50 Best Wrestlers Of The 2020s (So Far)
33. Stephanie Vaquer
When Stephanie Vaquer stepped between the ropes opposite Mercedes Moné at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2024, the expectation was for the NJPW STRONG Champion to play her part in the ongoing story of Moné’s long-awaited 2024 in-ring return. What actually happened was one of the matches of the year - and a global reminder that Vaquer wasn’t just hanging with the wrestling elite but already part of it.
By the time WWE scooped her up for its rapidly expanding NXT women’s division, the bar was already high. And yet somehow, Vaquer cleared it with ease. Tasked with debuting alongside Giulia and Jordynne Grace - women whose arrival in WWE had been years in the making Vaquer was never supposed to be the headline-maker of the three, But then the bell rang. Her timing, poise, impossible balance between grace and aggression that came packaged behind the face of a performer that never seemed to express exhaustion; Vaquer was patently overqualified.
The initial Giulia-Vaquer alliance smartly reshuffled the power structure of NXT overnight, but it was Vaquer’s quiet dominance that made the biggest statement. By early 2025, she’d claimed both the NXT Women’s Championship and the NXT Women’s North American Championship in short order, as if collecting belts was merely a formality carried over from her pre-WWE days where she'd dine just the same. There’s an aura around Vaquer that gold only affirms rather defines. Wrestling like an uncrowned champion even with the crowns, the inevitable main roster call-up will result in Raw or SmackDown's bar being raised overnight.