PWI Top Ten Announced; 2-Time AEW World Champion Missing
PWI has announced their top ten male wrestlers of 2022. Some names missing may come as a surprise. Every year, PWI releases a top 500 wrestlers list. They rank the top 500 men’s, women’s, and tag team wrestlers in the world. Names that have topped the list over the years include Kenny Omega, John Cena, Kazuchika Okada, Bret Hart, Gail Kim, Mickie James, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair. PWI has just released their top ten male wrestlers for 2022. So did they get any rankings wrong? Let’s find out.
The Top 10
Roman Reigns tops the list at No. 1 and rightfully so if you ask me. He’s been having the run of a lifetime and it will go down in the history books. Kazuchika Okada is ranked second, followed by CM Punk in the third spot. Punk ranked at No. 3 kind of makes sense, but he did miss some time over these past couple of months. Hangman Page was ranked fourth followed by Bobby Lashley ranked fifth and Cody Rhodes sixth. While I think Hangman Page is extremely talented, his spot at No. 4 seems like a bit of a reach. His world title run did last almost halfway through the year, the reign itself wasn’t that impressive.
Bryan Danielson was ranked seventh, followed by El Hijo del Vikingo ranked eighth, Big E ranked ninth, and Jonathan Gresham ranked tenth. Rhodes and Big E had great starts to the year, but unfortunately, both suffered very serious injuries. I think them being in the top ten makes sense. One thing that does not make sense is the omission of Jon Moxley from the top ten. Moxley came in at No. 12, which is insane if you ask me. He’s carried AEW through tough times and all the drama surrounding AEW. Furthermore, has been one of the most reliable wrestlers for AEW this year. He should easily be ranked top five. I mean he just beat the third-ranked wrestler, CM Punk, in under five minutes.
10-20
Also, a name that sticks out to me was Seth Rollins being ranked at 17. Rollins is having one of the best years in all of professional wrestling. Every feud he has been involved in has been amazing, so Rollins that low doesn’t make sense to me. As much as I love Matt Cardona, his spot at No. 13 is a reach. Also, Cardona being ahead of MJF, Rollins, Omega, and McIntyre make it worse. Furthermore, Will Ospreay is outside the top-20. Ospreay has been having an outstanding year and deserves to be in the top-20 at least. Also, keep in mind this is just one company’s list, so there is likely going to be some controversy. What names missing stuck out to you?
