The Top Ten Independent Female Wrestlers of 2009

I've done a couple of Hubs on the female wrestlers of the PWI Female 50 lists, both the 2008 and 2009 lists.
But since the women wrestlers of the Independent promotions hold a special place of respect for me, I thought I would cut out all the WWE Divas and TNA knockouts and just highlight them.
To me, these ladies harken back to the "old school" of wrestling, lady wrestlers like Mildred Burke, Gladys "Kill 'Em" Gillem, Mae Weston and Nell Stewart.
Most of them hold other jobs besides wrestling and will get off work, load up the car and drive miles and miles to get to an arena to get into a ring for maybe five to ten minutes.
This isn't for money (although they do get paid), this is for their love of the sport.
A lot of the top female wrestling stars of today started working for the Indy promotions (the TNA knockouts moreso than the WWE Divas).
Like I said, I left out the mainstream wrestlers, but some of them (like Cheerleader Melissa, TNA's Alissa Flash/Raisha Saeed) are still involved with the Indys.
And some will be showing up in the upcoming (maybe?) TV wrestling show Wrestlicious, perhaps giving them more mainstream recognition. .
So here are the top ten female wrestlers that work for the independent promotions from the PWI Female 50 for 2009.

1. MsChif
Rachel Donaldson has worked for Coastal Wrestling Association, Gateway Championship Wrestling, NWA Central States Wrestling, NWA Midwest, NWA Top Rope, Shimmer Women Athletes, and took part in "Chickfight", an all-female professional wrestling tournament.
One of my favorites, MsChif made her pro wrestling debut in 2001.

2. Sara Del Rey
Sara Amato, one of the hardest working women in Independent wrestling.
Sara has worked for Canadian Wrestling Revolution, Impact Zone Wrestling, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, Ohio Championship Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Shimmer Women Athletes, Mexico's Lucha Libre Femenil and worked under a mask as Nic Grimes, for the short lived MTV wrestling promotion Wrestling Society X.

3. Mercedes Martinez
Mercedes Martinez has been wrestling for almost ten years. She has worked for promotions like Defiant Pro Wrestling, Green Mountain Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, NWA Midwest, National Wrestling Superstars, New England Championship Wrestling, Women Superstars Uncensored, World Xtreme Wrestling and Full Impact Pro.

4. Daizee Haze
The Hippy Chick made her pro wrestling debut in 2002 and has worked for promotions like All Pro Wrestling, Anarchy Championship Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, NWA Midwest, Gateway Championship Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Shimmer Women Athletes, where she is not only a wrestler, but a trainer as well. She has also participated in the ChickFight tournament.

5. Angel Orsini
Angel Orsini also known as Riptide and The Prodigette (in the old ECW) made her pro wrestling debut in 1996 against another female wrestler that would go on to achieve some fame, Joan Marie Laurer aka Chyna.
Angel has worked for Florida Championship Wrestling, Freestyle Championship Wrestling, Hot-TV Wrestling, Professional Girl Wrestling Association, Sunshine Wrestling Federation, Ultimate Wrestling Federation, Women's Extreme Wrestling, Women Superstars Uncensored, Ohio Valley Wrestling and as I mentioned, the old Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Besides wrestling Angel has tried her hand at bodybuilding and female MMA.

6. Rain
Bonnie Maxon started wrestling in 2000 and has worked for French Lake Wrestling Association, Midwest Intensity Wrestling, Steel Domain Wrestling, IWA Mid-South, Combat Zone Wrestling , NWA Midwest, Ring of Honor, SHIMMER, and Women Extreme Wrestling.
She also had a short stint on TNA as "Payton Banks" as Robert Roode's number one fan.

7. Amber O'Neal
Kimberly Dawn Davis (from my home state of North Carolina) started wrestling in 1999.
She has worked for promotions like Carolina Championship Wrestling, Carolina Wrestling Federation, North American Championship Wrestling, NWA Charlotte, Women's Extreme Wrestling, Professional Girl Wrestling Association and Shimmer Women Athletes.
She has also had a tryout matches for the WWE, and done some work for TNA.

8. Jetta
This British female professional wrestler made her debut in 2002.
She has worked for promotions like Elite Wrestling Federation, Independent Wrestling Federation, Midlands Professional Wrestling, World Association of Women's Wrestling, LDN Wrestling, ChickFight and Real Quality Wrestling.
Here in the US she works for Shimmer Women Athletes as one half of the tag team "The International Home Wrecking Crew" with Rain.

9. Lufisto
One of the toughest female (or male) wrestlers out there without a doubt.
Since her debut in 1997, Genny Goulet has wrestled under several ring names like Lucifer, Lucy Fer, Precious Lucy, Super Hardcore Anime and Missionary of Violence.
LuFisto has worked for All-Star Wrestling, Association de Lutte Féminine, Combat Zone Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, Inter-Championship Wrestling, Slam Angels Wrestling, Stranglehold Wrestling, Ultimate Wrestling Alliance,Shimmer Women Athletes and Lucha Libre Feminil in Mexico.

10. Madison Eagles
Six one, 160 pound Madison Eagles is an Australian female wrestler who has started wrestling here in the US.
She has wrestled for Heartland Wrestling Association,World Class Extreme Wrestling, EGO Pro Wrestling, New England Championship Wrestling, ACE, Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling, Chikara and Shimmer Women Athletes
Madison also runs an all female pro wrestling company in Australia called PWWA, and she co-owns the PWA and the PWA training school.