2026 PWI Top 500: MJF No.1, Cody Rhodes No.2 and CM Punk No.3; Roman Reigns excluded

Pro Wrestling Illustrated released its 36th annual PWI Top 500 on September 25, 2026, naming AEW’s MJF the number-one wrestler on the list.

The PWI Top 500 is a ranking of the 500 best wrestlers in the world, compiled using an evaluation period that ran from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026. After Cody Rhodes topped the list for two years, AEW’s MJF claimed the top spot for 2026, with Cody Rhodes and CM Punk listed second and third respectively. The report includes a social-media bulletin reading: "#andNEW: Congratulations to @The_MJF, the number-one wrestler on our 36th annual #PWI500 list. Find the full top 10 (along with links to buy the digital/print mag) in the comments 👇 pic.twitter.com/CxQSvufY2U"

Former AEW World Champion MJF leads the 2026 ranking; the report also states that his placing broke Cody Rhodes’ streak of topping the chart for the third year in a row. Cody Rhodes and CM Punk occupy the second and third positions on the list.

Místico is named fourth, Konosuke Takeshita fifth and "Hangman" Adam Page sixth. The seventh through tenth positions are filled by Yota Tsuji, Trick Williams, Oba Femi and Gunther, in that order. Overall, the top ten contains five WWE names, four from AEW and one each from New Japan and CMLL.

Roman Reigns was omitted from the 2026 PWI Top 500 because he logged only seven singles matches during the evaluation period, below the list's stated minimum requirement of at least 10 singles matches. The evaluation window for the 36th annual list is reiterated as August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026.

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