WWE News: Roman Reigns & AJ Styles Rank In PWI 500’s Top Five Wrestlers, But Who Was No. 1?
The top 10 of the PWI 500 wrestler rankings for the past year have been released with WWE superstars being featured in eight of the 10 spots. Among those making it into the top five were the WWE’s Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, and AJ Styles. However, none of those superstars were given the No. 1 spot, and in fact, the top spot went to someone entirely outside of the World Wrestling Entertainment organization. Here are the latest details on Pro Wrestling Illustrated‘s new wrestler rankings that were just released and where each of the superstars was listed.
According to Wrestling Inc, the latest PWI 500 list makes for the 27th annual edition of the wrestler rankings. There were eight different WWE superstars given spots in the top 10 for this latest list, with New Japan’s Kenny Omega grabbing the fifth spot. Just above him was WWE’s Roman Reigns coming in fourth, with Kevin Owens taking the third spot. Current WWE United States Champion “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles is considered the second-best wrestler overall, and rightfully so. However, the top spot this year went to Japan’s Kazuchika Okada, making it the first time a Japanese wrestler has earned this distinction on the PWI 500 list.
Okada is signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling and currently, he holds the organization’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It’s his fourth reign with the title, and he’s now third overall in terms of total days he’s held the belt with over 1,233. Previous owners of this prestigious championship have included Antonio Inoki, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Brock Lesnar, and The Great Muta.
The @OfficialPWI 500 is ready for order right now in print & digital at https://t.co/Ip3ocrA39F. Congratulations, Kazuchika Okada! pic.twitter.com/LZiKfvIOSg
— PWI (Pro Wrestling Illustrated) (@OfficialPWI) August 30, 2017
As seen above, Okada posed for the latest cover of PWI and held up past issues of the magazine cover which featured top superstars such as John Cena, Triple H, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. He also gave his thoughts on being chosen as the top wrestler on the list for the latest rankings.
“What this award signifies is that wrestling fans and media worldwide are thinking about what promotion and what wrestler deserves their attention, and the answer is Okada. It’s an indication that finally the world at large is realizing just how great Japanese wrestlers and Japanese wrestling is, and that’s special.”
The WWE basically completed the remainder of the top 10 wrestlers on the PWI 500 list. Shinsuke Nakamura was listed at No. 6, with Dean Ambrose at No. 7, Samoa Joe at No. 8, Bobby Roode at No. 9, and The Miz completing the top 10. Of those wrestlers, several have held different championships over the past year with Roode, Joe, and Nakamura each holding the NXT Championship and The Miz and Ambrose holding the WWE Intercontinental title.
One of the earliest editions of the PWI 500 came out in 1991 and featured Hulk Hogan in the top spot, with Lex Luger, Ric Flair, and the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage just below him. “The Icon” Sting rounded out that original top five from Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
It was noted that Okada finished last year ranked second overall and was ranked in the top 10 in four of the past years for PWI’s annual rankings. For those wondering, Roman Reigns edged Okada for No. 1 on last year’s list, with Finn Balor at third overall, and AJ Styles finishing in fourth place.
[Featured Image by WWE]
