Sting was the face of WCW for many years, and is undoubtedly the most famous and successful wrestler of the past 20 years that never competed in WWE. The magazine was eventually acquired by Golden Boy Enterprises. 2022 PWI 500 Full List!! WWE has had some incredible wrestlers walk through its doors, including The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, and the 100 best have been ranked. The magazine also announced it would refer to the overall history of the promotion's world title as the "NWA/WCW World Championship" (and likewise with other WCW championships). Originally known as Girl Wrestler of the Year, it was rendered defunct in 1976 and its history would be subsumed into the current award when women have again bestowed their category in 2000. PWI also published other special issues, which included: PWI Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts since 1996, Women of Wrestling, and a weekly newsletter entitled PWI Weekly from 1989 to 2000. Randy Savage29. The initials may have changed, but Ron Simmons wears the same belt (figuratively, at least) in 1992 that Lou Thesz wore in 1952. This site uses third party cookies for analytics and advertising. I'm a marketer writing about the things I love. [citation needed]. They're in the basement a lot because a lot of the videos involve opening boxes and I think that's just where there's the most space. Jushin Liger32. Roman Reigns tops PWIs Top 10 wrestlers of 2022 pic.twitter.com/mp0QcHNXMu, WrestlingWorldCC (@WrestlingWCC) September 14, 2022. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Total number of appearances: 17Number of top 10 rankings: 8Highest ranking: No. John Bradshaw Layfield56. Matt Cardonas best friend in NWA chokeslammed him through a table. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. He was PWIs top ranked wrestler back in 2016, too. 2 (2009). November 2022 William Regal66. Unique lists featuring pop culture, entertainment and crazy facts. Bobby Lashley - WWE 4. Nagging injuries forced his retirement in 2003, but fans are always glad to see Austin when he occasionally comes back to WWE to raise hell. Sabu40. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. 2022 The 2021 PWI Top 500 Wrestlers is a list of the Top 500 wrestlers according to the magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated . Additionally, readers are given the ability to vote for the winners of the year-end awards with ballots being included in special year-end issues. Vince McMahon calls Stone Cold the greatest WWE superstar of all-time, and although he only wrestled in WWE for five years, he was the face of the company during wrestling's biggest boom. The PWI Faction of the Year award recognized the best faction of the year. Also in 2021, six women placed in the top half of the list, including Laynie Luck, who out of all the women who ranked in the 2020 PWI 500, jumped the most number of spots to land at #230225 spots higher than last year. For the first time since 2019, a WWE talent tops the list. Bob Backlund 8. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Tajiri96. PWI reinstated the WWF's world title recognition in 1985[3] on account of the WWF's massive mainstream media profile. Strong Female Characters That Are Unforgettable! Shingo Takagi - NJPW 10. With the success of our Top 100 Wrestlers Of All Time list, we've decided to go even bigger and bolder. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Earlier today, Pro Wrestling Illustrated released the digital version of their PWI 500 issue for 2021. (LogOut/ PWI Top 500 Wrestlers | Pro Wrestling | Fandom Advertisement Pro Wrestling Wiki 148,226 pages Explore Wrestlers Promotions TV Championships in: Wrestling Awards, PWI 500 PWI Top 500 Wrestlers Edit this page Top 50 Females References Categories Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. [4] By this time, the championship was vacant and would remain so until the promotion's closure. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. 