The PWI 500

[Guest Youth N Asia]

First I gotta say they need to quit ranking shit WWE guys so high and stop screwing good indy talent. #33 Randy Orton, #39 Rikishi, #40 Test...you cannot tell me that ANY of these guys had one match that outdone CM Punk this year...and he's buried in the 300s

 

NO Colt Cabana or Yukon Braxton...they ranked all the CZW guys way low (which is an improvement on last year where they wouldn't list ONE)

 

1. Rob Van Dam

2. The Undertaker

3. Keiji Muto

4. Chris Jericho

5. Eddie Guerrero

6. Kurt Angle

7. Edge

8. Yuji Nagata

9. The Rock

10. Triple H

11. Black Tiger

12. Minoru Tanaka

13. Steve Austin

14. Booker T.

15. Genichiro Tenryu

16. Shocker

17. Brock Lesnar

18. Mitsuharu Misawa

19. Hulk Hogan

20. William Regal

21. El Hijo Del Santo

22. Kendo Ka Shin

23. Yoshihiro Tajiri

24. Jeff Jarrett

25. Matt Hardy

26. Hurricane Helms

27. Yoshihiro Takayama

28. Deacon Batista

29. Hector Garza

30. Buh-Buh Ray Dudley

31. Satoshi Kojima

32. Jeff Hardy

33. Randy Orton

34. Ric Flair

35. Dr. Wagner Jr.

36. Bradshaw

37. Chuck Palumbo

38. Koji Kanemoto

39. Rikishi

40. Test

41. Jushin Thunder Liger

42. Jamie Knoble

43. Billy Gunn

44. La Parka

45. Jerry Lynn

46. John Cena

47. Christian

48. Jun Akiyama

49. The Big Show

50. Nicho El Millionaro

51. Taiyo Kea

52. Shinya Hashimoto

53. Billy Kidman

54. Vader

55. Kane

56. Lance Storm

57. Christopher Daniels

58. Rey Misterio Jr.

59. Scott Hall

60. Masahiro Chono

61. Ultimo Guerrero

62. Raven

63. Yoshinari Ogawa

64. Goldust

65. Ken Shamrock

66. Rey Bucanero

67. Shannon Mooore

68. Scorpio

69. Tarzan Boy

70. A.J. Styles

71. Sean O`Haire

72. Devon Storm

73. Tokyo Magnum

74. The Big Valbowski

75. Donovan Morgan

76. Low-Ki

77. Atlantis

78. Tommy Dreamer

79. Tiger Mask IV

80. Syxx-Pac (X-Pac)

81. Kensuke Sasaki

82. Faarooq

83. Mr. Niebla

84. Steve Bradley

85. Spike Dudley

86. Michael Modest

87. Kaz Hayashi

88. Blue Panther

89. American Dragon

90. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

91. Mastak Tanaka

92. Doug Williams

93. Steven Richards

94. Shiima Nobunaga

95. Justin Credible

96. Fuerza Guerrera

97. Takeshi Rikioh

98. D`Lo Brown

99. Hardcore Holly

100. Nick Dinsmore

101. Takeshi Morishima

102. Negro Casas

103. Rico Constantino

104. Steve Corino

105. Brian Christopher

106. Manabu Nakanishi

107. Maven

108. Latin Lover

109. Dan Severn

110. Osamu Nishimura

111. Juventud Guerrera

112. Heavy Metal

113. Jody Fleisch

114. Scoot Andrews

115. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

116. Takao Omori

117. Shawn Stasiak

118. Ron Waterman

119. Perro Aguayo Jr.

120. Lance Cade

121. Akira Taue

122. Mark Henry

123. Villano III

124. Kimo (Jamal)

125. Albert

126. Super Delfin

127. Essa Rios

128. Johnny Storm

129. Al Snow

130. O.G. Ekmo (Rosie)

131. Jinsei Shinzaki

132. Shelton Benjamin

133. Sabu

134. R.C. Haas

135. Perry Saturn

136. Rob Conway

137. Great Sasuke

138. Nova

139. Hugh Morrus

140. C.W. Anderson

141. Black Warrior

142. Mike Quackenbush

143. Blue Meanie

144. Johnny Stamboli

145. Shinjiro Otani

146. Mark Jindrak

147. Mascara Sagrada

148. Naoya Ogawa

149. Shane Douglas

150. Tadao Yasuda

151. Joey Matthews

152. Alebrije

153. Crash Holly

154. Gedo

155. Shark Boy

156. Christian York

157. Doug ``Machine`` Basham

158. Jado

