MJF ends Cody Rhodes’ run atop the PWI 500

The 36th annual PWI 500 — Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s (mostly) kayfabe ranking of the 500 best wrestlers in the world — is here. Grabbing the top spot, beating out a former mentor-turned-rival in Cody Rhodes and a former inspiration-turned-nemesis in CM Punk, was AEW’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman. The three-time AEW World champ ended Rhodes two-year run as the top man in the PWI 500. It represents a huge leap for MJF, who was 30th in last year’s edition. They were followed by one of the hottest wrestlers in the world, Mistico, with New Japan & AEW’s Konosuke Takeshita rounding out the top five. Here’s the entire top ten: MJF Cody Rhodes CM Punk Mistico Konosuke Takeshita Hangman Adam Page Yota Tsuji Trick Williams Oba Femi Gunther As has been their trend in recent years, PWI gives us a fairly balanced list from the Aug. 1, 2025-July 31, 2026 time period they consider. We’ve got five WWE names, four AEW ones (two of which also represent partners CMLL and New Japan), and a strictly NJPW wrest