[Daniel-X]

Sasha is definitely the worst winner to date (and I doubt there will ever be a worse winner). S9 is by far my least favourite series, just so bland and not many queens to actually actively root for in the cast. Her winning pretty much cemented my opinions to the series, I’ve tried to rewatch it since but I can’t bring myself past about episode 3 because it really was trash. Pretentious, self-righteous and completely lacking of any sort of personality.

Jush is fine but I would NOT have placed her this high.

[Shaun]

55th Place: Morgan McMichaels (Season 2, All Stars 3) - Finished: 8th and 5th, respectively

I adore Morgan McMichaels. I originally had her around 10 places higher but a late crisis of confidence has had me throwing queens out of this rankdown on a whim and I hope I don't live to regret this decision. Morgan is one of the most perfect examples of polished drag not translating brilliantly to Drag Race: she's immaculately put-together, razor-sharp and smart, full of good bitchy putdowns, and has tonnes of charisma. It's just unfortunate that she can't make P!nk a funny character, or had to impersonate a swan in an acting challenge that wasn't at all ****ing rigged. We'll move onto more AS3 riggery later (which is funny, because AS2 was supposed to be the most rigged, right?)

Morgan burst into season two as part of the legendary WeHo queen circle (that would later offer up queens like Detox, Willam, Mayhem Miller, Delta Work and Raven) and was very much an organic character: ie. she didn't give a **** about mincing her words and managed to pick the first ever Untucked fight with Mystique. I know it's tired to say it but god I miss the old Untucked

Like her friend Mayhem, Morgan won the first sewing challenge and then ended up being fifth-eliminated, but that would be pretty under-selling of her talents: that Gone With the Windows look was pretty stellar and she also managed to put in a great pole-dancing routine in the second challenge, but just wound up on the losing team. Her Country Queens challenge was also decent, serving a ridiculously-good "grandma" makeup. Unfortunately, Morgan didn't quite steal the hearts of the judges and ended up in the bottom two pretty quick thanks to silly immunity twists and not being as good-for-storylines as Tatianna or Tyra, and she was sent home by Sahara Davenport after one of the show's most underrated lipsync performances:

Youtube video

I'm still confused as to how she was in the bottom two for that wedding dress challenge, though, when Pandora looked like this and Jessica looked like this:



NEVER MIND. Morgan eventually made it onto AllStars 3 and infamously decided to announce to the room that she would send home the strongest competition. I do wish she'd had the opportunity to land in the top just for the drama of it all, but instead she was sent home by Bendelachrist because Ben has a tendency to be boring and "above all that" or whatever. Cow. And again: Morgan shouldn't have been bottom two, Milk should have. She then fell foul of the "returning queen who has no chance of winning because she's had 2 episodes of airtime where the rest have had 6 or 7" rule and went home again despite a pretty decent job of a terrible role in that Best Friend's Wedding challenge (which, in hindsight, might be the worst acting challenge the show has ever had).

I place Morgan this high because of her effervescence whenever popping up in World of Wonder videos; her appearances on shows like Fashion Photo RuView, the Pit Stop or the Trixie and Katya Show have often been great - such as the time she literally threw a guy's phone on the floor in the latter

There's also the time she broke her hand punching a Nazi

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A post shared by Instagram (@instagram) on Feb 3, 2020 at 9:42am PST

Memorable quote(s): "Sweetie. Sweetie. Go fix your hair, go fix your mug."
"I look pretty good for a dead bitch."
Best Runway(s): I loved her Scottish look for the Red Runway in AS3 but I would opt for her 'High Class Drag' look in episode two of S2.
Best Moment(s):

[Smithy]

I can’t help but wonder how much different AS3 would have played out had she not gone home first, would we have ended up with a worse winner then Trixie?

[Shaun]

She's a good performer so most likely would've been safe until Snatch Game, but couldn't see her winning a challenge and sending the strongest "bottom" queen home (which, even then, would've only been Kennedy or Milk in Ep2+1 respectively)

[Shaun]

54th Place: Robbie Turner (Season 8) - Finished: 7th

I'm in a good mind to say that Robbie Turner might be one of the most underrated queens of all time. The edit did a spectacular job of painting her out to be a conceited bitch who was always the inferior Seattle girl to Jinkx & Dela, and maybe she is a little bit, but that shouldn't undermine her talents.