159. Satanico

160. Gran Apolo

161. Malice

162. Flash

163. Buff Bagwell

164. E.Z. Money

165. Milano Collection AT

166. Minoru Fujita

167. Dragon Kid

168. David Flair

169. Mike Barton

170. Bull Buchanan

171. Spanky

172. The Sandman

173. Damaja

174. Chris Nelson

175. Chad Collyer

176. Vito DeNucci

177. Tatsuhito Takaiwa

178. Ricky Marvin

179. Tony Kozina

180. Danny Doring

181. Takehiro Murahama

182. Simon Diamond

183. Race Steele

184. Julio Dinero

185. Sean Casey

186. Mike Shane

187. Todd Shane

188. Guido Maritato

189. Electro Shock

190. Trailer Park Trash

191. El Samural

192. Matt Stryker

193. Tom Howard

194. ``The Truth`` Ron Killings

195. Dick Togo

196. Gran Naniwa

197. Evan Karagias

198. Johnny Smith

199. Bobby Rude

200. Emilio Charles Jr.

201. Billy Fives

202. The Godfather

203. Gran Hamada

204. Cody Hawk

205. Steve Williams

206. Tsubasa

207. El Felino

208. Curt Hennig

209. Shinya Makabe

210. Franike Kazarian

211. Damien

212. Octagon

213. Black Buffalo

214. Mike Sanders

215. Hotstuff Hernandez

216. Sylvester Terkay

217. Red

218. Jason Lee

219. Seven

220. David Young

221. Chet Jabolonski

222. Jet Jaguar

223. Payne

224. Gamma

225. Tony Jones

226. New Jack

227. Dean Jablonski

228. Bison Smith

229. Gran Apache

230. Samoa Joe

231. Masaaki Mochizuki

232. Tony Mamaluke

233. Ryo Saito

234. Bull Schmitt

235. Onyx

236. Prince Justice

237. Tom Brandi

238. Beau James

239. B.J. Whitmer

240. Shannon Ballard

241. Mike Rotundo

242. Chris Michaels

243. Shane Ballard

244. Tony B.

245. Genki Horiguchi

246. Boyce LeGrande

247. Supreme

248. Xavier

249. K.C. Thunder

250. Kaos

251. Joel Maximo

252. Jimmy Rave

253. Jose Maximo

254. Dennis Gregory

255. Glen Osbourne

256. Robert Thompson

257. Jason Sugarman

258. Keiji Sakoda

259. Justice Pain

260. Mikey Henderson

261. Mike Sullivan

262. Jeremy Lopez

263. Vinny Massaro

264. Gillberg

265. Frank Parker

266. Johnny Spade

267. Scottie Wrenn

268. Johnny Webb

269. Adam Firestorm

270. Pogo The Clown

271. Lazz

272. John Rambo

273. Big Bad John

274. Bo Dupp

275. Kong Kong Bundy

276. Matt Murphy

277. Cru Jones

278. Chris Hamerick

279. Caprice Coleman

280. Redd Dpgg

281. Vic Grimes

282. Jag

283. Roger Anderson

284. Inferno

285. Jimmy Vegas

286. Iceberg

287. Chris Candido

288. J.R. Ryder

289. Don Montoya

290. Boomer Payne

291. Nigel McGuinness

292. Colt Cobana

293. Vance Nevada

294. Balls Mahoney

295. Lash LeRoux

296. Jason Rumble

297. Lex Lovell

298. Havok

299. Jacey North

300. Quinn Magnum

301. Price Nana

302. Azrael

303. Max Justice

304. Naphtali

305. C.M. Punk

306. Nick MOndo

307. Gabriel

308. Quiet Storm

309. Mike Pittman

310. Flash Barker

311. Monsta Mack

312. Brandon K.

313. Nick Gage

314. Mafia

315. The Messiah

316. Chaz Taylor

317. Skull Ganz

318. Tiger Kahn

319. Nathan Jones

320. Stan Dupp (Trevor Rhodes)

321. Dusty Wolfe

322. Tom Marquez

323. Ian Rotten

324. Preston Quinn

325. Scott D`Amore

326. Ulf Hermann

327. Mr. Ooh La La

328. Juggernaut

329. T. Rantula

330. Rapid Fire Maldonado

331. Scott Bishop

332. John Walters

333. Rico Casanova

334. Dylan Night

335. Qenaan Creed

336. Trent Acid

337. Wade Chism

338. Dr. Luther

339. Johnny Swinger

340. Chris Divine

341. Rick Deezel

342. Ruckus

343. Nate Hatred

344. Marc Ash

345. Cyrus

346. J.J Johnston

