# Pro Wrestling Illustrated

Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. PWI is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The magazine is the longest published English language wrestling magazine still in production. PWI publishes bi-monthly issues and annual special issues such as their "Almanac and Book of Facts". The magazine recognizes various world championships as legitimate, similar to The Ring in boxing.
PWI is often referred to as an "Apter Mag", named after its long-time photographer Bill Apter, a term used for wrestling magazines that keep kayfabe. In recent years, the PWI has moved away from reporting on storylines as actual news and mixed in editorial comments on the behind-the-scenes workings of wrestling.
Since 1991, PWI has been publishing its annual "Top 500 Wrestlers" listing the top male wrestlers in the world. In 2008, they added an annual "Top 50 Female Wrestlers" list, which was later expanded and renamed to the "Top 100 Female Wrestlers" list in 2018 and then again in 2021 as the "Top 150 Female Wrestlers." In 2020, they added an annual "Top 50 Tag Teams" listing the top tag teams in the world.

## History

The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) was released in 1979. The magazine soon became known for not breaking kayfabe in its articles as it traditionally treated all "angles", or storylines, as real. However, in more recent years the magazine has taken an editorial approach between kayfabe and "shoot" writing, differentiating between on-screen feuds and controversies behind the scenes. PWI is not limited to covering only prominent professional wrestling promotions, as it also covers multiple independent promotions in the United States. PWI also published other special issues, which included: PWI Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts since 1996, Women of Wrestling, and a weekly newsletter entitled PWI Weekly from 1989 to 2000.

### Yearly awards

PWI has given out annual awards and recognitions since its inception. These awards had previously been given out by another Victory Sports Magazine property, Sports Review Wrestling. PWI has also given out monthly rankings for big promotions, some select independent promotions, and overall rankings in singles and tag teams divisions. Additionally, readers are given the ability to vote for the winners of the year-end awards with ballots being included in special year-end issues. A special PWI Awards Magazine is issued annually, which reveals winners and the number of votes counted. The following is a list of categories in which PWI has issued awards.
* Wrestler of the Year (since 1972)
* Tag Team of the Year (since 1972)
* Match of the Year (since 1972)
* Feud of the Year (since 1986)
* Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (since 1972)
* Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (since 1972)
* Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (since 1978)
* Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (since 1972)
* Rookie of the Year (since 1972)
* Stanley Weston Award (since 1981)
* Comeback of the Year (since 1992)
* Woman of the Year (1972 to 1976, re-established in 2000)
* Manager of the Year (1972 to 1999)
* Midget Wrestler of the Year (1972 to 1976)
* Announcer of the Year (1977)

## World championship status
### Historical recognition

Although many wrestling organizations promote their lead title as a world heavyweight championship, Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) has only recognized a few championships as valid world titles at any one time. PWI has also generally recognized the main tag team title from any promotion with a recognized world heavyweight championship as being a world tag team championship (unless named otherwise by the promotion) and certain other select titles from those promotions as world championships.
In 1983, PWI withdrew world title recognition from the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, citing how champion Bob Backlund was not facing contenders from outside the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) territory and was only facing rulebreakers. This coincided with the WWF's withdrawal from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in summer 1983. PWI reinstated the WWF's world title recognition retroactively in 1985 on account of the WWF's massive mainstream media profile.
The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was stripped of its world title status in January 1991 when the American Wrestling Association (AWA) was in its final days. By this time, the championship was vacant and would remain so until the promotion's closure.
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. In spring 1991, the family of magazines adopted a new policy of referring to the current promotion and its champions as WCW and the promotion's pre-1991 past as the NWA. The magazine also announced it would refer to the overall history of the promotion's world title as the "NWA/WCW World Championship" (and likewise with other WCW championships). PWI generally traced the lineage of the NWA/WCW World Championship back to George Hackenschmidt's title victory in 1905, rather than the creation of the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship in 1948. 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. 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.
PWI initially did not recognize the ECW World Heavyweight Championship as a world title but granted the championship and the promotion world title status in 1999.

