#pwi 500

[foreverlyjay]

I’M SO PROUD OF MY BOYS!!! 🤜🏼👊🏼🤛🏼

THE SHIELD FOREVER..BELIEVE THAT 💥

[msbigredmachine]

Roman not being on this year’s PWI 500 list at all is crazy.

Though I get it. He only had about 6 matches during the eligibility timeline (Aug 1 2023 - July 31 2024) and was absent for a lot of it, so it kinda makes sense.

[hmsquared]

Seth, Roman, and Jon are the top three in this year’s PWI 500. Glad to see the Hounds of Justice do their thing.

[unintentionaloracle]

Read that my boys KO and Sami apparently got #21 and #22 in the PWI 500 this year and while in my heart they should be higher (Kevin was my personal wrestler of the year of last year man was killing it) I can't help but be happy my boys ranked so high! (Plus I find the fact they're ranked one after another adorable/sweet like the fact The Shield boys are all in the top three this year. Has a real "mustn't separate" energy.)

[fuckyeahorangecassidy]

OC Should've been top 3, but I'm sleep tho

[wackelvaney]

From our latest issue: Some interesting info and numbers concerning this year’s 500 ranking.

PWI-online.com

[kage-gfx]

Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500; Top 🔟

[guyincognitojr]

[dilf-in-peril]

Seemed to enjoy being chopped and armdragged by Steamboat.

[joey-wheeler-official]

To be fair, bad decisions is par for the course for modern US title stuff.

That's for true it's not a title that matters like the Intercontinental title or uh... shidd what other ones are there?

[dtan0914]

MCMG ranked #23 and #70 this year on the PWI 500.

Photos by me taken at TNA Hard To Kill for PWI.

[moxley]

🐺 🐺 🐺 kid lykos is 111 on the pwi top 500 let's fucking goooo 🐺 🐺 🐺

[msbigredmachine]

The leaders of the pro wrestling industry!

Say hello to PWI’s top 3 wrestlers of 2023!

What a trifecta. The Shield’s legacy will never die. 🤜🏻👊🏼🤛🏻

Here’s the rest of the Top 10:

4) Gunther

5) Vikingo

6) MJF

7) Kazuchika Okada

8) Orange Cassidy

9) Josh Alexander

10) Cody Rhodes

[samijey]

me every year: the pwi 500 means nothing, no point in getting mad about it also me every year: gets mad about it anyways

[blowflyfag]

Pro Wrestling Illustrated: 1995 THE YEAR IN WRESTLING. March 1996

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: DIESEL 24,209 votes

Had Diesel decided to be content with the WWF World tag team or Intercontinental titles, no one would have held it against him. After all, he already had come much further than nearly anyone had expected.

It isn’t what Diesel expected. He thirsted for more, and he got what he wanted. He also received Wrestler of the Year honors for 1995.

Three days after the 1994 Survivor Series, Diesel obliterated Bob Backlund in eight seconds to capture the WWF World title. All he’s done since then is prove his surprising victory was no accident. Simply put, he was the most dominant wrestler of 1995.

Along the way to earning the top spot in the “PWI 500”, he beat Owen Hart, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Jeff Jarrett. He has beaten Mabel, Sid Vicious, Waylon Mercy, King Kong Bundy, and Tatanka. And he has beaten Shawn Michaels.

“That did it for me,” wrote Sally Rutherford of Albany, New York. “When Diesel beat Shawn at WrestleMania, that showed he had arrived. He was a true champion.”

A champion who until late-1993 was nothing more than a bodyguard for Michaels. Diesel had done fairly well as Vinnie Vegas in WCW, but he hadn’t shown any indication that he could be a dominant titleholder.

“I would have figured a dozen guys would’ve won the World title before Diesel,” said Johnny Gunn, who wrestled him in WCW. “I always knew he was good but I didn’t think he was that good. He either made a dramatic improvement in a short time, or he held back for a long time.”

Diesel’s dominance was threatened when he hurt his elbow in his bout with Vicious at In Your House I, but successful surgery enabled him to bounce back after only a few weeks. He was determined not to let an injury spoil his amazing run.

The World champion enhanced his reputation further when he again formed a successful tag team with Michaels and nearly won the WWF tag title from Yokozuna and Davey Boy Smith and In Your House III, Had Owen Hart not got involved, Diesel and Michaels might have been tag team champions to this day.

It’s too early to consider Diesel among the all-time great WWF World champions but he’s off to a good start on his path toward greatness. It’s going to be fun watching this powerhouse try to maintain that level of excellence in 1996.

RUNNERS-UP

SHAWN MICHAELS: 16,091 votes

First runner-up:   Had Michaels defeated Diesel at WrestleMania, he might have been voted Wrestler of the Year. “The Heartbreak Kid” Had an outstanding year, defending the Intercontinental title against foes like Dean Douglas, Jeff Jarrett, Davey Boy Smith, and even SMW’s Buddy Landell before injuries forced him to give it up in October. He also won the Royal Rumble.

STING: 12,801 votes

Second runner-up: The “Stinger” held the WCW U.S. heavyweight belt for most of the year, and he was a lot more active than former World champion Hulk Hogan. He continued to demonstrate that he’s more than a charismatic personality. He is a flat-out terrific all-around wrestler, and plenty of fans don’t want the rest of us to forget that. Trust us, we won't.

HULK HOGAN: 11,349 votes

Third runner-up: One would expect the man who was WCW World champion for most of the year to finish higher in the voting, but many fans apparently remembered that the “Hulkster” once went five months without defending the belt. Still, on some nights, there isn’t a greater wrestler in the world. Those nights just don't come as frequently as they once did. 

VOTES FOR OTHERS (8,652)

Some of the top vote-getters who did not capture a runner-up spot include: Bret Hart, Antonio Inoki, Mitsuhara Misawa, Razor Ramon, Sabu, The Sandman, and The Undertaker.

[mjfass]

Claudio Castagnoli being the number 12 in the PWI 500. A FREAKING KING.