The PWI Inspirational Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the most inspirational professional wrestler of the year. Rick Rude51. Mistico39. . Finn Balor 9. Misawa is as renowned a performer as any in Japanese wrestling history, having earned 24 five-star matches from the Wrestling Observer newsletter. Below we explain why Roman Reigns deserves to be #1 on PWI's Top 500 of 2022, but we'll also take a look at other wrestlers who could have topped the list. El Hijo del Vikingo 9. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. As with the list of male professional wrestlers, PWI writers choose the position of the wrestler following a designated evaluation period starting from mid-June; anything a wrestler accomplished before or after that period is not considered. La Parka (original)95. 1 (1996). Pro Wrestling Illustrated. "PWI" redirects here. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. 1 (2000, 2009). 1 (1993, 1994). The PWI Comeback of the Year award, given yearly since 1992, recognizes the most impressive comeback by a professional wrestler during the year. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. His poor ranking in 2015 and 2016 means The Cleaner has had an average position of 18th over the last 5 years. 1 after only two years in the business is an amazing feat itself. Antonio Inoki 6. 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.. The PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the most improved professional wrestler of the year. 1983 Year In Review. Hiroyoshi Tenzan62. Well, at least we try to. For 2022, the evaluation period for PWI ran from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022. After making his WWE debut back in 2016, fans were worried that the promotion would misuse him. At that time, Reigns was the WWE World Champion. AJ Styles is widely considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time, capable of putting on fantastic matches with just about anyone. Total number of appearances: 18Number of top 10 rankings: 7Highest ranking: No. Mick Foley70. Of the women who ranked this year, only 11 women were also ranked in 2020, meaning 18 women are ranked for the first time in 2021. This year, we will expand on that tradition and begin honoring two individuals each year. Here you can find all previous lists, cumulated lists and notable inconsistencies. 24. And giving Reigns the nod over Kazuchika Okada and CM Punk - or not even having Jon Moxley (12th), Seth Rollins (17th), or Will Ospreay (27th) in the top ten - is certainly going to lead to a few arguments. Since 2021, Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) recognizes the WWE Championship, WWE Universal Championship, AEW World Championship, Impact World Championship, ROH World Championship, MLW World Heavyweight Championship, and NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship from the United States, the AAA Mega Championship and CMLL World Heavyweight Championship from Mexico, as well as the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, World of Stardom Championship, and GHC Heavyweight Championship from Japan as world heavyweight championships. 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. As it is a rookie award, wrestlers can qualify only once. from SquaredCircle. Brock Lesnar; By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. 2021 The SportsGrail, Sportsgrail Pvt Ltd All rights reserved. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); NWA EmPowerrr: Card, Details, and Where To Watch, Women of the 2021 PWI 500: #445 Saki Akai, Liv Morgan to make acting debut in thriller The Kill Room, Sasha Banks and Naomi: Grin and Bear It Narrative is Harmful, Britt Baker wins the womens Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, Athena officially signs with All Elite Wrestling, First-ever Queen of the Mountain match set for Slammiversary. A relatively poor 2017, which saw him placed 16th, means Rollins has an average position of 6th over the last 5 years. Date [7] Subsequently, after Ric Flair left WCW and was stripped of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in July 1991, PWI and its sister publications nonetheless continued to recognize the WCW title as held by Lex Luger, Sting, Vader, and Ron Simmons as the rightful continuation of the historic NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. Mitsuharu Misawa 7. He has maintained an average third place position. Kane43. Equipes. Trish Adora, who ranked at #44, placed higher on the PWI 500 than any other woman before her did. From a vanilla third-generation rookie in 2002 to a member of Evolution to the WWE's "Apex Predator," Orton has evolved with a killer instinct and is at his peak, where at age 30, he is likely to remain for many years. Bret is one of the most respected ring technicians of all time, and won the WWF Championship five times between 1992 and 1997. Styles did not top the PWI 500 list between 2015 and 2019, but his position never dropped below fourth place. Our ranking differs from the PWI 500 because we use math. 