### Current recognition

Since 2023, Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) recognizes the WWE Championship, WWE Universal Championship, World Heavyweight 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. PWI later additionally recognized the independent wrestling titles the Independent Wrestling World Championship and the Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Wrestling Championship as world championships.

### List of all recognized world heavyweight championships

| Date of recognition | Championship | Promotion |
| July 14, 1948 – January 11, 1991 May 8, 2006 – May 13, 2007 January 1, 2021 – present | NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship | National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) |
| May 18, 1960 – December 12, 1990 | AWA World Heavyweight Championship | American Wrestling Association (AWA) |
| April 25, 1963 – present | WWE Championship | WWE: SmackDown |
| January 11, 1991 – December 9, 2001 | WCW World Heavyweight Championship | World Championship Wrestling (WCW) World Wrestling Federation |
| August 27, 1994 – April 11, 2001 | ECW World Heavyweight Championship | Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) |
| September 2, 2002 – December 15, 2013 | World Heavyweight Championship | WWE |
| May 13, 2007 – June 29, 2015 January 1, 2021 – present | TNA World Championship | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) |
| August 21, 2016 – present | WWE Universal Championship | WWE: SmackDown |
| August 31, 2019 – present | AEW World Championship | All Elite Wrestling (AEW) |
| April 3, 2020 – March 4, 2021 | IWGP Heavyweight Championship | New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) |
| January 1, 2021 – present | AAA Mega Championship | Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) |
| January 1, 2021 – present | ROH World Championship | Ring of Honor (ROH) |
| January 1, 2021 – present | CMLL World Heavyweight Championship | Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) |
| January 1, 2021 – present | Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship | All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) |
| January 1, 2021 – present | MLW World Heavyweight Championship | Major League Wrestling (MLW) |
| January 1, 2021 – present | World of Stardom Championship | World Wonder Ring Stardom (Stardom) |
| February 12, 2021 – present | GHC Heavyweight Championship | CyberFight (CF): Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) |
| March 4, 2021 – present | IWGP World Heavyweight Championship | New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) |
| August 8, 2021 – present | Independent Wrestling World Championship | IndependentWrestling.tv (IWTV) |
| August 8, 2021 – present | Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Wrestling Championship | PAWDWC Presents F1ght Club Pro Wrestling (F1ght Club) |
| May 27, 2023 – present | World Heavyweight Championship | WWE: Raw |
According to the annual PWI almanac, PWI still recognizes select world title reigns from May 4, 1905 – January 28, 1946, before the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in July 1948, mostly conforming to the lineage traditionally traced backwards 1948-1905 by the NWA for their World Heavyweight Championship.

