A book should not be judged by its cover, and a woman should not be judged by her age – these two things are for sure. Age is certainly just a number and has no bearing on how we view each of these performers in the ring, but it is certainly surprising to see to look a little bit further into each of these women’s lives to see exactly their ages play into their WWE careers. Some women have taken a very long time to make it into WWE and are entering late into their career, and others are starting very young; others are older than you thought they would be, and other women are shockingly young.

It is very interesting to see how these women’s ages play into their WWE career – perhaps they still have a lot to learn and have plenty of time to do it, or they are approaching the end of their career and do not have much time to accomplish all of their goals. Regardless of the surprises that their ages reveal, we are lucky to see each of these women as performers on WWE programming. Whatever their ages are, they've all shown to be made for the business.

15 Sonya Deville – 24

Perhaps it is Sonya Deville’s legitimate toughness in the ring, or the fact that she has several years of mixed-martial arts fighting under her belt but I originally thought she was much older than her early twenties. As we watch Sonya continue to improve in the ring as a member of The Absolution group week-after-week, it makes me much happier to know how young she is because this means that she could have a long career ahead of her. Sonya’s abilities as a genuine fighter brings a sense of legitimacy to the Women’s division (almost in the same way that Brock Lesnar does for the male division due to his background as a fighter) because she has been in real fights before, and I look forward to seeing her career grow further on the roster.

14 Dana Brooke – 29

If my numbers are correct, Dana Brooke certainly does not look her age! Perhaps it is her musculature, or all the work that has gone in to her body over her years of body-building, but she looks much older than 29. While much can be said about Dana’s lack of wrestling ability and how her career in WWE has floundered since joining the main roster, she is certainly in incredible shape due to her work as a fitness model and body builder, but her life experience as a travelling performer has made her look much wiser beyond her years. My hunch is that Dana Brooke will not be celebrating her 30th birthday as a member of the WWE roster, and time will certainly tell if that is true or not.

13 Asuka – 36

Asuka may have just arrived on the WWE main roster earlier in 2017, and had been a part of NXT since 2015 before that, but she has had a very storied wrestling career throughout Japan that has spanned close to a decade. Beginning a WWE career in her mid-thirties is not usual for a female wrestler, but Asuka’s in-ring experience is what makes her such a draw for the WWE. Throughout her wrestling career in Japan (where she was formally known as Kana) Asuka has been in many battles which made her to top of any Women’s division that she was a part of.

Considering that Asuka’s age may mean that she will not be in the ring for as long as some of the other women on this list, we should enjoy the work that she is doing in the ring currently, and thank the WWE for providing her the opportunity to apply her craft on the largest wrestling stage there is.

12 Paige – 25

It is hard to believe that we have had Paige wrestling on our screens as either a member of the NXT or WWE roster since she was 19 – we have watched her grow up in front of our eyes. Paige also holds a very interesting record in WWE as a result of her age, which is that she is the first wrestler born in the 1990s to win a WWE Championship. However, the story of Paige’s wrestling career is slowly becoming a tragic one. Only at the tender age of 25, Paige may be forced to retire from the ring as a result of receiving a spinal injury in late 2017, only months after returning from a neck injury. Twenty-five is far too early for a wrestler to be forced into retirement, and we hope that doctors are able to clear her before she has to hang up her boots (as well as her leather and fishnets) for good.

11 Liv Morgan – 23

Transitioning from someone at a young age who may be ending her wrestling career, so one of the youngest members of the WWE roster who is just beginning her career. Smackdown’s Liv Morgan is currently a member of the Riot Squad along with Sarah Logan and Ruby Riott, and is the token blonde-bombshell of their group. Morgan may be incredibly beautiful, but thankfully she has a lot of time to work on her in-ring abilities as she is currently the weakest member of the group in terms of wrestling ability. Morgan’s gimmick is similar to Carmella in the fact that she really plays up her New Jersey roots, but thankfully at such a young age she should be able to differentiate herself from the rest of the roster over time so she does not let lost in the shuffle.

10 JoJo – 24

While JoJo was at one time both the youngest member of the Total Divas cast and the WWE roster, she is now known for a much different reason. When news broke last year about JoJo Offerman’s affair with the now divorced Windham Rotunda (better known as Bray Wyatt), the affair began to make headlines due to not only their age different but also due to Wyatt being married with two children. Even though he was seemingly happy with his family, Wyatt decided to step out on his wife with the much younger JoJo, and has also reportedly purchased her expensive gifts and jewelry instead of making spousal and child support payments. Not exactly a story that JoJo would want to be tied up in, but she has been marked as “the young one” that stole away “The Eater of Worlds”. Kind of has a nice ring to it.

9 Aliyah – 23

As a native of Canada, Aliyah is currently the proud owner of the title of the youngest wrestler on the NXT roster. Formerly known as Jasmin Areebi, Aliyah has been attempting to break onto the NXT roster for several years while a member of the WWE Performance Centre, and finally debuted on NXT television in 2016 when she was only 21 years old. Having seen her wrestle live as a part of several Ontario independent promotions it is great to see Aliyah break out on television, however her time in WWE has not been without controversy already. Upon her arrival on television, there were racially sensitive comments found on her Twitter account, which were eventually disregarded by WWE following a statement from Aliyah which stated "Unfortunately, I used poor judgment sharing my Twitter account with someone else. I am truly sorry for any offensive remarks that were posted."

