Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2021 i Pro Wrestling Illustrated

AS I’M WRITING this column, the first signs of autumn are visiting themselves upon PWI’s office in the Philadelphia suburbs. There’s a noticeable chill in the air, and the leaves are beginning to fall. I swear spring was just here! And yet, here we are with another change. Speaking of changes, I have a pair of announcements that should be exciting for our longtime readers. The first is something you may have already heard about. Beginning with our December 2020 issue, we have switched over from a bi-monthly release schedule to nine issues per year. That means you’ll see Pro Wrestling Illustrated in your mailbox—or on your local magazine racks—more often (roughly every six weeks). It also means we’ll be plenty busy producing those extra three issues. But, given all…

THE BAYLEY WE all knew a couple years ago would have surely celebrated topping the PWI “Women’s 100” with a round of hugs for everyone in the WWE women’s locker room. These days, you’re far more likely to find the WWE’s self-professed “Role Model” extending her arms to pat herself on the back—or to clobber an opponent with her title belt. Even more than a year after turning her back on her legion of admirers, it’s still hard for many fans to agree with Bayley’s methods. But what they can’t disagree with is the results they’ve reaped: the longest reign as Smackdown Women’s champion in history; multiple successful title defenses (including against four opponents at WrestleMania); a second reign with the Women’s tag team championship; the most compelling WWE storyline of 2020;…

ON MAY 23, 2020, Japanese professional wrestler Hana Kimura was found dead by suicide in her Tokyo apartment, after being harassed by viewers of Terrace House (a reality show in which she starred) via social media. Fuji TV canceled the rest of Terrace House’s current season as the wrestling industry rallied around Kimura and her memory. AEW paid tribute to her during Double or Nothing. And, on the September 3 episode of Dynamite—what would have been her 23rd birthday—Kenny Omega wore a Kimura t-shirt. Io Shirai and Mauro Ranallo both paid respects to Kimura on the May 27 episode of NXT. On Smackdown two nights later, Sasha Banks wore a black armband with “HANA” written on it. Dakota Kai dyed her hair pink as an homage to Kimura for NXT…

AJ GRAY HAS TURNED HEADS AND COLLECTED GOLD WHILE DOING THINGS HIS WAY. NOW, THE OUTSPOKEN FORMER GCW CHAMP WANTS TO GIVE A PLATFORM TO OTHERS. OCTOBER 29th, 2019 will go down as an important day in Black wrestling history. The day began with then-NXT superstar ACH taking to Twitter to express concerns with upper management in WWE surrounding a controversial t-shirt design. (He and the company would soon part ways.) In the middle of the chaos, independent wrestler AJ Gray announced that, during WrestleMania weekend the following April, he (in tandem with Game Changer Wrestling) would present his own show that would put the focus on Black wrestlers in the industry, called “For The Culture.” Sadly, the planned festivities around WrestleMania weekend would all be called off due to…

HOPE AND UNITY were the prevailing themes of the first-ever Black Wrestlers Matter show, held at the Franklin Jr. High Auditorium in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 22. The event, organized by wrestler and promoter Jon West, presented a tour de force of African-American talent from far and wide before an enthusiastic audience of live attendees and online viewers. When West first announced the event back in June, he was quickly inundated with excited wrestlers clamoring for a spot on the card. He ultimately assembled a roster of over 40 wrestlers for the show, along with additional in-ring and event staff. “I started the BWM movement in 2015. I felt like Black wrestlers didn’t get showcased the way we should. At every show I worked, I was the only Black…

HEAVYWEIGHT 1 JON MOXLEY 224, Cincinnati, OH (1) AEW World champion 2 DREW McINTYRE 265, Ayr, Scotland (2) WWE heavyweight champion 3 TETSUYA NAITO 225, Tokyo, Japan (4) IWGP World/Intercontinental champion 4 ROMAN REIGNS 265, Pensacola, FL (-) WWE Universal champion 5 FINN BALOR 190, Bray, Ireland (-) NXT heavyweight champion 6 RUSH 225, Jalisco, Mexico (6) ROH heavyweight champion 7 ERIC YOUNG 232, Florence, ON (–) Impact heavyweight champion 8 EITA 159, Nagano, Japan (–) Dragon Gate champion 9 BRODIE LEE 275, Rochester, NY (–) AEW TNT champion 10 BOBBY LASHLEY 273, Junction City, KS (–) WWE U.S. champion WOMEN 1 BAYLEY (2) 119, San Jose, CA Smackdown Women’s champion 2 ASUKA (3) 137, Osaka, Japan Raw Women’s champion 3 IO SHIRAI (4) 119, Kanagawa, Japan NXT Women’s champion…

ORANGE CRUSH The question of what exactly constitutes “art” is undoubtedly one of the great sociopolitical conundrums of the modern era. While the most common forms of expression—from theater to canvas and from concert to screen—remain the subjects of spirited debate and robust discussion regarding their respective roles in the zeitgeist, professional wrestling still draws a proverbial short straw in the search for mainstream recognition as a legitimate art form. After all, Jean-Michel Basquiat didn’t paint headlocks, and Gustav Mahler didn’t compose Symphony No. 6 from inside a steel cage (we think). Fortunately, aficionados and connoisseurs of every stripe can finally move on to pondering other topics of merit, as editor Adam Abdalla and a talented bullpen of contributors have effectively reconciled the worlds of professional wrestling and fine art…

