The 10 most popular women in WWE, according to Google shopping trends

Looking at popularity trends when it comes to WWE superstars is akin to trying to answer the age-old chicken and egg question - is a wrestler being pushed because he/she is popular or is he/she popular because of the push?

Google trends certainly correlate with pushes - big spikes happen when major events occur, such as a title win. On the other hand, some superstars retain their popularity even when flying under the radar, or worse, see terrible booking. The latter is a surer indicator of a superstar's inherent popularity with fans.

Today, we'll look at WWE's women's division. According to Google shopping trends, these 10 superstars are the most sought after in the "shopping and fashion" category. These search results should correlate with merchandise sales to some degree of statistical significance.

It should be noted that Nikki Bella and Stephanie McMahon would rank high (the former in fact would rank third, thanks in no small part to Total Divas), but because they aren't active superstars on the roster, they aren't listed here.

#10 Nia Jax

Nia Jax's title reign was a flop. WWE made the right decision in killing it quickly.

The biggest indicator of her failure as champion would be that despite her push, her name didn't trend significantly upward on the Google rankings. Her average barely cracked the top 10 on the active superstars list even with the significant push she received from February onward.

According to Google, people just aren't that interested in Nia Jax or her merchandise. She ranks only slightly above the lowest women on the card.

Combine that with the rumors about her backstage heat with Alexa Bliss and the result might be that she'll fall down the card for the foreseeable future following Extreme Rules.

#9 Bayley and Carmella (tie)

Bayley's stock has fallen significantly over the past year, and her ranking tumbled as a result. Carmella's stock has risen - but, in an ominous sign, not enough to eclipse Bayley in popularity. Despite Bayley's burial and Carmella's Money in the Bank win and championship reign, the two are exactly even.

It remains to be seen whether that says good things about Bayley or bad things about Carmella. We might be able to find the answer in the next couple of months. The most crucial factor would be if Bayley's feud with Sasha Banks gets out of Dr. Shelby territory and into actual storytelling. Carmella's title reign certainly isn't going to get any better.

#8 Natalya Neidhart

Natalya Neidhart is a player that stays in the background, but she's quietly put together an impressive year. She was SmackDown Women's Champion and her angle with Ronda Rousey helped her in the Google rankings.

It looks like the company has pulled the plug on that angle, though, at least for now. Should Ronda Rousey capture the Raw Women's Championship at SummerSlam, Natalya might make the turn and become a challenger.

How that would affect her in the overall rankings remains to be seen.

#7 Lana

This is certainly a Total Divas ranking, because Lana has only recently begun to get featured on television in any noticeable capacity. Her pairing with the immensely popular Rusev Day gimmick might have helped her, but it's hard to say for sure.

Lana is still too green in the ring to be featured in much of a wrestling capacity on SmackDown's programming, so we'll have to see where her ranking goes from here. Total Divas should always be of assistance to her, though.

#6 Asuka

She hasn't yet been on the main roster for a year, but Asuka has already made an impression. Her Royal Rumble win saw her get a big spike, as did her loss to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania.

Since then, her ranking doesn't appear to have been battered too much, but her true staying power will now be put to the test, given the underwhelming feud she's been in with Carmella, much to her and SmackDown's detriment.

#5 Charlotte Flair

Charlotte Flair's case is a curious one. She's one of the most pushed wrestlers in the women's division, but her ranking goes no higher than this. If pushes truly determined everything, logic would tell us that she should be even more popular. In fact, she's only slightly more popular than Asuka.

Rumor has it that she'll feature in WrestleMania's first women's main event, so that should help her, but at the same time, it's been three years with mostly the same result.

With her monster push, some might justifiably feel that Charlotte's place her is disappointing by her standards.

#4 Sasha Banks

The opposite in some ways to Charlotte, Sasha Banks has retained her popularity despite being booked horribly over the course of the last year.

There was the meandering in early 2017, looking like a choke artist against Alexa Bliss last summer, and the start/stop feud with Bayley this year. None of it has impacted her too negatively. According to Google, people are still interested in her merchandise despite all of it.

This should send a message to WWE, but it probably won't.

#3 Alexa Bliss

Significantly ahead of the pack, Alexa Bliss is the leader when it comes to full-time active wrestlers on the roster.

Alexa Bliss has been one of the few superstars that WWE has pushed marvelously over the past few years, so it's hard to know for sure how much her push has impacted her rating. Regardless of that though, the push has succeeded in making her popular and over with crowds at the same time, which WWE so often fails to do these days.

She's arguably the biggest star WWE has made in a long time.

#2 Ronda Rousey

Unsurprisingly, Ronda Rousey is far ahead of any other woman who actively wrestles for WWE. She was already one of the world's most recognizable female athletes before joining the company, and it's to WWE's credit that they've booked her impeccably so far.

One suspects she'll only get hotter heading into SummerSlam and WrestleMania 35, where she's rumored to take part in the main event.

#1 Paige

She may be retired as a wrestler, but Paige still appears on TV every week, and according to Google, she's comfortably in the lead as the top-searched woman in WWE, even ahead of Ronda Rousey.

With that level of buzz around her, it's fascinating to think how the company would have treated her had her injuries not cut her ring career short. Absolution was the hottest angle on Raw following her return, though it was faltering even before Paige's nasty bump.

Currently the SmackDown GM, the search results indicate she's one of the blue brand's leading attractions.

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