way when AJ Lee had everyone wanting to see more Diva action.

 

[deadcool]

Having star power and having the most contributions to the WWE are not the same thing.

If we are talking star power; then it would be..

Sable --> She drew almost as much as Austin did during her time in the AE. Not an easy feat considering how women were treated in the WWE back then.
Ronda Rousey --> She's a star because of her UFC career.
Ms. Elizabeth

If we are talking about contributions to the WWE..

Ronda Rousey --> She was the biggest UFC star that McMahon used (along with Lesnar) to dupe Fox and NBCU into signing multi million dollar TV deals. That's a pretty big deal considering you as a promotion are losing audience (live attendance and viewership) and are afloat because of the TV money.

Sable --> She brought serious viewership during the AE.

Ms Elizabeth --> She was part of 1 successful angle and that's it.

 

[Upstart474]

My answer is a no brainer, in terms of star power, Rhonda Rousey is the biggest star power the industry has ever seen become a wrestler. I can only compare her to LT, Mayweather, and Mike Tyson but all three participated in one match. Rousey was one of the biggest UFC draw of all time male or female. Her star power also led her into a few movies.

Miss Elizabeth was probably the most famous valet of all time. She was good in storyline but was not a wrestler.

Sable to me was another hot wrestler in WWE attitude like Tori Wilson, Stacy Keibler, etc. There is nothing that separates her from the others except she is married to Brock Lesner.