347. Madman Pondo

348. Ace Steel

349. John Balsamo

350. Johnny Kashmere

351. Navaho Warrior

352. The Bruiser

353. Natrone Steele

354. Nick Berk

355. Slyk Wagner Brown

356. Rick Myers

357. Dash Bennett

358. Adrian Lynch

359. Chris Hero

360. Cheetah Master

361. Homicide

362. Earl The Pearl

363. Superstar Steve

364. Robin Knightwing

365. Rikki Nelson

366. Dino Divine

367. Spyder

368. Bryan Wenzel

369. Joey Knight

370. Bruno Sassi

371. Billy Bax

372. Judas Young

373. Brock Singleton

374. Striker

375. Z-Barr

376. J.P. Black

377. Joey Corman

378. 2-Dope

379. Rick Michaels

380. Eddie Watts

381. Hardcore Kidd

382. Romeo Valentino

383. Adam Flash

384. Tommy Drake

385. Orlando Jordan

386. Sean Stylez

387. Jaguar Vijay Singh

388. Danny Rose

389. Smelly

390. Terry Alan

391. Piranah

392. Larry Destiny

393. Hack Myers

394. Creeping Death

395. Jardi Frantz

396. Mark Mercedes

397. Nikita Allanov

398. Ronnie Zukko

399. Dirk Ciglar

400. James Champagne

401. Brian Anthony

402. Time Bomb

403. Hellraiser Hark

404. Mike Kruel

405. Bob Evans

406. Horshu

407. Bobby Rogers

408. Giant Singh

409. J-Rocc

410. Eric Everlast

411. Tejas

412. The California Kid

413. Abunai

414. Nova Cain

415. Jeff Hamerick

416. Bobby 2-Badd

417. Major Havoc

418. Mozart Fontaine

419. The Bouncer

420. Adam Jacobs

421. Jackal

422. Spazman Anthony

423. Aaron Stevens

424. Marshall Knox

425. Alex Arion

426. Boogalou

427. Kevin Knight

428. E.Z. Ryder

429. Dewey Cheatum

430. Scab

431. Norton Lewis

432. Rollin` Hard

433. Brad Michaels

434. Hadrian

435. Chris Sabin

436. Crusher Hansen

437. Arch Kincaid

438. Norman Tharx

439. Johnny Maxx

440. Cruizer Lewis

441. Franky the Mobster

442. Johnny Handsome

443. Matt Vandal

444. Stan Sierra

445. Sean Lei

446. Cash Flo

447. David Lee Gilbert

448. Poison

449. Johnny Graham

450. Ruffhouse Rivera

451. The Codfather

452. Shawn Christopher

453. Flex Fenom

454. Leslie Leatherman

455. Dave Johnson

456. Ricky Murdock

457. Rob Eckos

458. Brian Bedlam

459. Spanky Malonr

460. Gino Martino

461. Stamp Lickage

462. Adam Booker

463. Roman

464. Nikki Strychnine

465. C.B. Cane

466. Rob Noxious

467. Billy Reil

468. Gator McAllister

469. Bobby Collins

470. Bob Keller

471. Kelly Bell

472. Bulldozer Benton

473. Idol X

474. Rod Bell

475. The Japanese Pool Boy

476. Jake Damien

477. Ricky Noble

478. Dave Greco

479. Jimmy Jacobs

480. Mack Truck

481. Derock Neikirk

482. H.C. Loc

483. The Prophet

484. Tyson Dux

485. Lorida

486. Dukes Dalton

487. Mike Knox

488. Buck Wylde

489. Terry Knight

490. Rusty Riddle

491. Brandon Walker

492. Gutter

493. Samir

494. Luis Ortiz

495. Ox Harley

496. Shane Shadows

497. Chris Venom

498. Frankie Capone

499. Matt Richards

500. Derek McQuinn

[Guest BionicRedneck]

It's a pile of shit.

 

but, thanks for posting it.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

AND ANOTHER THING!!!

 

I hate how they try and come off so smart by posting all the big Japan guys, and show their dumbassness by screwing Colt Cabana, Yukon Braxton, CM Punk, and Chris Hero.

 

Cabana not listed, Yukon not listed, Punk and Hero listed in the shit numbers.

 

I don't expect anyone to know who Yukon Braxton is...but if you go to Michigan indys then you know he is the best heavyweight worker in the state now.