10 Wrestlers With The Highest PWI 500 Position (In The Last 5 Years), Hiroshi Tanahashi (Average Position: 23rd), Shinsuke Nakamura (Average Position: 12th), The 10 Best Wrestlers Aged 40 & Over, Ranked, He put on a great match against Kenny Omega at, 10 Coolest Looks Of Finn Balor's Career, Ranked, Owens made his Raw debut and scored a clean win over John Cena in his debut match, He wrestled a 5-star classic in his debut, 10 Wrestlers You Forgot Teamed With Shinsuke Nakamura, Rollins pulled off the 'Heist of the Century' at, His feud with John Cena was absolutely phenomenal, Young Guns: The 10 Best Wrestlers 25 And Under, 10 Wrestlers AEW Is Likely To Release Next, 10 Stories From Bret Hart's Autobiography That WWE Fans Need To Know, 10 Best Feud-Ending Matches In WCW History, Ranked. Reigns topped the list in 2016 before sliding down the ranks somewhat, partially due to his leukaemia diagnosis and WWE finally pulling him from the main-event to a degree. The 2022 PWI Top 500 Wrestlers is a list of the Top 500 wrestlers according to the magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Unlike other wrestling magazines and websites, PWI is largely a magazine written within the fictional realm of professional wrestling and the awards recognize this. Drew McIntyre - WWE 5. [deleted] 1 yr. ago. Rollins pulled off the 'Heist of the Century' at WrestleMania 31, when he cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract in the main-event to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The PWI Comeback of the Year award, given yearly since 1992, recognizes the most impressive comeback by a professional wrestler during the year. Koji Kanemoto93. Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years. Are you sure you want to delete your score and checked items on this list? ulta beauty core competencies. Kevin Owens had a fantastic run in WWE between 2015 and 2017. Since then, Cena has always been in the main event picture, and he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Bobby Lashley 6. Rich Swann 11. This site uses third party cookies for analytics and advertising. [10] It was again abandoned in 2020, and several female wrestlers were nominated for Wrestler of the Year but the award was again reinstated in 2021. [75] It has been given yearly since 1981, and was originally known as the PWI Editor's Award. At that time, Reigns was the WWE World Champion. Sign up for the Last Total number of appearances: 15Number of top 10 rankings: 8Highest ranking: No. Chris Jericho11. Here I present the top 20 wrestlers of the past 20 years, based on a point system I devised from their ranking each year they were listed. Danhausen hangs out there a lot, and has been living there since his injury for rehab. - Chad Gelfand 7. The New Day is the only trio to win the award. For example, a #1 ranking gets 1/2 a point, #2 gets 1/3 of a point, #3 gets 1/4 of a point, etc., all the way to #500 gets 1/501th of a point. Shawn Michaels . In 2019, Becky Lynch became the first woman to win the award. The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) was released in 1979. PWI initially did not recognize the ECW World Heavyweight Championship as a world title but granted the championship and the promotion world title status in 1999. Rich Swann - IMPACT Wrestling Pro Wrestling Illustrated have published the PWI 500 since 1991. Sid Vicious81. Kenny Omega Talks The Reports That WWE Is Interest In Signing Him Top All Elite Wrestling Star and one-third of the AEW World Trios Champions Kenny Omega recently made an appearance on The Sessions podcast with Renee Desmond Wolfe / Nigel McGuinness60. Stanley Weston Award (Lifetime Achievement), David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, No Time Limit Two Out of Three Falls Match, "And, finally PWI's 2010 Wrestler of the Year", "AJ Styles & Becky Lynch Named PWI Wrestler & Woman of the Year for 2018", https://twitter.com/OfficialPWI/status/1215306229670711296, "Pro Wrestling Illustrated anuncia los ganadores de sus PWI Awards 2021", "AJ Styles Named PWI Wrestler of the Year, Full List Of Awards", "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Reveals "Wrestler Of The Year" And "Woman Of The Year" For 2018", "Here are the 11 @OfficialPWI Achievement Award winners: Wrestler: @AdamColePro, Tag Team: Kyle O'Reilly @KORcombat & @theBobbyFish, Woman & Popular: @BeckyLynchWWE, Comeback & Inspirational: @WWERomanReigns, Hated: @BaronCorbinWWE, Improved: @MrGMSI_BCage More ", "Achievement Awards: Tag Team of the Year", "PWI Achievement Award Results: Who Was Voted Wrestler Of The Year?, Historical 'Match Of The Year', "Feud: @JohnnyGargano vs. @AdamColePro, Match: @CodyRhodes vs. @dustinrhodes, Rookie: @FlyinBrianJr. Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2021. position born wrestler previous year position difference notes; 401 Murphy: 114 -287: 402 Drew Parker: N/A N/A: 403 . 