## Rankings
### PWI 500

PWI has published the list of the top 500 professional wrestlers each year since 1991 in an annual special edition magazine, the PWI 500. 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. They follow a criterion that includes win–loss record, championships won, quality of competition, major feuds, prominence within a wrestler's promotion(s), and overall wrestling ability. As of 2023, L. A. Park has been ranked in the most editions of the PWI 500, with 30 appearances. John Cena and Seth Rollins have the most appearances at number one, with three. John Cena has the most appearances in the top 10, with 13. In 1993, Miss Texas (Jacqueline Moore) became the first woman to be ranked in the list, at number 249. Since 2008, men and women have had separate lists.
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 1991 | Hulk Hogan | Lex Luger | Ric Flair | Randy Savage | Sting | Scott Steiner | Ricky Steamboat | Steve Williams | Arn Anderson | Rick Steiner |
| 1992 | Sting | Randy Savage | Ric Flair | Rick Rude | Bret Hart | Ricky Steamboat | Jerry Lawler | Scott Steiner | The Ultimate Warrior | Stunning Steve Austin |
| 1993 | Bret Hart | Big Van Vader | Shawn Michaels | Sting | Yokozuna | Ric Flair | Lex Luger | Rick Rude | Mr. Perfect | Scott Steiner |
| 1994 | Bret Hart | Hulk Hogan | Ric Flair | Big Van Vader | Shawn Michaels | Stunning Steve Austin | Razor Ramon | Sting | Ricky Steamboat | Owen Hart |
| 1995 | Diesel | Shawn Michaels | Sting | Bret Hart | Sabu | Hulk Hogan | Big Van Vader | Randy Savage | Razor Ramon | Mitsuharu Misawa |
| 1996 | Shawn Michaels | The Giant | Sting | Kenta Kobashi | Ahmed Johnson | Kevin Nash | Rey Misterio, Jr. | Hulk Hogan | Sabu | Ric Flair |
| 1997 | Dean Malenko | Mitsuharu Misawa | Stone Cold Steve Austin | Diamond Dallas Page | Lex Luger | The Undertaker | Shinya Hashimoto | The Giant | Jushin Thunder Liger | Chris Benoit |
| 1998 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | Goldberg | Mitsuharu Misawa | Diamond Dallas Page | The Undertaker | Kenta Kobashi | Booker T | Ken Shamrock | Jushin Thunder Liger | Chris Jericho |
| 1999 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | Rob Van Dam | Mitsuharu Misawa | Rey Misterio, Jr. | The Rock | Diamond Dallas Page | Keiji Mutoh | The Undertaker | Goldberg | Taz |
| 2000 | Triple H | The Rock | Chris Benoit | Kenta Kobashi | Jeff Jarrett | Justin Credible | Mike Awesome | Jushin Thunder Liger | Chris Jericho | Kensuke Sasaki |
| 2001 | Kurt Angle | Stone Cold Steve Austin | Chris Benoit | Keiji Mutoh | Booker T | Triple H | Scott Steiner | Mitsuharu Misawa | Chris Jericho | Rhyno |
| 2002 | Rob Van Dam | The Undertaker | Keiji Mutoh | Chris Jericho | Eddie Guerrero | Kurt Angle | Edge | Yuji Nagata | The Rock | Triple H |
| 2003 | Brock Lesnar | Triple H | Kurt Angle | Keiji Mutoh | Chris Jericho | Big Show | Booker T | Kenta Kobashi | Eddie Guerrero | Rob Van Dam |
| 2004 | Chris Benoit | Eddie Guerrero | Triple H | Kenta Kobashi | Randy Orton | Toshiaki Kawada | John Cena | A.J. Styles | Shawn Michaels | Chris Jericho |