THEY SAY IF it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If you’ve been watching Raw and SmackDown for the past several years, you might think that NXT is completely broken. As most fans know, it isn’t. But WWE’s approach to developing talent may be. Late this summer, we got an unfortunate reminder of this phenomenon thanks to Keith Lee’s abrupt jump from NXT to Raw. Lee, a trainee of the late “Killer” Tim Brooks who achieved unparalleled success on the black-and-gold brand, simultaneously holding the NXT and North American titles and capturing the hearts of fans in the process, has been pegged for great things for a while now. There’s a reason he’s usually described as “Limitless”—because that’s the extent of his potential. Yet his Raw debut the night after SummerSlam,…

WITH WOMEN PLAYING a bigger role in this year’s PWI “500” list, we were asked by quite a few readers whether we would continue on with this year’s “Women’s 100” list. The answer was a resounding and unhesitating “YES!” There are several reasons for this. The first is that the “500” list currently only includes women who compete in intergender matches. Not because they are the only wrestlers “good” enough to make the list, but simply because we have historically viewed the “500” as a definitive ranking of the global field of wrestlers who vie for heavyweight titles. Another reason is that, at the highest level, pro wrestling remains largely segregated by gender, with WWE, AEW, Japan, and Mexico largely booking men and women to compete for their own respective…

ERIC YOUNG ADMITS HIS FRIGHTENING NEW PERSONA—AND HIS UTTER RUTHLESSNESS—ARE SIMPLY TOOLS HE USES TO CONTROL HIS OWN DESTINY. IN THIS EXCLUSIVE, YOUNG TAKES US INTO THE MIND OF A “WORLD-CLASS MANIAC.” "I’M TRYING TO win, I’m trying to hurt people, to eliminate threats,” explained Eric Young, giving a calm, calculated analysis of his dangerous new persona and rationalizing the heinous acts he’s committed since returning to Impact Wrestling. “Beating a person one-two-three, allowing them to come back in a week and challenge me again, that’s not smart. I’d be setting myself up for disaster. I don’t want to hurt the same person over and over again, just hurt them bad once and never see them again. It’s not personal.” Now it may be appropriate to mention the word “sociopath.”…

NOW IS AN exciting time to be a wrestling fan. Despite the cancelation of so many live events by the pandemic, there is still an abundance of pro wrestling to watch—and, thanks to streaming services and traditional TV, seeing it all is easier than ever before. In short, there’s still plenty to celebrate. And, with that in mind, it’s time again for you to cast your ballots for the PWI Achievement Awards. 10 out of 11 categories should look familiar to longtime readers; however, one category has changed. Given how well women wrestlers have been faring in our awards in recent years, we decided the annual Woman of the Year category had become almost moot. It has been replaced with a new category: Indie Wrestler of the Year. Please keep…

BY NOW YOU’VE read Editor-in-Chief Kevin McElvaney’s announcement in his “From the Desk Of …” column and learned that PWI is expanding to nine issues per year. I’m hard-pressed to think of another magazine in any genre that has increased its frequency in the internet era. Thanks to a renewed appreciation on social media—and you, our loyal readers—PWI has gone from surviving to thriving. Before the internet, magazines were the only wide-reaching forum where wrestling was analyzed and critiqued. And, before cable television, print was the only vehicle by which regional draws could become national stars. Why would a New Yorker get excited about Dusty Rhodes challenging “Superstar” Graham in Madison Square Garden? He had already read about the “American Dream’s” exploits in Florida and around the world. Why was…

86 Trish Adora 58 Allie Kat 51 Amale 3 Asuka 22 Britt Baker 5 Sasha Banks 13 Shayna Baszler 1 Bayley 23 Bianca Belair 96 Marti Belle 39 Big Swole 99 Elayna Black 46 Shotzi Blackheart 7 Tessa Blanchard 27 Alexa Bliss 20 Nikki Cross 72 Solo Darling 81 Davienne 56 Sonya Deville 61 Charli Evans 43 Lacey Evans 75 Delmi Exo 4 Charlotte Flair 48 Penelope Ford 54 Giulia 12 Jordynne Grace 83 Indi Hartwell 33 Jessicka Havok 65 Utami Hayashishita 47 Jamie Hayter 70 Leyla Hirsch 60 Kiera Hogan 98 Holidead 71 Hyan 31 Ivelisse 10 Mayu Iwatani 41 Faye Jackson 69 Nia Jax 64 Jinny 24 Dakota Kai 25 Allysin Kay 59 Billie Kay 38 Killer Kelly 89 Priscilla Kelly 92 Candy Lee 15 Kimber Lee 34…

THE WRESTLING WORLD continues to mourn the loss of World Wonder Ring Stardom wrestler Hana Kimura, who tragically took her life after undergoing a severe amount of bullying over social media from fans of the Japanese reality television show Terrace House. Hana’s legacy will live on through her mother Kyoko Kimura, and her friends in the wrestling industry who continue to share stories about her. While only being 22 years old at the time of her death, Kimura touched the lives of fans who lived vicariously through the Tokyo Cyber Squad leader—who was known for her lavish ring attire, along with her charisma and potential for mainstream superstardom. At this time of loss, we must remember to always offer kindness, as we are unaware of what another is going through.…