That's not to say she didn't suck at times: the two design challenges showcased Robbie's sewing skills to be questionable, and probably could've been sent home first for that weird, shapeless canine couture look. Her lion-inspired Oz runway was even more hideous; a scrunched up wig stapled to her waist and a couple more dangling on her shoulders. She was a little disappointing with Snatch Game, too, with a poor choice of Vogue editor Diana Vreeland (at least go for Anna, since she's iconic AND recent?!) and all of this, added with the fact she landed in the bottom AGAIN for a bad performance in the RuCo's Empire challenge, would be reason enough to make her an early boot in this rankdown, right?

Wrong. Why is she this high? She �� can �� lip �� sync �� in �� god �� damn �� roll �� er �� skates ��

Youtube video

also Derrick should've lipsynced but I'm long past talking about that drunken bitch

What I love about Robbie is how she bought so much into her own delusion, and that's manifested since Season 8 in the bizarrest of ways, isn't that right, Uber? She was loathed for the first two or three episodes for throwing shade at Sharon Needles, Laila McQueen and the New York girls, Were it not for Acid Betty equally hamming up the "cold bitch" angle, she could've been the most hated queen of all time And at first I was fooled into buying it: she must just be a jaded, bitter bitch. But Robbie had talents to back it up: she won a challenge with Kim & Naomi as "Les Chicken Wings" in the New Wave Queens episode, winning praise from Debbie Harry on her birthday. She did great at the reading challenge, and stole several scenes in the Bitch Perfect challenge despite being on the worst team.

Spoiler:

I still believe she should've at least been top 3 for Bitch Perfect, and maybe should even have won for this runway alone.



Otherwise I just loved Robbie's personality for livening up a weak season of Untucked; playing around with Bob and Thorgy and teasing the dumber, vapid queens (convincing Naomi Smalls that Greta Garbo was in the Spice Girls), throwing shade in the workroom, and just generally having the ability to tell a story. Even if it's weird, fabricated, and leaves you as a social outcast with the Drag Race fans

Come back soon, Robbie. We forgive the Uber thing! And All Stars would be richer with your presence, dear.

Memorable quote(s): "I'm gonna tell you a story about flats... No."
"Too real?"
"Derrick. Let's not get crazy."
"BUY OUR VINYL IN THE BACK "
Best Runway(s): Already posted it, but her neon showgirl was also good (a bit like Detox's Marie Antoinette, but Robbie did it first x)
Best Moment(s): Breaking a light on the runway in her Mesmerize lipsync

[Headie]

The Uber thing was a damn mess Didn't she blame it on a really strong lucid dream or something

[Shaun]

https://www.metroweekly.com/2018/04/...e-was-roofied/

She hasn't posted on anything since this </3

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[Captain.Remy]

Where did that Sasha hate come from? Just because y'all thought the other three were better?

People are mad because she never got to lipsync during her season and murdered both Shea and Peppermint during the finale for the two times she had to lipsync. She pulled it when it mattered the most and ripped them a new one.


Plus, her looks were and still are very original and not conventional. That's what is so great about drag, you get to see so many sides of people and their take on the world.
Sasha is a nice person and very commited to what she is doing. So yeah, she's not the typical Drag Race contestant, all over the top, but in the end a much deserving winner.

[Shaun]

I do not care for nice drag queens, thank you!

[Captain.Remy]

Originally Posted by Shaun

I do not care for nice drag queens, thank you!

And that's fine to me, Shaun. Your ranking, your rules. Doesn't mean I like you any less nor I don't enjoy reading your wisdom on RPDR.

I was just surprised to see all those negative comments and the ranking Sasha got which to me are not deserving. She came through with those lipsyncs at the right time and overshadowed two big competitors, that's something you cannot take away from her and she deserves a bit of recognition for that too.
And I think to compare her with Yvie's attitude was a bit harsh too. If anything, Sasha was more in the background than living for the drama and stirring it like Yvie does.

[Barry.]

