dkookypunk43 Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 This list I warn you is going to shake a lot of heads 2015 PWI 500 1 Seth Rollins 2 John Cena 3 A.J. Styles 4 Roman Reigns 5 Shinsuke Namakura 6 Randy Orton 7 Jay Briscoe 8 Alexander Rusev 9 Alberto El Patrón 10 Kevin Owens 11 Hiroshi Tanahashi 12 Dolph Ziggler 13 Dean Ambrose 14 Daniel Bryan 15 Adrian Neville 16 Prince Puma (Ricochet) 17 Jay Lethal 18 Bobby Lashley 19 Minoru Suzuki 20 King Barrett 21 Bray Wyatt 22 Bobby Roode 23 Sami Zayn 24 Luke Harper 25 Kurt Angle 26 Mil Muertes 27 Kazuchika Okada 28 Finn Bálor 29 Ryback 30 Ethan Carter III 31 Go Shiozaki 32 Johnny Mundo 33 Darren Young 34 Yujiro Kushida 35 Kyle O'Reilly 36 The Big Show 37 Drew Galloway 38 Hideo Itami 39 Adam Cole 40 Kota Ibushi 41 Antonio Cesaro 42 Sheamus O'Shaunessy 43 Michael Elgin 44 Big E Langston 45 Bobby Fish 46 Samoa Joe 47 Jeff Hardy 48 Naomichi Marufuji 49 Jimmy Uso 50 Austin Aries 51 Kane 52 Kofi Kingston 53 Tyson Kidd 54 Kenny Omega 55 Davey Richards 56 James Storm 57 Maximo 58 A.C.H. 59 BxB Hulk 60 Mike Mizanin 61 Tyler Breeze 62 Roderick Strong 63 King Cuerno 64 Christopher Daniels 65 Stardust 66 Matt Jackson 67 Nick Jackson 68 Hiroyoshi Tenzan 69 Frankie Kazarian 70 Mark Briscoe 71 Brutus Magnus 72 Jey Uso 73 Doc Gallows 74 Matt Hardy 75 Eddie Edwards 76 Hirooki Goto 77 Xavier Woods 78 Brian Cage 79 Karl Anderson 80 Tetsuya Naito 81 Davey Boy Smith Jr. 82 Michael Bennett 83 Rob Conway 84 Chris Jericho 85 Cedric Alexander 86 Baron Corbin 87 El Texano Jr. 88 Akebono 89 Goldust 90 Bad Luck Fale 91 Montel Vontavious Porter 92 Lance Archer 93 Damien Sandow 94 "R-Truth" Ron Killings 95 Pentagon Jr. 96 Matt Taven 97 Low-Ki 98 Satoshi Kojima 99 A.R. Fox 100 Sin Cara 101 Suwama 102 Ryusuke Taguchi 103 Rocky Romero 104 Chris Hero 105 Trent Barreta 106 Kenny King 107 El Terrible 108 Joe Doering 109 Johnny Gargano 110 Tomohiro Ishii 111 Erick Rowan 112 Abyss 113 Rockstar Spud 114 Matt Sydal 115 Daisuke Sekimoto 116 Buddy Murphy 117 Angélico 118 Ken Anderson 119 Rich Swann 120 Kalisto 121 Wesley Blake 122 Rey Bucanero 123 Katsuyori Shibata 124 Bram Cameron 125 Drago 126 P.J. Black 127 Matt Cross 128 Togi Makabe 129 Bully Ray 130 Mark Henry 131 Myzteziz 132 Drew Gulak 133 Tommaso Ciampa 134 Phil Gunner 135 Chris Sabin 136 Seiya Senada 137 Jack Swagger 138 Yuji Nagata 139 Luke Hawx 140 Jax Dane 141 Masato Yoshino 142 Curtis Axel 143 Alex Shelley 144 Volador Jr. 145 Rhyno 146 Blue Demon Jr. 147 Manik 148 Rick Viktor 149 Robbie Eckos 150 Jun Akiyama 151 Konnor O'Brian 152 Crazzy Steve 153 T-Hawk 154 Moose 155 La Sombra 156 Bo Dallas 157 Colt Cabana 158 SUSHI 159 Angel De Oro 160 Matador Diego 161 Matador Fernando 162 Fenix 163 Tommy End 164 Jessie Godderz 165 Zack Sabre Jr. 166 Aero Star 167 Yamato 168 Adam Ryder 169 Mephisto 170 Dr. Wagner Jr. 171 Titus O'Neil 172 B.J. Whitmer 173 Masada 174 Rey Escorpion 175 Eric Young 176 Naruki Doi 177 Big Rycklon Stephens 178 Kotaro Suzuki 179 Khoya Shera 180 Tigre Uno 181 Hideki Suzuki 182 Jeff Jarrett 183 Johnny Fandango 184 Shane Haste 185 Mikey Nicholls 186 KAI 187 Adam Rose 188 Micah Camacho 189 Heath Slater 190 Adam Page 191 D.J. Shiima Xion 192 Mojo Rawley 193 L.A. Park 194 Kento Miyahara 195 Kahagas 196 Eli Drake 197 Uhaa Nation 198 Ultimo Guerrero 199 Papadon 200 Tim Storm 201 Harashima 202 Rey Horus 203 Raymond Rowe 204 Biff Busick 205 El Sensacional Carlitos 206 Colin Cassady 207 Chris Melendez 208 The Romantic Touch 209 Caprice Coleman 210 Bestia 666 211 Takashi Sugiura 212 Mistico 213 Mark Andrews 214 Tyrus Clay 215 Silas Young 216 Donovan Dijak 217 Ricky Reyes 218 Masato Tanaka 219 Chicano 220 Will Ferrara 221 Dalton Castle 222 Chase Owens 223 Joey Ryan 224 Steve Anthony 225 Shuji Ishikawa 226 Enzo Amore 227 Matt Riviera 228 Keiji Muto 229 Chris Silvio 230 Jushin Liger 231 Jason Kincaid 232 Pepper Parks 233 Gedo 234 Facade 235 Mr. 450 236 Kohei Sato 237 Ashley Sixx 238 CIMA 239 Tyson Dux 240 Jado 241 Todd Hanson 242 Charlie Haas 243 Shawn Hernandez 244 Matt Tremont 