MJF Tops the 2026 PWI 500

As every year, Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents its top 500 wrestlers in the world. The evaluation period runs from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026, and several criteria are taken into account: wins and losses, titles and tournaments won, the wrestler’s notoriety and that of their promotion, as well as in-ring abilities and the matches offered over the year.

This year, it is MJF who occupies the first place in the PWI 500! He succeeds Cody Rhodes, who had finished first for two consecutive years (in 2024 and 2025).

It’s the first time in his career that MJF finishes at the top position of the PWI 500, after having ranked 30th in 2025 and 7th in 2024. His best position was in 2023, ranked 6th. Here is the top 10 for 2026 (last year’s ranking in parentheses):

1. MJF (30)

2. Cody Rhodes (1)

3. CM Punk (15)

4. Mistico (9)

5. Konosuke Takeshita (17)

6. Adam Page (4)

7. Yota Tsuji (31)

8. Trick Williams (19)

9. Oba Femi (14)

10. Gunther (3)

We will unveil the full PWI 500 ranking in the coming days. The women’s ranking will be released later in the year.