| 2005 | Batista | John Cena | Satoshi Kojima | Triple H | John Bradshaw Layfield | Kurt Angle | A.J. Styles | Edge | Shelton Benjamin | Hiroyoshi Tenzan |
| 2006 | John Cena | Kurt Angle | Edge | Samoa Joe | Místico | Rey Mysterio | Brock Lesnar | Kenta Kobashi | Shawn Michaels | Jeff Jarrett |
| 2007 | John Cena | Edge | Místico | Kurt Angle | The Undertaker | Shawn Michaels | Christian Cage | Perro Aguayo, Jr. | Bobby Lashley | Takeshi Morishima |
| 2008 | Randy Orton | Kurt Angle | Triple H | Samoa Joe | Edge | The Undertaker | Shawn Michaels | Nigel McGuinness | John Cena | Shinsuke Nakamura |
| 2009 | Triple H | Chris Jericho | John Cena | Edge | Randy Orton | Nigel McGuinness | Hiroshi Tanahashi | CM Punk | Sting | Último Guerrero |
| 2010 | A.J. Styles | John Cena | CM Punk | Randy Orton | Chris Jericho | Batista | Shinsuke Nakamura | The Undertaker | Kurt Angle | Sheamus |
| 2011 | The Miz | Randy Orton | John Cena | Kane | Takashi Sugiura | Alberto Del Rio | Mr. Anderson | Rey Mysterio | Eddie Edwards | CM Punk |
| 2012 | CM Punk | Bobby Roode | John Cena | Daniel Bryan | Sheamus | Jun Akiyama | Davey Richards | Kurt Angle | Mark Henry | Alberto Del Rio |
| 2013 | John Cena | CM Punk | Hiroshi Tanahashi | Bully Ray | Kazuchika Okada | Sheamus | Jeff Hardy | Alberto Del Rio | Dolph Ziggler | Kevin Steen |
| 2014 | Daniel Bryan | Randy Orton | John Cena | A.J. Styles | Kazuchika Okada | Bray Wyatt | Roman Reigns | Magnus | Adam Cole | Bully Ray |
| 2015 | Seth Rollins | John Cena | A.J. Styles | Roman Reigns | Shinsuke Nakamura | Randy Orton | Jay Briscoe | Rusev | Alberto El Patrón | Kevin Owens |
| 2016 | Roman Reigns | Kazuchika Okada | Finn Bálor | A.J. Styles | Jay Lethal | Kevin Owens | Shinsuke Nakamura | Seth Rollins | Dean Ambrose | John Cena |
| 2017 | Kazuchika Okada | A.J. Styles | Kevin Owens | Roman Reigns | Kenny Omega | Shinsuke Nakamura | Samoa Joe | Dean Ambrose | Bobby Roode | The Miz |
| 2018 | Kenny Omega | A.J. Styles | Kazuchika Okada | Brock Lesnar | Seth Rollins | Braun Strowman | Roman Reigns | Cody Rhodes | Tetsuya Naito | The Miz |
| 2019 | Seth Rollins | Daniel Bryan | A.J. Styles | Kofi Kingston | Kazuchika Okada | Johnny Gargano | Roman Reigns | Kenny Omega | Hiroshi Tanahashi | Will Ospreay |
| 2020 | Jon Moxley | Adam Cole | Chris Jericho | Drew McIntyre | Tetsuya Naito | Kazuchika Okada | Cody Rhodes | Seth Rollins | Kofi Kingston | AJ Styles |
| 2021 | Kenny Omega | Roman Reigns | Bobby Lashley | Drew McIntyre | Kota Ibushi | Jon Moxley | Will Ospreay | Finn Bálor | Shingo Takagi | Rich Swann |
| 2022 | Roman Reigns | Kazuchika Okada | CM Punk | Adam Page | Bobby Lashley | Cody Rhodes | Bryan Danielson | El Hijo del Vikingo | Big E | Jonathan Gresham |
| 2023 | Seth Rollins | Roman Reigns | Jon Moxley | Gunther | El Hijo del Vikingo | MJF | Kazuchika Okada | Orange Cassidy | Josh Alexander | Cody Rhodes |
| 2024 | Cody Rhodes | Swerve Strickland | Will Ospreay | Seth Rollins | Tetsuya Naito | Damian Priest | MJF | Jon Moxley | Gunther | Místico |

