Jack-Hammer
08-29-2018, 02:32 PM
It's that time of year again when wrestling fans all over the world, though especially we internet fans, talk about, debate, praise or verbally assault Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual list of the 500 greatest wrestlers on the planet. For the second consecutive year, a non-WWE wrestler has topped the list and said wrestler, as I'm sure you already guess, is the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega. The evaluation period for this year's list took place, if I'm not mistaken, from July 31, 2017 through June 30, 2018 and the top 10 reads as follows:
1. Kenny Omega
2. AJ Styles
3. Kazuchicka Okada
4. Brock Lesnar
5. Seth Rollins
6. Braun Strowman
7. Roman Reigns
8. Cody
9. Tetsuya Naito
10. The Miz
The top 10 features many past chart toppers with Styles winning in 2010, Okada in 2017, Lesnar in 2003, Seth Rollins in 2015, Roman Reigns in 2016 and the Miz in 2011. This marks the first time that cody and Naito, if I'm not mistaken, have peaked in the top 10.
Omega being #1 isn't a surprise as he's easily been the most talked about non-WWE wrestler out there for the last year and a half or so. It wouldn't have surprised me if Okada hadn't repeated given that he was only 10 days shy of being IWGP Heavyweight Champion for 2 full calendar years before dropping the title to Kenny Omega back on June 9th.
AJ Styles played runner up this year to Omega as he did with Okada last year and continues to be one of the WWE main roster's true MVPs in terms of quality, plus it doesn't hurt that he's on day 295 of his 2nd run as WWE Champion. In the last quarter century, only CM Punk's 2nd run, John Cena's 3rd and Diesel's 1st have been longer.
As much as I'm tired of Lesnar and am glad that he's gone, there's no denying that Lesnar's matches continuously had a big fight feel to them. The man drew money and he did hold WWE's Universal Championship for 504 days, even though the quality of his matches was lacking, making him the longest reigning World Champion of any kind in the company's history since Hulk Hogan's first WWF Championship run started in 1984.
Seth Rollins, over the course of the past year, has become the workhorse of the main roster with a lot of his matches coming off as must see in terms of quality. He topped the list in 2015 and I could see him heading to SmackDown Live next year where he becomes a top challenger for the WWE Championship.
Braun Strowman made his top 10 debut with this year's list and I feel he deserves it. In my opinion, Strowman should be Universal Champion right now and, again in my opinion, probably should have been for a good long while now. Strowman has made the most of every opportunity he's had and has grown into one of the most over stars on the main roster.
Roman Reigns has been a top 10 fixture in the PWI 500 since 2014, including a 1st place spot in 2015 that practically broke the internet. Reigns is someone who is frequently assigned a LOT of blame for the wrongs in his career when, in truth, he doesn't really deserve most of it. Like any good employee, he does what he's told and does his best with what he's given to work with. Whether you like him, love him, boo him or cheer him, Reigns is always talked about and people are always interested in what he's doing, even if it's to bitch about it.
Cody, better known as Cody Rhodes, has come into his own really since leaving WWE. Although he's appeared on sone New Japan cards, Cody is almost entirely an ROH fixture and that's where he's seen his truest success. Cody & the Young Bucks are the current ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions and Cody had a 175 day run as ROH World Champion. What's gotten him the most attention over the past several months has been the All In show that he's promoting with the Young Bucks that's set to go down this Saturday. The last I heard, they'd sold about 10,500 tickets, which will make it the biggest selling non-WWE wrestling card in the United States since WCW was around. Cody is in the main event against Nick Adlis, AKA Magnus, AKA Mr. Mickie James, and will almost certainly be walking out of All In as NWA World's Heavyweight Champion.
Tetsuya Naito is another New Japan wrestler that's seen his career take off in terms of being internationally known over the course of the last 18 to 24 months. As with Seth Rollins in WWE, Naito is a workhorse for New Japan and is someone known for putting on killer matches with the likes of Kenny Omega and Hiroshi Tanahashi.
The Miz finished at #10 this year, just as he did last year. The Miz topped the list back in 2011 but, in my opinion, is an overall much better wrestler today than he was then. I liked Miz then and frequently defended him becoming WWE Champion but Miz has seen his career resurge in the past couple of years as he's just kicked his game up. On the mic and probably as a character overall, nobody in the top 10 can touch the Miz and while he may not be as athletic or as technically sound as some of the others on the list, Miz knows how to tell a story and manipulate the hell out of a live crowd with the best of them.