Originally Posted by Shaun

54th Place: Robbie Turner (Season 8) - Finished: 7th

I'm in a good mind to say that Robbie Turner might be one of the most underrated queens of all time. The edit did a spectacular job of painting her out to be a conceited bitch who was always the inferior Seattle girl to Jinkx & Dela, and maybe she is a little bit, but that shouldn't undermine her talents.

That's not to say she didn't suck at times: the two design challenges showcased Robbie's sewing skills to be questionable, and probably could've been sent home first for that weird, shapeless canine couture look. Her lion-inspired Oz runway was even more hideous; a scrunched up wig stapled to her waist and a couple more dangling on her shoulders. She was a little disappointing with Snatch Game, too, with a poor choice of Vogue editor Diana Vreeland (at least go for Anna, since she's iconic AND recent?!) and all of this, added with the fact she landed in the bottom AGAIN for a bad performance in the RuCo's Empire challenge, would be reason enough to make her an early boot in this rankdown, right?

Wrong. Why is she this high? She �� can �� lip �� sync �� in �� god �� damn �� roll �� er �� skates ��

Youtube video

also Derrick should've lipsynced but I'm long past talking about that drunken bitch

What I love about Robbie is how she bought so much into her own delusion, and that's manifested since Season 8 in the bizarrest of ways, isn't that right, Uber? She was loathed for the first two or three episodes for throwing shade at Sharon Needles, Laila McQueen and the New York girls, Were it not for Acid Betty equally hamming up the "cold bitch" angle, she could've been the most hated queen of all time And at first I was fooled into buying it: she must just be a jaded, bitter bitch. But Robbie had talents to back it up: she won a challenge with Kim & Naomi as "Les Chicken Wings" in the New Wave Queens episode, winning praise from Debbie Harry on her birthday. She did great at the reading challenge, and stole several scenes in the Bitch Perfect challenge despite being on the worst team.

Spoiler:

I still believe she should've at least been top 3 for Bitch Perfect, and maybe should even have won for this runway alone.



Otherwise I just loved Robbie's personality for livening up a weak season of Untucked; playing around with Bob and Thorgy and teasing the dumber, vapid queens (convincing Naomi Smalls that Greta Garbo was in the Spice Girls), throwing shade in the workroom, and just generally having the ability to tell a story. Even if it's weird, fabricated, and leaves you as a social outcast with the Drag Race fans

Come back soon, Robbie. We forgive the Uber thing! And All Stars would be richer with your presence, dear.

Memorable quote(s): "I'm gonna tell you a story about flats... No."
"Too real?"
"Derrick. Let's not get crazy."
"BUY OUR VINYL IN THE BACK "
Best Runway(s): Already posted it, but her neon showgirl was also good (a bit like Detox's Marie Antoinette, but Robbie did it first x)
Best Moment(s): Breaking a light on the runway in her Mesmerize lipsync

Robbie would be in my top 4 Season 8 queens.

[Shaun]

53rd Place: Mayhem Miller (Season 10) - finished 10th

Mayhem is definitely the queen I'd been waiting the longest to see cast on Drag Race; her name always popped up with all of the WeHo girls lavishing praise upon her, and she'd often appear in music videos and cameos in shows like Willam's Beatdown (back when it was good, and must-see YouTube). She's something of an LA legend, and that's why so many of the other Season 10 queens were intimidated and whispering her name on her entrance.

And it's not really hard to see why: she won the first sewing challenge with an immaculate black latex glove runway and it's hard to give that win to anyone else except maybe Miz Cracker. She should've landed in the top three for the Climate Change Ball; that Martian eleganza was stunning, and her Miami Summer even moreso... I mean come on:


It's half-Sindel from Mortal Kombat, half-Miranda Priestly. I'm gagged. HOW did this not finish top 3? HOW. HOW? HOW?!?!!?!? Even her Alaska Winter was cute! AND MIZ CRACKER LOOKS LIKE A HAIRBALL AND WEARS A SPACE HELMET?

I am still fuming that she even landed in the bottom two for wearing pink denim and delivering a perfectly fine performance alongside Cracker's Pickle character; she was hysterical, over-acting, and played the character well, whilst you literally had the Vixen and Asia forgetting their lines, and Kameron in a cheap Dolly parton costume?