 

Basicaly if an indy guys sends in a photo and a brief history and they're on the list...that's the only reason Skull Ganz keeps making the list

 

AND EVERY YEAR! They list tag teams like York and Matthews and other indy and Japan teams within a few numbers of each other...cause they're too dumb to come up with a real ranking.

 

PWI 500 my ass

[Guest alkeiper]

What people usually don't get is that the list is in no way based upon workrate. Its basically which wrestler has won the most matches, most important matches, etc.

[Guest kane3212321]

Yay Havok is number 298, now there's a guy who deserves to be higher!

[Guest kingkamala]

Nathan Jones is #319, does the WWA title mean nothing? Oh wait don't answer that

[EL DANDY~! 0]

Misawa at #18? MUTOH at #3? KOJIMA has had two FUCKING MOTYC in the last couple of months...QUE????????

 

Oh, and RVD at #1 pisses me off. I'm all for him being a big star, but him over...say...KURT ANGLE? No...

[Guest razazteca]

11. Black Tiger

16. Shocker

21. El Hijo Del Santo

29. Hector Garza

35. Dr. Wagner Jr

61. Ultimo Guerrero

66. Rey Bucanero

69. Tarzan Boy

102. Negro Casas

 

well I am happy that some of my favorite Galavision stars are ranked as high as they are and very surprised at Black Tiger at #11!!! But still alittle dissappointed that Negro Casas is not at least in the top 50. Negro Casas sold his ass off for the tag team matches with Santo vs Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucannero. WTF has Hector Garza done to be so high? has he been working outside of Mexico? besides the Triplemania X show?

 

215. Hotstuff Hernandez, I have seen him live well what can I say other than Latino Hoss.

[King Cucaracha 0]

I swear these things get weirder every year...for example

25.Matt 'the un-extreme' Hardy

32.Jeff 'biggest push since he won the IC Title' Hardy

 

Kidman, Storm and Mysterio in the 50's, Test and Regal way too high.

 

A.J Styles at 70...Low Ki at 76!!!

 

I know this year's been messed up by wCw and ECW's deaths a year or so ago now, but still this is a bit messed. RVD should have won definately, and Taker second I like but Angle should have been higher

[Guest Sandman9000]

Dude, Colt Cobana is at 292.

[Guest Kagato Otaku]

Anyone care to speculate if Reverend D-Von is the 501st best wrestler in the world, since PWI saw to it not to put him on their little list?

 

'Tis a sad day in Dudleyville.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Yeah, I saw the Cabana thing after I posted...still a screwjob for him and Punk

[Guest J*ingus]

Rick Michaels: 379.

 

Undertaker: 2.

 

 

 

 

 

There is no God.

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

Why the hell is Buff fucking Bagwell on the list?!?!?!

[Guest Midnight Express83]

If you wrestle in the WWF=high on list. They are saying Big Show of all people is a better than 2/3s the whole wrestling business.

[Guest razazteca]

2/3 of the indy wrestling business weigh less than 230 pounds.

[Guest Mattdotcom]

I can't figure out how Flair got on the list, let alone at number 34.

 

November 2001: Comes back as co-owner. Doesn't wrestle until-

 

January 2002: Beats Vince at the Rumble. Starts a long feud with The Undertaker-

 

March 2002: Jobs to 'Taker. Turns heel, feuds with Austin, leading to:

 

May 2002: With Big Show, loses to Austin in a handicap match. The feud continues with-

 

June 2002: Loses to Austin on RAW. Austin leaves, so Vince beats Flair to regain 100% control. Flair then jobs to Lesnar on RAW and feuds with Eddy, who he beats with the help of Bubba Ray.

 

I think I listed every televised Flair match that PWI could have counted.

[Guest Kid Kablam]

Anyone care to speculate if Reverend D-Von is the 501st best wrestler in the world, since PWI saw to it not to put him on their little list?

 

'Tis a sad day in Dudleyville.

But of course Mark Henry and the Godfather are

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

I think it's stupid for PWI to even list a top 500. To make it even presentable they'd have to start it so early in the year that they couldn't possibly represent the year correctly.

 

RVD can't be #1 cause of the way the WWE handles him. Isn't the list supposed to reflect the biggest players in wrestling for that year? So far WWE hasn't made RVD that big of a player...yet.

[Guest Goodear]

Lordy christ,

 

PWI is a magazine that last I checked still treated wrestling like it was real!!! And you want an actual rating of talent? Please. They put WWE wrestlers high because people who read PWI would actually recognize their names! They see CM Punk and go... that's a stupid name... and move on.