### PWI Women's 250

PWI has published a list of the top female professional wrestlers each year since 2008 in a special edition magazine. As with the list of male professional wrestlers, PWI writers choose the wrestler's position following a designated evaluation period starting from mid-June; anything a wrestler accomplished before or after that period is not considered. The list was originally limited to 50 wrestlers and was referred to as the Female 50. It has since been expanded and renamed to Women's 100 in 2018 and Women's 150 in 2021. It was expanded and renamed to Women's 250 in 2023.
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| PWI Female 50 |||||||||||
| 2008 | Awesome Kong | Beth Phoenix | Gail Kim | Mickie James | MsChif | Sara Del Rey | Roxxi Laveaux | Melina | Michelle McCool | Candice Michelle |
| 2009 | Mickie James | Angelina Love | Melina | MsChif | Tara | Awesome Kong | Beth Phoenix | Michelle McCool | Maryse | Taylor Wilde |
| 2010 | Michelle McCool | Angelina Love | Mercedes Martinez | Cheerleader Melissa | Eve Torres | Madison Rayne | Beth Phoenix | Mickie James | MsChif | Maryse |
| 2011 | Madison Eagles | Mercedes Martinez | Mickie James | Natalya | Madison Rayne | Cheerleader Melissa | Beth Phoenix | Tara | MsChif | Sara Del Rey |
| 2012 | Gail Kim | Beth Phoenix | Cheerleader Melissa | Sara Del Rey | Jessicka Havok | Layla | Miss Tessmacher | Saraya Knight | Mercedes Martinez | Tara |
| 2013 | Cheerleader Melissa | Mickie James | Saraya Knight | Jessicka Havok | Kaitlyn | Gail Kim | Kacee Carlisle | Tara | AJ Lee | Mercedes Martinez |
| 2014 | Paige | AJ Lee | Gail Kim | Cheerleader Melissa | LuFisto | Angelina Love | Ivelisse Velez | Courtney Rush | Natalya | Charlotte |
| 2015 | Nikki Bella | Paige | Sasha Banks | Santana Garrett | Gail Kim | Charlotte | Naomi | Cherry Bomb | Courtney Rush | Taryn Terrell |
| 2016 | Charlotte | Sasha Banks | Asuka | Becky Lynch | Bayley | Jade | Natalya | Gail Kim | Sexy Star | Sienna |
| 2017 | Asuka | Charlotte Flair | Alexa Bliss | Sasha Banks | Bayley | Io Shirai | Natalya | Sienna | Naomi | Kairi Sane |
| PWI Women's 100 |||||||||||
| 2018 | Ronda Rousey | Alexa Bliss | Charlotte Flair | Io Shirai | Asuka | Shayna Baszler | Carmella | Nia Jax | Mayu Iwatani | Kairi Sane |
| 2019 | Becky Lynch | Charlotte Flair | Ronda Rousey | Shayna Baszler | Tessa Blanchard | Bayley | Natalya | Io Shirai | Mercedes Martinez | Nicole Savoy |
| 2020 | Bayley | Becky Lynch | Asuka | Charlotte Flair | Sasha Banks | Hikaru Shida | Tessa Blanchard | Riho | Io Shirai | Mayu Iwatani |
| PWI Women's 150 |||||||||||
| 2021 | Bianca Belair | Utami Hayashishita | Deonna Purrazzo | Britt Baker | Thunder Rosa | Sasha Banks | Syuri | Io Shirai | Tam Nakano | Raquel González |
| 2022 | Syuri | Bianca Belair | Thunder Rosa | Becky Lynch | Jade Cargill | Jordynne Grace | Saya Kamitani | Charlotte Flair | Starlight Kid | Taya Valkyrie |
| PWI Women's 250 |||||||||||
| 2023 | Rhea Ripley | Giulia | Bianca Belair | Jamie Hayter | Tam Nakano | Athena | Deonna Purrazzo | Willow Nightingale | Kamille | Jordynne Grace |
| 2024 | Toni Storm | Jordynne Grace | Rhea Ripley | Maika | Stephanie Vaquer | Sareee | Bayley | Willow Nightingale | Mariah May | Athena |

### PWI Tag Team 100

PWI has published a list of the top tag teams since 2020. PWI writers rank the wrestlers following a designated evaluation period starting from October; a minimum of 10 matches or 4 months as a tag team is required. The ranking included both male and female tag teams.
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 2020 | FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) | Kenny Omega & Adam Page | Bayley & Sasha Banks | The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) | The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) | Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) | Lucha Bros (Pentagón Jr. & Fénix) | The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods) | The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) | Roppongi 3K (Sho & Yoh) |
| 2021 | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) | Lucha Bros (Pentagón Jr. & Rey Fénix) | Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.) | The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) | FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) | Alto Livello Kabaliwan (Syuri & Giulia) | Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) | Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler | The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods) | The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) |
| 2022 | The Usos (Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso) | FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) | The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) | Death Triangle (Pac, Pentagón Jr. & Rey Fénix) | FWC (Hazuki & Koguma) | RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Matt Riddle) | The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) | The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) | Violence is Forever (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini) |
| 2023 | FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) | Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) | Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn | Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi) | The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) | ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) | The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) | The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, & Dominik Mysterio) | Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, & Iyo Sky) | 7Upp (Nanae Takahashi & Yuu) |
| 2024 | Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill | Nathan Frazer & Axiom | Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi) | The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) | TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) | ABC (Ace Austin & Chris Bey) | Saito Brothers (Jun Saito & Rei Saito) | The Bloodline (Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa) | Crazy Star (Suzu Suzuki & Mei Seira) | FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) |