I will concede that she deserved to lipsync for the App challenge, although again that was a case of Monique being a poor leader and the whole concept being confused and edited to make Mayhem look like an afterthought. But, hey, we got a lipsync where she truly murdered Yuhua out of it, so no loss.

After Season 10, she stole the show at the Holi-Slay spectacular with a jaw-dropping Krampus look that, if the episode were taken seriously, would almost certainly have handed her the win. She's also become something of a meme queen thanks to her legendary performance at Micky's:

Youtube video

This whole rankdown has pretty much been me arguing a case for certain queens to make an appearance on a future All Stars, but Mayhem is one of those queens who I can say with absolute certainty will one day appear. I just hope she doesn't have to wait 10 years like she did the first time

Memorable quote(s): "You see your name on the lists in those videos all the time, you know every year it happens, and I sit at home like... knowing I didn't get the call and I just feel... worthless"
Best Runway(s): Already mentioned it above tbh!
Best Moment(s): I loved the PharamaRusical episode for one moment and one moment only:

Youtube video

[Daniel-X]

I appreciate Mayhem being quite high, she was SUPER talented and had she not been shafted for storylines/been in a season with more filler queens she could’ve easily made at least F6/5 I would argue.

[Shaun]

52nd Place: Peppermint (Season 9) - finished 2nd

Look - everyone liked Peppermint. She is a drag legend, a proud trans woman, respected by the other queens (past and season 9) for a long career in performance, releasing music and fighting for the LGBT cause. She is a sweet person, killed the Roast challenge and proved her comedy chops, and murdered both her verses in the Category Is finale and her C.L.A.T. song with Aja, Alexis and Sasha in the build up to the season.

The problem is that she made it so far.

Season 9 was blessed with some extraordinarily talented queens that shot themselves in the foot with their own mental health, their lack of preparation, physical injury, or some deeply unlikeable personality traits; and as such we saw viable contenders for the crown like Valentina, Aja, Eureka, Nina and Alexis have to sashay away whilst Peppermint breezed through with one challenge win. For her to then utilise a twist that will probably ruin Drag Race finales for the foreseeable future, and send Trinity home with just one reveal of a skirt, is just laughably wrong. Especially when she already did the exact-same wig reveal in her lipsync with Alexis Michelle.

Don't get me wrong: Peppermint is a lipsync assassin and her murders of both Cynthia Lee Fontaine and Alexis Michelle were richly-deserved and high drag performances. She has a quick, energetic style that accentuates every lyric and can pull out a whole range of retro moves to camp it up a bit and keep the audience entertained. I just don't think she beat Trinity in that finale, I'm sorry. Not enough. Not to the extent that Sasha obviously beat Shea, thus overriding the difference in their track records.

Because Peppermint's track record was really questionable in Season 9: her runways fluctuated between the insanely brilliant and the worst of the season (that pink skirt in the Naughty Nighties runway, FYI, which she should've lipsynced for over Trinity - although a Peppermint vs. Charlie Hides lipsync seems like overkill). Her Snatch Game as Nene Leakes was atrocious and completely lacking in delivery or timing. I also grew incredibly tired of her screech-laugh in all of those Lee Dawson videos, and her talking heads were a little bit tired and forced ("I. CAN. NOT. BELIEVE. WHAT THEY. ARE ASKING. US. TO DO." [twenty head jerks])

HOWEVER: All of this makes me sound like a hater when she had many highlights. The Mary, Mother of Gay sitcom was enriched by her narration and acting, and she did a good job in the 9021HO challenge too. I've already mentioned her roast performance, but she did well as Britney Spears in the Kardashian musical, too. She also indirectly gave us the true MVP of Season 9:


Real talk: that interaction with Kesha breaking into hysterics was probably in my top 5 Drag Race moments of all time

I do love Peppermint; she was probably the only queen who actually tried to help Nina through her inner struggles, and she talked about serious issues throughout the season in a way that wasn't preachy or drab. For that, she should've beat Sasha x

Memorable quote(s): "I don't want any extra breast other- unless they come with a 2- 2 biscuits, 2 uh - breast and two biscuits!"
"Michelle, Michelle. Not since Destiny's Child has a Michelle become so famous by riding somebody else's coat tails "
Best Runway(s): Obviously the Club Kids look
Best Moment(s): Eating the diamond earring in the 'Music' lipsync

