Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i Pro Wrestling Illustrated

IT SHOULD COME AS little surprise to our regular readers that “PWI 500” season is an exciting, yet stressful time here at Pro Wrestling Illustrated HQ. The pressure to get things exactly right seems to increase yearly, as the wrestling industry becomes bigger and bolder. This year is no different. More and more wrestlers are continually breaking through to new realms of success, and we are doing our absolute best to monitor the goings-on. Between the “500” and its sibling rankings—the forthcoming “Women’s 250” and “Tag Team 100” lists—we hope to offer a more complete view of the top in-ring performers this year. Yet, these rankings don’t capture the entire picture. For one, consider the wrestlers on a part-time schedule, who don’t meet the minimum activity threshold (six singles matches…

WHICH WAS MORE historic: Bryan Danielson’s AEW World title triumph at All In, or his WWE World title win at WrestleMania 30? That will be debated forever. But, at least in the moment, Danielson’s performance at London’s Wembley Stadium on August 25 seemed every bit as dramatic as what happened in New Orleans back in 2014. Nothing about Danielson’s victory at All In was inevitable. Danielson retiring after a hard-fought loss would have been consistent with the “American Dragon’s” inner samurai. And we saw the defending champion Swerve Strickland—still riding the momentum of his own title win four months earlier—going full-throttle heel for much of the bout. It was a strike-fest at the beginning, with Danielson targeting Strickland’s arm. The turning point came when Strickland’s manager, Prince Nana, retrieved the…

THIS SPECIAL INSTALLMENT of “Mat, Stage, & Screen” is anything but demure. The wrestling world has continued to knock on Hollywood’s door and vice versa, with exciting news of Heels headed to Netflix, the release of John Cena’s Jackpot, and rumors of Britt Baker starring in the final season of Cobra Kai. There’s never a dull moment, which is perfect for me because I have this very important column to write! And I adore doing it just for you. THE VOICE OF INSPIRATION Lilian Garcia is as inspirational as she is ambitious. When asked about future plans to record more music, the Billboard “Hot 100”-charting artist told me she’s recently fallen in love with Christian music, which has led to a fortuitous new stage in her singing career. “I found…

HEAVYWEIGHT 1 CODY RHODES (2) WWE Undisputed Universal champion Atlanta, GA 2 GUNTHER (-) WWE World heavyweight champion Vienna, Austria 3 SWERVE STRICKLAND (3) AEW World champion Tacoma, WA 4 TETSUYA NAITO (4) IWGP World champion Tokyo, Japan 5 DAMIAN PRIEST (1) Former WWE World heavyweight champion New York, NY 6 NIC NEMETH (-) TNA World champion Hollywood, FL 7 ZACK SABRE JR. (-) G1 Climax winner Isle of Sheppey, U.K. 8 KAITO KIYOMIYA (-) GHC champion Saitama, Japan 9 YUMA AOYAGI (-) Triple Crown champion Nagano, Japan 10 YUMA ANZAI (-) Former Triple Crown champion Gunma, Japan WOMEN 1 LIV MORGAN (5) WWE Women’s World champion Elmwood Park, NJ 2 TONI STORM (2) AEW Women’s World champion Gold Coast, Australia 3 NIA JAX (-) WWE Women’s champion San Diego,…

WAY BACK IN 1961, legendary comics writer Gardner Fox laid one of the cornerstones of modern comic book storytelling. In the classic tale “Flash Of Two Worlds” (The Flash #123), Fox established that comic stories unfold in universes of their own. The premise was a boon to comic writers, bridging gaps in continuity and explaining challenges to plausibility and practicality. The wrestling world eventually caught on in the 2000s, with promotions large and small carving out niche worlds and “universes” of their own as vehicles for storytelling and marketing. But it’s the lucha world that now produces one of the most intriguing marriages of comic book storytelling and wrestling-themed action, through the exciting new series Luchaverse: Catalyst from Masked Republic Comics. The first issue of Luchaverse: Catalyst rei-magines lucha superstars…

“The American Nightmare” has checked yet another item off his pro wrestling bucket list by finally topping the sport’s most esteemed—and hotly debated—annual ranking “I’m not a wrestler who pretends like the number doesn’t matter. That’s how you can spot a liar right away, if they ever tweet, ‘Nobody cares about their number on this list.’ We all care.” FOR ALL THE CAREER goals that Cody Rhodes has been able to check off over the last year—winning a second straight Royal Rumble match, finally capturing the WWE championship in the main event of WrestleMania, helping lead WWE in one of its biggest boom periods in decades—there was one dream that has, until now, eluded the “American Nightmare.” And, having achieved it, Rhodes’ reaction was less I finally made it! and…

WHILE THE ANNUAL “PWI 500” list is a team endeavor, it’s worth remembering that any member of said team would likely come up with a slightly different list, if left to their own devices. In recognition of this, here are a small handful of individual reflections on the collective effort. AL CASTLE’S TAKE PART OF MY LEGACY at Pro Wrestling Illustrated will be that I came up with the “activity” criteria for the PWI 500. And, I’m starting to wonder if I’ll live to regret it. The idea was to easily settle any disputes over whether a wrestler competed enough during the evaluation period to justify being ranked. But the minimum threshold of 10 singles matches—or six in six separate months—has come with its own problems, especially when it’s kept…

1 Called Manders (115) Fuminori Abe (367) Chris Adonis (348) Sam Adonis (321) Aigle Blanc (145) Sidney Akeem (406) AKIRA (138) Francesco Akira (326) Josh Alexander (43) Titus Alexander (170) Dimitri Alexandrov (461) Mustafa Ali (19) Will Allday (337) Darby Allin (97) Joe Alonzo (166) Andino (244) Andrade (196) Angel de Oro (188) Angelico (387) Alan Angels (163) Lance Anoa‘i (324) Robert Anthony (458) Yuma Anzai (41) Yuya Aoki (159) Yuma Aoyagi (137) Lance Archer (275) Tristan Archer (441) Arez (349) Atlantis Jr. (61) Ace Austin (114) Joey Avalon (482) Emman Azman (333) Bad Dude Tito (284) Mike Bailey (34) Finn Balor (68) Barbaro Cavernario (253) Chris Basso (395) Tyler Bate (212) Megan Bayne (139) The Beast Mortos (224) Ben-K (120) Darian Bengston (251) Junior Benito (269) Shelton Benjamin (318)…