245 David Starr 246 Mighty Ursas 247 Samuel Shaw 248 Brian Kendrick 249 Tank 250 Solomon Crowe 251 Stevie Richards 252 Kzy 253 J. Diesel 254 Aiden O'Shea 255 Shingo Takagi 256 Simon Gotch 257 Scorpio Sky 258 Brian Myers 259 BLK Jeez 260 Tomoaki Honma 261 Aiden English 262 Colin Delaney 263 Bull Dempsey 264 Akito 265 Tony Nese 266 Brutal Bob Evans 267 Akira Tozawa 268 Cody Deaner 269 Jeff Cobb 270 Ultimo Dragon 271 Jason Gory 272 Isami Kodaka 273 Chuck Taylor 274 Aero Boy 275 Ryan Taylor 276 Masakatsu Funaki 277 Jason Jordan 278 Arik Cannon 279 Kenou 280 D.J. Hyde 281 Negro Casas 282 Darin Corbin 283 Stu Grayson 284 Danny Havoc 285 Shocker 286 Player Uno 287 Lucky 13 288 Yuko Miyamoto 289 Kaz Hayashi 290 Shuji Kondo 291 Roy Knight 292 Dylan Bostic 293 Yuji Okabayashi 294 B-Boy 295 Zak Knight 296 Argenis/Barrio Negro 297 Carlito Colon 298 John Skyler 299 KUDO 300 Timothy Thatcher 301 Devon Moore 302 Corey Hollis 303 Tommy Dreamer 304 Ricky Mandel 305 Ethan Page 306 Dave Crist 307 Rhett Giddins 308 Asylum 309 Alex Colon 310 Taichi 311 Steve Boz 312 Jake Crist 313 Atlantis 314 Famous B 315 Sonjay Dutt 316 Toru Yano 317 Johnny Yuma 318 Chavo Guerrero Jr. 319 Yoshinobu Kanemaru 320 Matt Burns 321 Hayato Fujita 322 Teddy Hart 323 Psycho Clown 324 Mike Bailey 325 Barbaro Cavernario 326 KENSO 327 Hallowicked 328 Tye Dillinger 329 Johnny Goodtime 330 Chasyn Rance 331 Lancelot Bravado 332 Bill Collier 333 J.R. Kratos 334 Masaaki Mochizuki 335 Josef Von Schmidt 336 Houston Carson 337 Jaxson James 338 Byron Wilcott 339 Aaron Epic 340 Shane Strickland 341 Greg Anthony 342 Harlem Bravado 343 Trauma 1 344 Thomas Shire 345 Angel Metalico 346 Willie Mack 347 Gran Akuma 348 John McChesney 349 Trauma 2 350 Trevor Lee 351 Sean Carr 352 Scotty O'Shea 353 Americos 354 El Siniestro De La Muerte 355 A.J. Istria 356 Ray Rosas 357 Jimmy Havoc 358 Buxx Belmar 359 Jesse Sorensen 360 Gregory Iron 361 Chet Sterling 362 Brandon Espinosa 363 Negro Navarro 364 Icarus 365 Wes Brisco 366 Zach Gowen 367 Dru Onyx 368 Andrew Everett 369 Jeremy Wyatt 370 Lince Dorado 371 Joe Gacy 372 Lance Anoi'a 373 Solar 374 Maximo Suave 375 R.J. City 376 Robert Anthony 377 Dylan Drake 378 Phoenix Star 379 Damien 666 380 Jag Hartley Jackson 381 Marko Estrada 382 Ali Shabazz 383 Eddie Smooth 384 Zokre 385 Chase Del Monte 386 Eddie Kingston 387 Hannibal 388 B.C. Killer 389 Napalm Bomb 390 Hellcat 391 Caleb Konley 392 Grado 393 Greg Excellent 394 Collin Cutler 395 Soto 396 Li'l Cholo 397 Shane Matthews 398 Super Fly 399 Jake Dirden 400 Stockade 401 Milo Beasley 402 Scott Parker 403 Michael Tarver 404 Madman Pondo 405 Jody Kristofferson 406 Acid Jaz 407 Kevin Bennett 408 Brent Banks 409 Travis Toxic 410 El Ligero 411 Tommy Mack 412 Kyle Sebastian 413 Marshe Rockett 414 Jeckles The Jester 415 Ric Luxury 416 Thomas Dubois 417 Lou Marconi 418 Chris Cooper 419 Johnny Devine 420 Chris Aros 421 Rob Sweet 422 Bobby Sharp 423 Matthieu St. Jacques 424 Danny Ramons 425 Gabe Saint 426 Nick Hammonds 427 Rico Dynamite 428 El Mariachi 429 Jay Rios 430 Alex Reynolds 431 Kai Katana 432 Adam Thornstowe 433 Brandon Thurston 434 Jesus Rodriguez 435 Francisco Ciatso 436 Jay Cruz 437 Luster The Legend 438 Chaz Taylor 439 James Claxton 440 Kirk Warmack 441 John Silver 442 B.J. Hancock 443 "Beer City Bruiser" Matt Winchester 444 AHTU 445 Brandon Scott 446 Shane Sabre 447 David Finlay Jr. 448 Gregory James 449 Kongo Kong 450 Jake O'Reilly 451 Eddie Diamond 452 Max Smashmaster 453 Adam Revolver 454 Jack Evans 455 Kekoa 456 Shayne Hawke 457 Bobby Shields 458 Blaster McMassive 459 Ron Falco 460 Anthony Darko 461 Tyler Bateman 462 Alexander James 463 Chris Dickinson 464 Peter Avalon 465 Jaxon Jarvis 466 Coconut Jones 467 Chrisifix 468 Jervis Cottonbelly 469 Mr. Juicy 470 Kwan Chang 471 Damien Wayne 472 Dick Justice 473 Rip Impact 474 Steve Stardom 475 Ricky Ruffin 476 C.J. Doyle 477 Zack Ryder 478 Silent Warrior 479 John Campbell 480 John Saxon 481 Billy Blade 482 Chris Perish 483 Barry Hardy 484 Pinky Santino 485 T-Rex Atkins 486 The Stro 