[Headie]

Perched to finally get the answer to this question up next:

Youtube video

[lewis111]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone disliking Peppermint, she’s so universally liked
Slight side note though, I really don’t think her Roast was great at all - jokes like “Happy 90th birthday Michelle” and “it’s a great book - said no one” are just so like playground humour (idk who should’ve won instead though.... maybe Sasha)

[zrc]

Nobody's roast was great. It was tedious at best, down right trash at worst

[Shaun]

51st Place: Aja (Season 9, All Stars 3) - finished 9th and 7th respectively

I'm not sure who exactly was after Peppermint but I'm giving myself a fighting chance and picking a fellow season 9 queen to throw out next. Aja is a strong fan favourite with a particularly rabid fanbase but when you take both seasons of Drag Race into account... she really didn't do that amazingly. I'm also getting rid of her now because I am so tired of hearing queens, RuPaul herself and other judges reference that "Linda Evangelista" rant. It wasn't that iconic! Sorry!

Aja is known for a whole bunch of perfect reactions and facial expressions though so her status of a recent DR icon is somewhat deserved. But if you dissect Season 9, you'll find little else to commend her for. She spent most of the season bitter about her inability to steal the spotlight like she's used to at home (Sasha Velour even says that Aja's the most exciting Brooklyn queen at the time in the premiere), and her insecurities came across in a pretty unpleasant way. She also got the Ru/Michelle "WE HATE MILLENNIALS" edit; being read by many of the other competitors for her inability to paint as well as her FaceTuned pictures, and not knowing enough references from pre-1995. This annoying judges' trend continued into AS3 and saw her sent home for not knowing how to pronounce France Joli and wearing something that was slightly out of the made-up "70s disco only" theme given a completely different name (Studio 54 wasn't just disco )

I haven't even mentioned where she did badly in S9 challenges but I need not mention her blah Alyssa Edwards Snatch Game, her terrible princess Disastah, her 9021HO brattiness or her abysmal chemistry with Valentina presenting the gossip segment of Not on Today!

Let's instead focus on why I've put her this high: she killed All Stars 3 but unfortunately not in the same way that Ben or Shangela killed AS3. She was always meant to be filler but that first performance of 'Level Your Pussy Up' was stellar; and she did a great job as Amy Winehouse and as Crystal LaBeija in Snatch Game, too. She only really flopped a little as a "needy" girl in the Bitchelor episode, but even then did perfectly fine as a scene partner to the incomparable Kennedy Davenport (even visibly corpsing as Kennedy rambled on ) Her runways vastly improved too, and that "wigs on wigs" look is extremely underrated



I do think Aja has the tendency to be a little bit cringe, and run her mouth on Twitter in the same way Aquaria does and thinks she's "IT"... but Aja does have a lot of credentials to back it up somewhat and overall? I'm a fan. Definitely room for even more improvement, though, and her music career is pretty impressive.

Memorable quote(s): "Ayo sis...I gotta go."
"[In Season 9] I was like a little turtle, inside its shell and now I'm like...... what's not a turtle?"
"Bebe is taking her wig off and girl, I don't see no flowers, I don't see no glitter, I don't see no gag. You ain't no Sasha Velour bitch, keep your wig on."
Best Runway(s): Already mentioned her Wigs on Wigs, but I also loved her AS3 Flowers runway
Best Moment(s): Coming for Valentina at the Reunion

[RileyH]

aja <33

[Shaun]

50th Place: Shannel (Season 1, All Stars 1) - finished 4th and 3rd, respectively

Where do we start, with Shannel? I could say with absolute conviction that if Shannel emerged on Season 11 or 12, and acted and talked in the exact same fashion as she did on Season 1, she would almost certainly be the most-hated queen of all time. Shannel was the proto-Alexis Michelle, a queen lodged so far and so firmly up her own asshole that it was painful to watch at times. With the luxury of almost 7 years since she was last on the show, however, the memory of Shannel being a bitch is long forgotten.