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. [5], Until March 1991, PWI and its sister publications steadfastly referred to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "the NWA" despite WCW having increasingly phased out the latter name in the preceding months. The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) was released in 1979. Return to Bell To Belles for more news, exclusives, opinion, interviews, and advocacy on your favorite women in wrestling! Bryan Danielson 8. Kazuchika Okada3. This time four superstars of WWE namely: Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, Cody Rhodes and Big E made the top ten of the PWI 500. When Masa Chono won an NWA world title tournament in Japan in August 1992, PWI and its sister publications only recognized Chono's title as the "NWA Championship" and rejected it as a world title or as a continuation of the historic NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship.[8]. Since 1991, Bill Apter's "Pro Wrestling Illustrated" has published a strange list, ranking the 500 most important wrestlers of the year. Lou Albano, J. J. Dillon, and Jim Cornette each won three times. I call it (mostly) kayfabe because influence on the sport gives them some room to consider non-work elements of a persons career and because I personally believe some thought is understandably given to their own shoot business, e.g. This time four superstars of WWE namely: Roman Reigns, Bobby Lashley, Cody Rhodes and Big E made the top ten of the PWI 500. Though womens wrestling is having a historic year on the list, its also important to note representation in other areas. Jeff Jarrett22. The PWI Midget Wrestler of the Year award recognized the best midget wrestler of the year. 4. By LeicchaTiger2 Plays - /5 - RATE QUIZ MORE INFO Classic Best Score? Sting and Jeff Hardy have won this award a record three times each (Hardy's third win is shared with his brother Matt as part of the Hardy Boyz). To know the full list you can visit this link. Matt Hardy64. Ric Flair 3. Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2020. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. A seven-time world champion, the Undertaker will likely headline every Wrestlemania until he decides to retire. He returned to the top 10 in 2009 for the first time since 1996, and continues to make waves in TNA. Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2018. Overall, 29 women ranked on the 2021 PWI 500, increasing the number of women ranked 71% from the 2020 list. Learn more at. Edge12. [17][18] As of 2020[update], Jushin Thunder Liger has appeared in the most editions of the PWI 500, with 29 appearances. The undisputed universal champion overcame some of WWEs best names. PWI ranked him #21 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2004; River City Championship Wrestling. Pun intended. Koji Kanemoto93. The evaluation period for this year's PWI 500 is July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022. As just announced on @BustedOpenRadio, Roman Reigns is again the #1 wrestler in the #PWI500. 1 (1991). ulta beauty core competencies. Samoa Joe probably would have been a world champion in WWE by now if he had managed to remain injury-free. Hiroshi Tanahashi has been a New Japan Pro Wrestling mainstay for the last several years. Pro Wrestling. While 2015 was Seth Rollins' year, it was also the year that Roman Reigns began to grow into a strong single's star, even winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in November of that year. 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. Staying at or near the top of this list for a consistent amount of time is exceptionally difficult, but it is possible. Big E10. 9 Could Be Number 1: Jon Moxley Twenty-nine spots out of 500 this year, next year even more. Primarily known to American fans as the Great Muta in WCW in the early 90s, Muto also led the Japanese version of the NWO and has won the All Japan Triple Crown three times and the IWGP title four times. Genichiro Tenryu72. Joined on: Nov 25, 2007. Jon Moxley 2. En 2003. Drew McIntyre 5. Unlike other wrestling magazines and websites, PWI is largely a magazine written within the fictional realm of professional wrestling and the awards recognize this. (LogOut/ This award became defunct in 1976. 3 (1991, 1992, 1994). 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. PWI500: The Pro Wrestling Illustrated Rankings. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. 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. 3. Kick Your Face. Kota Ibushi 18. Scott Steiner26. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. While he failed to win the WWE Championship in 2017 from Jinder Mahal, Nakamura picked up high profile wins over the likes of John Cena and Kevin Owens. 2022 PWI Top 500 Wrestlers Orton has created his own "legacy" in WWE over the past eight years. Sabu Shoots on PWI Top 500 Wrestlers List - YouTube Home Shorts Subscriptions Library History Sabu Shoots on PWI Top 500 Wrestlers List @theryanshowfm Subscribe 26 Dislike 1 Share. 23,990 views made by xrialfx avg. 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. In 2018, after ten years of the list including 50 wrestlers, it was expanded to 100 and renamed from Female 50 to Women's 100 and expanded to 150 in 2021.[52][53]. Often considered the Hulk Hogan of Japan, Misawa was the top star of All Japan throughout the 1990s, and won the Triple Crown three times. Hangman Page5. It is the 31st annual issue. I'm a marketer writing about the things I love. For the second time in his career, undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns is atop the PWI 500. Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. 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