1 (2001). Jon Moxley 7. Andre The Giant 4. In addition, you can see the most watched/liked stuff amongst your friends. On Wednesday, Professional Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) a wrestling magazine published its annual list of 500 top professional wrestlers worldwide. While people may debate over him being the greatest of all time, no one can deny he has been the greatest over the last five years. 1. Hope you enjoy! Posts: 3,141. 1 (2000, 2009). Omega was ranked fifth in that year's PWI 500, a big jump from being 23rd the year before and 54th the year before that. Psicosis. Something went wrong. More recently, the magazine has branched into the creation of Women's lists as well, but the Men's list has remained far more in-depth, at least for the time being. Total number of appearances: 10Number of top 10 rankings: 4Highest ranking: No. After making his WWE debut back in 2016, fans were worried that the promotion would misuse him. Rush 19. Mitsuharu Misawa 7. Total number of appearances: 13Number of top 10 rankings: 8Highest ranking: No. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Hopefully he won't be overshadowed by the influx of former WWE stars over the last few months, and will continue to shine in TNA for years to come. Jonathan Gresham. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The magazine soon became known for not breaking kayfabe in its articles as it traditionally treated all "angles", or storylines, as real. Hangman Page5. Roman Reigns 3. Bam Bam Bigelow97. Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2022. position born wrestler previous year position difference notes; 401 . Yokozuna65. A weak stretch from 2016 to 2018 means that Tanahashi had an average PWI 500 position of 23rd. As the NXT Champion, Owens made his Raw debut and scored a clean win over John Cena in his debut match. Since 2008 men and women have their separate lists, but some female wrestlers are still occasionally listed in the PWI 500. Adam Cole 3. Page 5 of 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 161 Dean Malenko 162 Gino Hernandez 163 Phil Lafon 164 Mike Rotunda ADVERTISEMENT 165 Scott Norton 166 Mad Dog Vachon 167 Buddy Roberts 168 Raven 169 Greg Gagne 170 Ivan Putski 171 PWI 500 2022 Top 128 Wrestlers Who is the best wrestler of 2022 ? Bryan Danielson 8. Win-loss record The 2022 PWI Top 500 Wrestlers is a list of the Top 500 wrestlers according to the magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". AJ Styles 11. PWI is often referred to as an "Apter Mag", named after its long-time photographer Bill Apter, a term used for wrestling magazines that keep kayfabe. Takeshi Morishima100. He should be in the top 20 at least. 2 (1993). Also, you can track what you've seen, want to see, like, or dislike, as well as track individual seasons or episodes of shows. Ranking the top 101 wrestlers of all time - Sports Illustrated On Monday's SI Now, WWE wrestler John Cena explains what he loves about the new WWE Network, who would go on his Mt.. Kenny Omega topped the 2021 PWI 500. Cody Rhodes 12. Owen Hart59. The PWI Feud of the Year award recognizes the best rivalry of the year, normally between two wrestlers but also between groups as well. Bret is one of the most respected ring technicians of all time, and won the WWF Championship five times between 1992 and 1997. from SquaredCircle. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. A seven-time world champion, the Undertaker will likely headline every Wrestlemania until he decides to retire. This is Davis' house. Kenny Omega solidified his status as one of the world's greatest wrestlers when his match against Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall was given 6.25 stars by Dave Meltzer. The PWI Inspirational Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the most inspirational professional wrestler of the year. Randy Savage 10. Roman Reigns is number one on the PWI 500. He moves up from second place last year. He picked up clean wins over Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in just a couple of weeks and was crowned the inaugural Universal Champion at SummerSlam in 2016 after a great match. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Vince McMahon calls Stone Cold the greatest WWE superstar of all-time, and although he only wrestled in WWE for five years, he was the face of the company during wrestling's biggest boom period. 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