It is a tried and tested tradition of reality television to throw the most confident and self-assured queen to the dogs by letting her talk endlessly about her own talents in confessionals, and Shannel was the first and most prominent victim of this. A clash with the judges over her inability to win a challenge only cemented this: in the top four, when asked who should go home, she nominated herself with this iconic speech that almost single-handedly murdered Santino:

Youtube video

On the face of it, this is a hysterical overreaction, but when you consider the fact that Rebecca Glasscock was continually getting good critiques and told she's beautiful whilst performing so limply, and Shannel delivers meticulous drag, it's pretty justified. Shannel is the first queen to ever enter the workroom, and honestly one of the most iconic. I've used up the Best Moment below on something else hilarious, but I couldn't write about Shannel without including this terrifying moment

Youtube video

The season 1 reunion is also iconic for Shannel telling Rebecca that she didn't win the lipsync; Shannel lost it because she wanted to go home

On All Stars she was savvy enough to partner up with her Vegas sister and "queen who this whole thing has been set-up for" Chad Michaels, and they breezed through to the top four. It's a common criticism that she was carried by Chad but honestly, the opposite was sometimes true.

Memorable quote(s): "I am amazed at myself. I had my hand really in a lot of the entire package of what we did. In my mind, I've already won."
"Sweetie, let me tell you - I can give you 39 character illusions, I have headlined Vegas, I have travelled the United States. I have been there, done that, have the t-shirt."
RuPaul: "Now Shannel, why should you wi-?"
Shannel: "First of all, good afternoon RuPaul and our distinguished panel of judges. As an entertainer, and as a gentleman, I am happy with who I am. I look in the mirror and I love myself."
"I have probably got about $25,000 in costuming and rhinestones with me, I've got headpieces and head-dresses and 16 pairs of shoes, 22 outfits, things with Versace buckles on them..."
Best Runway(s): When she literally juggled to avoid landing in the bottom two but all of her runways were pretty incredible.
Best Moment(s): Interviewing Tori Spelling in the Oprah challenge, and coming up with this accidental DIAMOND - "I mean originally watching you on 90210 was amazing, you were always one of my true fans."

[zrc]

Every single person in season 1 was better than Glasscock. Even Porkchop.

[Shaun]

ok work has been ridiculously busy lately, and whatever free time on here i've had, i've put towards Pointless or music reviews, but here's a little respite

49th Place: Jessica Wild (Season 2) - finished 6th

First of all, Jessica should probably have won the first weekly challenge because the look she turned in the GIF above was a teeny bit better than the one turned by miss Morgan McMichaels. However, it's not something I feel that strongly about and am quite "over". One thing I will not let die though: Jessica needs to be on an upcoming Allstars immediately! Why? For the reading challenge, bitch!

Youtube video

Drag Race has a long history of fetishizing its Puerto Rican and other hispanic queens, with RuPaul jumping immediately to stock lines like "¡ESCANDALO!" whenever they perform in mini-challenges or the runway. I don't really recall Nina Flowers getting much of that treatment, but it was really amped up with Jessica's tenure on the show. Her unique comic stylings were TV gold, and she was blissfully unaware of how her language barrier helped her performances in the reading mini-challenge, the book promotion challenge, or Snatch Game, stand out.

Youtube video

Her trajectory is also one of the show's most confusing - she had consistently placed "high" and even won the challenge before she was eliminated - in that episode where everyone grew really damn tired of hearing "Ladyboy" by RuPaul sung live and Jujubee lost an eyelash in a drunken post-Black Velvet Untucked breakdown. She never even placed low, and when put against Tatianna to Sister Sledge's "He's the Greatest Dancer" you would've assumed it was a one-horse race. But Jessica over-exaggerated some moves or something so Tatianna stayed. Choices.

Memorable quote(s): "You are SO fat, girl........."
Best Runway(s): Her country couture with those ridiculous apple bottom jeans
Best Moment(s): She was a delight as the hyperactive, confused counterpart to Raven's disastrous chicken costume in the Crisco advert challenge

[Shaun]

goddamnit I left it so long I can't even edit the title any more

[MB.]

All Stars 8 winner Messica Wild

[Braden]

I completely agree with the Robbie Turner write-up. She's very underrated and it saddens me that she doesn't post on social media any more - I assume she is, but I'd like to know if she's doing okay.