[Guest FeArHaVoC]

<56. Lance Storm>

 

How in the Hell did Rikishi, Test, Billy Gunn, Big Show, Matt & Jeff Hardy get ranked higher? I know Storm wasn't pushed most of the year, but he was always on TV!

[Guest midnight_burn]

"24. Jeff Jarrett"

 

I don't know what Jeff has done to get that high, but i guess he gets to keep his streak of being in the top 50 every year.

[Guest Mad Dog]

How in the hell did Taker and Triple H make it into the top 10?

[Guest Midnight Express83]

Be WWE champion and you are in the top 20.

[Guest DragonflyKid]

Of course Taker and HHH are going to make it in the top 10, the rankings are completely markish. If a wrestler has had success in the WWE it would be akin to the year guys like Tejada and A-Rod are having in baseball. HHH and Taker are the top guys in the big league, indy guy are "minor-leaguers" and their success in ranked below the WWE guys. If a minor-leaguer hit 300 with 30 HR's he wouldn't be considered one of the best baseball players until he achieved success in the majors. Actual wrestling talent is a miniscule part of the PWI rankings, success in a major promotion is what ends up determining what ranking a guy gets(That and what sells mags).

[Guest netslob]

y'know what REALLY pisses me off about PWI? this shit about weither or not to award a promotion World title status. this was a big issue a couple of years ago with ECW, they would'nt recognize thier titles as "World" titles. what a crock o' shit. did the fact that some fifth-rate *ahem* "Journalists" for a third-rate magazine(s) think that ECW was "worthy" to be recognized by their magazines as a worldwide organization ever actually STOP ECW from calling their belts World titles? no, of course not. does it stop numerous indie promotions around the country (and the world) from doing the same thing? nope. do i think XPW or CZW or ROH are World-calibre promotions (whatever that means)? not really, but i couldn't give a shit less if they wanna call their titles World titles or not. y'see, PWI-ites, nobody really cares what you think. the promoters are gonna do what they want to anyway. because, believe it or not, the wrestling world doesn't revolve around your little mark-mags. so try to be a little less self-important, and spend a little more effort to get your subscribers' issues to them on time.

 

sorry, i just have been wanting to get that off my chest for a while. carry on.

[Guest Midnight Express83]

My problem with PWI is that their rankings really have a gap in logic. If the deadline for that Mag is July or Aug. How is it that within a 8 weeks they can fairly rank 500 people without any bias in it. But the one reason I give more credit to DVDVR is that their top 500 is done more fairly. They tell you what they are ranking and rank accordingly. PWI seems to take names out of hats and rank them below the WWE. If Freaking Big Show is in the top 40. Call it a day because you aren't even thinking.

[Guest J*ingus]

They also focus way too much on some areas of the country, while completely missing others. NWA Wildside has at least a dozen guys on the list, but nobody from the densely populated Nashville wrestling scene is on there, not even James Storm or Chris Harris (unless you count Chris Michaels, but he does most of his stuff out of Kentucky, so I don't).

 

Also, how incredibly fucking lazy they must be when ranking tag-team members. The Hardyz, York & Matthews, Gedo & Jado, the SATs, all of them have both partners within ten (sometimes five) places of each other on the list.

[Guest Black Tiger]

Even PWI can see that Puroresu wrestlers are smoking the US right now. Kanemoto, Nagata, Mutoh, Tenryu, Tanaka, Lyger, Kojima, all within the top forty. My only complaint is that Jun Akiyama held the GHC from August untill April.....and he's rated FORTY EIGHT

 

Aside from Angle, Benoit, Edge, Guerrero, and RVD I haven't seen too many WWE matches that made me think "this is great" all those wrestlers are in or are near the top ten (with the exception of Benoit). Looks like PWI did a halfway decent job this year.

[Guest alfdogg]

I'd like to know how in the FUCK they justify HHH being above Steve Austin. I mean, this goes from August to August.

 

Austin: Had several great matches with Angle, including SummerSlam, which was arguably in the top five matches of 2001, and Raw early this year in the mini-tourney, which still ranks high (in my book anyway) for *this* years MOTY list. Granted, he was unmotivated an dhad mostly shitty matches from No Way Out on, but we're comparing that to:

 

HHH: From August to January was out with an injury. Came back in January, had no watchable matches (once again, in my book) until Judgment Day, when he basically put the death knell in Chris Jericho's ME cred, but that's another story for another time. Had arguably the WMOTY with Taker at KOTR, was out for another month with an injury, then FINALLY had a good match at SummerSlam, right at the end of the period. Which was apparently enough to put him in the top ten, three spots above Austin and his infinitely better period.

 

BULL-SHIT