8 Maria Kanellis – 36

It is hard to believe that Maria is 36 years old, and some wrestling fans only met her for the first time when she returned to WWE in mid-2017. Even at an age that is older than most of the other women on the WWE roster, she is certainly still one of the most strikingly gorgeous women on Earth. However, those that were fortunate enough to view Maria during her initial WWE run from 2004 to 2010 know that she has always looked this fantastic, and is probably even more beautiful these days (if that is even possible). While she has not received as much time on camera since returning to WWE due to her recently announced pregnancy, there is no denying that Maria is amazing gorgeous, no matter what age we are seeing her on television.

7 Sara Amato – 37

New wrestling fans may only know Sara Amato as the Assistant Head Coach at the WWE Performance Centre, as she has received much credit for the training and performances of the women coming out of the training facility since she began with WWE in 2012. However, if you dive deeper into Amato’s biography, you would quickly realize that she spent several years in many of the world’s top promotions as Sara Del Ray, and was widely considered to be one of the best professional wrestlers in the world. She has not wrestled a match since joining the NXT training roster in 2012, which means she retired at only 27 years old without getting a real shot at performing in WWE. Considering that caliber of training that she has dished out as a training staff member, it is very disappointing that we have not seen her on the big stage herself.

6 Mickie James – 38

WWE fans first saw Mickie James join the WWE roster in 2005 when she was twenty-six years old, and were instantly enamored by her in-ring style and spunky (if not creepy) personality. When she left WWE in 2010, fans were clamoring for her return but would have to wait until 2016 when she was announced to challenge Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship. Thankfully, James was signed to a multi-year WWE contract after impressing everyone in her return match, and has been ingrained on both the SmackDown and RAW rosters since returning. The most surprising part about her return though, is despite most people thinking she is the oldest member of the roster, she is not (but certainly still looks incredible for her age, and has not missed a beat in the ring either).

5 Nia Jax – 33

Being that Nia Jax is still a relative newcomer to the wrestling business, many would assume she's still in her 20s, and she certainly looks to be in her physical prime. However, Nia Jax was a pretty late entry into the business despite her family roots, and it turns out she's already 33. Jax appears to be closing in on being a more prolific face on the women's roster, but she still has quite a bit of room for improvement in the ring. Nia spent her 20s as a plus-size model and her photos show just how stunning she can be. Obviously, she's put on more mass in her wrestling career, but she still knows how to slay it on a runway or when having a night out.

4 Beth Phoenix – 37

Since being reintroduced to Beth Phoenix following her return in the Women’s Royal Rumble and her commentary work on WWE’s Mixed Match Challenge, it must have been a shame for new wrestling fans to realize she has already been retired as an active wrestler for over five years now. It is even more upsetting to realize how young Phoenix retired at once you look at her age – someone with her wrestling ability should have had a much longer career in WWE than she did, and had it not been for her deciding to resign from WWE due to family reasons, we would have been able to enjoy much more of her performances. It is great that we get to see and hear her each week during her recent appearances with WWE, but you can’t help but wonder what she would have been able to accomplish in today’s wrestling landscape.

3 Renee Young – 32

I'm not afraid to say it - Renee Young is one of the best parts of WWE programming for me. Her spunky interview style and bubbly personality combined with her girl-next-door style good looks make her a great addition to any wrestling show she is a part of, especially when she is given the opportunity to shine on commentary or during in-ring segments. The most surprising part about looking deeper into Renee Young’s life is that she thirty-two years old, which is surprising due to the way the youthful and fun vibe that she gives off when on screen. I would have thought at first glance that she was much younger, but I would have been incorrect. Hopefully this does not mean that she is closer to retiring from WWE than other women on the list, because I cannot imagine WWE programming without her at this point.

2 Carmella – 30

Miss Money in the Bank recently celebrated her 30th birthday and it's a little surprising to hear, considering she has only been visible to mainstream WWE audiences for a couple of years. However, Carmella has actually been under WWE contract for five years. She used to be a cheerleader for the New England Patriots and the Los Angles Lakers. Carmella has improved quite a bit since her promotion to the main roster, and she still has several great years in the business left to keep improving her craft. She'll likely earn a Women's Championship reign in the near future and should continue to grow as an on-screen character. As several women on the main roster are proving, women are now lasting longer as WWE Superstars, so being 30 shouldn't slow Carmella down at all.

1 Tamina – 40

This was perhaps the most surprising revelation– my first pick for the oldest active female wrestler on the WWE roster would not have been Tamina Snuka, but I was quickly surprised. Perhaps it is because she is not as highly visible on television as some of the other women on this list, or because she has not accomplished much during her WWE career in comparison, but she was not on my radar. Mainly it is because she does not look to be in her 40s at all and perfectly fits in among all of the other younger women on the roster. Tamina is slowly becoming more featured on television, and hopefully she can use the last years of her career attempting to accomplish more than what she has been able to so far and end with a big bang.