487 Chuck Deep 488 Dexter Milhouse 489 Sebastian Suave 490 Matthew Palmer 491 Richie Slade 492 Arrick Andrews 493 Blackjack Phoenix 494 Stompin' Steve 495 Kay Jutler 496 Cheeseburger 497 The Hobo 498 Dewey Murray 499 Brandon Locke 500 Space Monkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 dig that name at #500 for real though, has anybody cared about this in forever? it's a holdover from the pre-internet days when the magazines were how you learned about other promotions & wrestlers. heck, ahmed johnson allegedly got laughed out of vince's office for using his placement in the PWI 500 to ask for higher pay. and that was the mid-90s... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Yea this list really hasn't meant anything since they put Dean Malenko at #1 and that was close to 20 years ago. They can't even decide what the criteria is most of the time. Is it work rate, kayfabe accomplishments, a mixture? Who knows? Or cares? I'm just surprised that PWI is still around. I mean don't get me wrong, I used to love it when I was a kid looking at all the names of guys I'd never heard of and seeing pictures of goofy wrestlers like that guy who wrestled in the chicken suit whose name I can't remember. But it probably wasn't a very good list even back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Did it ever mean anything to begin with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenjo Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 153 T-Hawk 208 The Romantic Touch 235 Mr. 450 329 Johnny Goodtime 331 Lancelot Bravado 389 Napalm Bomb 393 Greg Excellent 414 Jeckles The Jester 443 "Beer City Bruiser" Matt Winchester 452 Max Smashmaster 458 Blaster McMassive 468 Jervis Cottonbelly 496 Cheeseburger 500 Space Monkey The lower you go the better the names get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Its 2015, PWI should definitely update. 500 is crazy. Just 50 will do and actually set out some rules to add method to the madness. Instead of being laughed at or ignored, it could actually lead to some interesting discussion for the 50 best wrestlers of the year (based off of hard data and a little but of opinion). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artDDP Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 There's a certain point in the list where the rankings are just assigned to whoever sent in a photo, a bio, and a small fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJayTabb Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 I say this as a fan of the guy, but Kay Jutler is a really random BritWres guy to crop up in the lower part of the list. What on earth is up with some of the names in this? Johnny Fandango? Bram Cameron? Brutus Magnus? Mike Mizanin? The first two are some bizarre mix of the names they've used in the past, the other two haven't gone under those names in over 5 years. So odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricR Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Bay Area guy Boyce LeGrande once made the list 3 straight years ----- without working a single match that entire time, or being involved in any way with wrestling. This year has been the most active year of his career and he's not on it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete1992 Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Same post from the same person of the same list. Will respond with same remark: WHO GIVES A CRAP? (shot at list, not person JUST to clarify) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Space Monkey~! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSR Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 We've a thread to discuss the PWI 500? Jeez. Well I never knew PWI was still in existence, so that's one thing I can take from this I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmistguy90 Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Am I. The only one who went straight to the bottom to try to see where there local Indy guys ranked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 I have no idea what kind of reach PWI has these days or at any point over the last 15 years or so, but if its anything like when I was younger, hopefully some kids see this and then take to the computer to look up some unfamiliar names. Beyond that its a kayfabe mag (still is, right?) and should serve that market as best it can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVsMatt Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 So...is this list explicitly limited to men? I haven't read PWI since I was in high school, so I can't remember. If so, that's fine, but if not it's bizarre that Sasha Banks and at least the rest of the 4 Horsewomen of NXT aren't listed over all of these random indy dudes at the bottom. Other than that, I pretty much agree with the sentiment that a top 500 list is insane and impossible to quantify in any meaningful way. I think even a top 100 would devolve by the end of it. There are some entertaining names here, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 These things are always bonkers. Darren Young at #33 but Titus O'Neil at #171? Is there really any difference between Zack Ryder and Heath Slater these days? Slater at #189 and poor Ryder waaaaay down at #477. That has to be a new low for a guy who's actively employed by WWE... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete1992 Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Yeah, there is a women's Top 50 issue too I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradhindsight Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Cheeseburger was robbed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InYourCase Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 I SHOULD be upset that El Patron is ranked as highly as he is and that YAMATO is at 167 but it's 2015 and there's no reason for anyone to care about this list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Okada being so relatively low is not as ridiculous as them including Tenzan in the spot intended for Tanahashi. But it's pretty clear they don't have much guidance on international stuff these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Rollins on top makes sense to me. He's been pushed to the point of nausea, and this is a kayfabe list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 It looks like the PWI500 has always looked to me. Obvious gimmes in the top 10, hardly a dozen names I recognize in the bottom 500, and then the rest of it reads like the spots were picked out of a hat in no particular order. These things are always bonkers. Darren Young at #33 but Titus O'Neil at #171? Is there really any difference between Zack Ryder and Heath Slater these days? Slater at #189 and poor Ryder waaaaay down at #477. That has to be a new low for a guy who's actively employed by WWE...Probably happened because of something like "Darren and Heath personally sent in their own ballots, but Titus and Zack didn't". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 I'm kinda happy for Heath Slater. Deserved or not, it's about time he had a lucky break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Okada being so relatively low is not as ridiculous as them including Tenzan in the spot intended for Tanahashi. But it's pretty clear they don't have much guidance on international stuff these days. There's quite a few major British guys absent from the list (Ospreay, Scurll, etc) which is odd given they're often put against name talent on the local scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Okada being so relatively low is not as ridiculous as them including Tenzan in the spot intended for Tanahashi. But it's pretty clear they don't have much guidance on international stuff these days. There's quite a few major British guys absent from the list (Ospreay, Scurll, etc) which is odd given they're often put against name talent on the local scene. Their cheques didn't clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.