Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2022 i Pro Wrestling Illustrated

THE ANNUAL PWI “500” ranking serves as a snapshot in time; a glance into the state of wrestling during the 12-month evaluation period. Who excelled far and beyond any peers? Which promotion had the best roster? Which territories or countries saw the most growth in terms of talent? The “500” list, painstakingly compiled from hours of research and long ranking meetings, serves less as a definitive, mathematical chart of the best wrestlers, and more of a document of the wrestlers and promotions who made a big impact. While it’s easy to get lost in who topped the list, there are 500 spots filled with talented wrestlers who had stellar years. And, often, the list is best analyzed when looking at the big picture. After adding up and analyzing the data,…

MY ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY as a PWI print contributor and on-camera host took place this summer, but it was certainly a tame event within a season of shocking twists for the wrestling industry at large. Not long after Vince McMahon’s retirement announcement from his legendary tenure as WWE’s CEO and Chairman, news of Jonathan Gresham’s alleged heat with AEW CEO and President Tony Khan became the talk of social and wrestling media. The conversation soon turned from Gresham’s status in AEW and Ring of Honor to his placement on the 2021 PWI “500”—much to the surprise of fans, my PWI colleagues, and myself. To see one’s name in the PWI “500” is a longstanding career goal for many wrestlers. The reasons for this are largely personal, but they run the gamut…

ONE YEAR AGO, Triple H was fighting to survive a life-threatening cardiac episode. His father-in-law, Vince McMahon, had fired William Regal, Brian James (Road Dogg), and other members of his inner circle, while effectively killing his passion project, NXT. Only three months ago, Stephanie McMahon—amid reports that she and Vince had differing opinions regarding her role as chief brand officer—went on hiatus from WWE. Paul Levesque and Stephanie McMahon-Levesque are now the most powerful couple in the industry, gaining control when WWE’s succession plan had never been so uncertain—with Vince musing not long ago that the company might evolve beyond a family business. Stephanie, as the new chairwoman and co-CEO with Nick Khan, will feel pressure to maintain WWE’s unprecedented financial success. Triple H, as the new head of creative,…

IN ITS 32ND year of publication, it’s hard to believe that this list could still break new ground. But, alas, in putting together the top 10 for another year, I discovered a PWI “500” first: For the first time in its history, the top 10 is majority non-white. Of the first 10 wrestlers on this list, six are people of color. There’s one Pacific Islander (Roman Reigns), one Asian wrestler (Kazuchika Okada), one Latino (El Hijo Del Vikingo), and three African Americans (Bobby Lashley, Big E, and Jonathan Gresham). The 6/10 ratio beats the previous high watermark of 5/10, set last year, when Reigns, Lashley, Kota Ibushi, Shingo Takagi, and Rich Swann all made the top 10. Before that, there were several years during which four of the first 10…

FOR THE 31 years that the PWI “500” has been in existence, IMPACT Wrestling has had its wrestlers featured in 20 of those rankings. Much has changed for the promotion, formerly known as TNA, during that time. In fact, if you wanted a snapshot of the evolution of IMPACT, flipping through your old “500” issues might be as good a lens as any to view it through. As was the case within the promotion itself, AJ Styles was the first to really separate himself from the TNA pack, coming in at number 11 on the 2003 list thanks to some sterling work in the early years of the X division. The following year, he was able to crack the top 10, coming in at #8, and went one better in…

IF YOU’RE ONE of our regular readers, you likely understand—maybe even appreciate—how much effort goes into compiling a ranking of 500 wrestlers from around the globe. Even when we take into account the athletes who do not qualify due to inactivity, or whose primary focus is in women’s or tag divisions (see “From The Desk Of …” on page 3), there are still far more wrestlers in the world than any one person could reasonably be familiar with. It takes a village, from our committee members and magazine contributors to consultants, promoters, and even wrestlers themselves. I won’t bore you with how we start off each year’s deliberations, or how we whittle down and then refine each list. Besides, you can check out appearances from myself and many of our…

FOR PERIOD ENDED AUGUST 21, 2022 HEAVYWEIGHT 1 ROMAN REIGNS 265, Pensacola, FL (2) WWE Undisputed champion 2 JON MOXLEY  234, Cincinnati, OH (1) Interim AEW champion 3 JAY WHITE 220, Auckland, NZ (3) IWGP World champion 4 JOSH ALEXANDER 240, Bolton, ON (5) IMPACT World champion 5 CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI 242, Luzerne, CH (–) ROH World champion 6 YUKI YOSHIOKA 172, Gifu, Japan (–) Dragon Gate champion 7 BOBBY LASHLEY 273, Colorado Springs, CO (–) WWE U.S. champion 8 AC MACK 187, Atlanta, GA (–) IWTV World champion 9 WARDLOW 267, Cleveland, OH (8) AEW TNT champion 10 KENOH 209, Tokushima, Japan (–) GHC heavyweight champion WOMEN 1 BIANCA BELAIR 165, Knoxville, TN  (1) Raw Women’s champion 2 SYURI 128, Kanagawa, Japan (6) World of Stardom champion 3 THUNDER ROSA…