1. Kenny Omega
2. AJ Styles
3. Kazuchicka Okada
4. Brock Lesnar
5. Seth Rollins
6. Braun Strowman
7. Roman Reigns
8. Cody
9. Tetsuya Naito
10. The Miz
The top 10 features many past chart toppers with Styles winning in 2010, Okada in 2017, Lesnar in 2003, Seth Rollins in 2015, Roman Reigns in 2016 and the Miz in 2011. This marks the first time that cody and Naito, if I'm not mistaken, have peaked in the top 10.
Omega being #1 isn't a surprise as he's easily been the most talked about non-WWE wrestler out there for the last year and a half or so. It wouldn't have surprised me if Okada hadn't repeated given that he was only 10 days shy of being IWGP Heavyweight Champion for 2 full calendar years before dropping the title to Kenny Omega back on June 9th.
AJ Styles played runner up this year to Omega as he did with Okada last year and continues to be one of the WWE main roster's true MVPs in terms of quality, plus it doesn't hurt that he's on day 295 of his 2nd run as WWE Champion. In the last quarter century, only CM Punk's 2nd run, John Cena's 3rd and Diesel's 1st have been longer.
As much as I'm tired of Lesnar and am glad that he's gone, there's no denying that Lesnar's matches continuously had a big fight feel to them. The man drew money and he did hold WWE's Universal Championship for 504 days, even though the quality of his matches was lacking, making him the longest reigning World Champion of any kind in the company's history since Hulk Hogan's first WWF Championship run started in 1984.
Seth Rollins, over the course of the past year, has become the workhorse of the main roster with a lot of his matches coming off as must see in terms of quality. He topped the list in 2015 and I could see him heading to SmackDown Live next year where he becomes a top challenger for the WWE Championship.
Braun Strowman made his top 10 debut with this year's list and I feel he deserves it. In my opinion, Strowman should be Universal Champion right now and, again in my opinion, probably should have been for a good long while now. Strowman has made the most of every opportunity he's had and has grown into one of the most over stars on the main roster.
Roman Reigns has been a top 10 fixture in the PWI 500 since 2014, including a 1st place spot in 2015 that practically broke the internet. Reigns is someone who is frequently assigned a LOT of blame for the wrongs in his career when, in truth, he doesn't really deserve most of it. Like any good employee, he does what he's told and does his best with what he's given to work with. Whether you like him, love him, boo him or cheer him, Reigns is always talked about and people are always interested in what he's doing, even if it's to bitch about it.
Cody, better known as Cody Rhodes, has come into his own really since leaving WWE. Although he's appeared on sone New Japan cards, Cody is almost entirely an ROH fixture and that's where he's seen his truest success. Cody & the Young Bucks are the current ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions and Cody had a 175 day run as ROH World Champion. What's gotten him the most attention over the past several months has been the All In show that he's promoting with the Young Bucks that's set to go down this Saturday. The last I heard, they'd sold about 10,500 tickets, which will make it the biggest selling non-WWE wrestling card in the United States since WCW was around. Cody is in the main event against Nick Adlis, AKA Magnus, AKA Mr. Mickie James, and will almost certainly be walking out of All In as NWA World's Heavyweight Champion.
Tetsuya Naito is another New Japan wrestler that's seen his career take off in terms of being internationally known over the course of the last 18 to 24 months. As with Seth Rollins in WWE, Naito is a workhorse for New Japan and is someone known for putting on killer matches with the likes of Kenny Omega and Hiroshi Tanahashi.
The Miz finished at #10 this year, just as he did last year. The Miz topped the list back in 2011 but, in my opinion, is an overall much better wrestler today than he was then. I liked Miz then and frequently defended him becoming WWE Champion but Miz has seen his career resurge in the past couple of years as he's just kicked his game up. On the mic and probably as a character overall, nobody in the top 10 can touch the Miz and while he may not be as athletic or as technically sound as some of the others on the list, Miz knows how to tell a story and manipulate the hell out of a live crowd with the best of them.