In some major sports, rankings mean everything.

Now that the new college football playoff system is in place, rankings are not as critical as they once were. On November 2, 2014, the great sports site cfn.scout.com explains, “The Rose and Sugar will be the first round of the new College Football Playoff, and the Fiesta, Orange, Cotton and Peach are now the really big, super-colossal mega bowls that would’ve been called BCS bowls back in the old days, even though they really don’t mean anything more than a big matchup.”

Once we move up to the NFL, rankings mean nothing until the playoffs are near and it’s time to use tie breakers.

Currently in the women’s submission wrestling world it appears that other than the respected female wrestling site Femwin’s ranking system, there aren’t any.

That doesn’t mean however that there shouldn’t be.

Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.……Peter Drucker

What’s the benefit to having a ranking system? Let’s consider a few.

The major benefit to having a ranking system is that it creates excitement. It’s used to promote matchups and determine upsets. It motivates competitors to give their best and keep the clippings to save for the grandchildren. Over time it can be a strong barometer of whether a competitor is ascending, stagnate or in decline.

LWS Indra -Doommaidens Wrestler, Is She Ascending Or….https://femcompetitor.com/?p=1751

Another huge benefit is that rankings generate fan excitement. When the number one and two ranked teams vie in a championship the ratings go up. Whether it’s boxing, NCAA Basketball, MMA fighting, women’s collegiate volleyball and more, ranked teams rev the fans up.

Finally, rankings provide a starting point to pull out your measuring stick.

Money is a scoreboard where you can rank how you’re doing against other people.…Mark Cuban

Let’s take a look at the top stars in today’s female submission wrestling industry.

In the United States we have Ariel, the unofficial champion; Raquel of Seattle who came out of retirement, Daisi Ducati and a sleeper in Robin who I’ve rarely seen defeated by anyone. It would be hard to leave out Lia Labowe who is one of the toughest competitors mentally that I have ever watched. When she is ready to turn the flame up higher, she can in a very painful way.

As swiftly as Skylar Rene is ascending, fairly soon, any serious discussions on rankings would have to include her. After her match against super star Julie Ginther at Doommaidens 2013 event, she proved that she is in the upper echelon.

In the United Kingdom you have Kassidy, Venom, Sable and a rising star in Mystique. Across Europe there is Xana and possibly Antscha. If the DWW girls were still in the mix it could truly get confusing.

The problem with the list, for starters, is that they rarely meet and when they do more than once, sometimes the victory goes back and forth. As of now we really don’t know who the number one ranked female submission wrestler in the world is. The temptation is to say Ariel but are you 100% sure that she could defeat Raquel? She had a very tough time with the Hungarian mentor and super star Tia.

Let’s say that a ranking system is coming.

What are some of the criteria that might be used to determine where a competitor is ranked? Perhaps we can look to other systems that are working well and adopt some of their practices.

1. Won, Loss record. This is the most obvious starting place but not the final resting one. Part of the reason this alone is a weak criteria is due to the obvious question that needs to be answered.

What is the skill level of her opponents?

Her great record becomes even more glaring when it’s been carefully constructed in an enclosed pond where she has engaged in sister fights. Too often in sister ponds, semi-competitive is passed off as competitive.

So you see, this is one example my friends why won, lost records are very important but alone are sorely inadequate.

2. Time. This has to be an extremely important factor in any ranking system.

Yes we are aware Ms. Helen Von Mott is not mentioned above and in any time period would be a great champion but if you do that, you might as well include Beatrice Goffin in the rankings too who has been retired for ages.

The super sexy Cindy Huntress of Canada would be a tempting choice but if she has not wrestled competitively in years, she’s completely out of the mix. As of this writing, talented though she may be, she seems to avoid tough fem vs fem competition. Who was her signature victory over? We all fawn over her but what tough star has she actually ever defeated?

Someone who is ranked has to have had a competitive match that we can view within a recent 12 month time period at least.

3. Strength of Schedule. When researching DWW’s Orsi S and her matches, based upon what I saw at non DWW sites especially at APL, I was ready to gently place her in the bin labeled in scarlet, “Jobber”. Then I researched her matches at DWW and she had quite a string of lopsided victories in her favor. The problem was that those wins were over other girls who had lost records approaching numbers resembling America’s debt.

There was no Luzia, Petra, Jana N, Hana, Dagmar, Daniela, Denise, Sandra, Kriszta or Bori on the list.

Orsi, tough against emerging opponents

Any ranking list must consider strength of schedule.

STRUCTURE

Until there is one large organization with a structure in place for the Fem Competitors to wrestle in, female submission rankings are no more valid than Paper Champions.

Too, there should be at least two divisions like in College Football. Lower skilled competitors often face higher skilled competitors in lop sided matches. In the new world, the competitors would wrestle within their division.

We are certain that a ranking system is in the future of competitive women’s wrestling. Our beautiful girls work so hard that they deserve one. Challenging or not, as our industry moves forward, to generate more fan interest and attain more respect in the mainstream global community, this is imperative.

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Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, site cfn.scout.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, https://femcompetitor.com, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.