Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2008) |
| File:1pwi1.jpg Hulk Hogan on the cover of the November 1994 issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Hogan has appeared on PWI's cover a record 81 times. | |
| Senior Editor | Stu Saks |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Golden Boy Enterprises |
| First issue | September 1979 |
| Company | London Publishing Company |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Website | www.pwi-online.com |
| ISSN | 1043-7576 |
Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) is a professional wrestling magazine.
History
Pro Wrestling Illustrated was started in 1979. The magazine was known for not breaking kayfabe, traditionally treating all "storyline" events as real. However, in more recent years, the magazine has taken an editorial approach halfway between kayfabe and "shoot" writing, for the first time using terms such as "storyline" and differentiating between "onscreen" feuds and real-life controversies.
PWI also does not follow only the "big" promotions, as they also cover some independent promotions. The magazine features stories about wrestlers and wrestling groups/teams. PWI also has monthly rankings for the big promotions, some select independents, and an overall rankings in singles and tag teams.
Originally PWI declared it would recognize three World Titles when it started publication: NWA, AWA and WWF. When Jim Crockett Promotions, which controlled the NWA Title, became WCW in 1991, WCW earned World Title status, and the NWA's world title status was dropped. ECW finally earned World Title recognition status in 1999, not long before ECW itself went out of business. The NWA title was restored to a World Title in July 2006 based on TNA's success. They also granted World Title status to two of WWE's World titles, referred as the "Raw World Championship" and the "SmackDown! World Championship".
Bill Apter, who can be seen at most high-profile wrestling events taking photos, was the senior editor of PWI for years. Stuart M. Saks is the current longtime publisher for PWI. Hunter S. Thompson-influenced Matt Brock has been PWI's most popular columnist. Brock, however, is actually a fictitious writer. Through the years, many different PWI editors have written stories as Brock. Likewise, columnist Liz Hunter is fictitious, as are oft-quoted WWF/WWE "inside source" Thomas Pilliard and "wrestling psychologist" Dr. Sidney M. Basil.
While PWI writers do conduct certain legitimate interviews with figures within the wrestling business, the majority of "in-character" quotes are penned by the magazine's staff. The rule of thumb: If a quotation is about real-life events (i.e., the people behind the characters), it was uttered by the quoted source. If the quote pertains to any angle or someone's in-ring persona, the response is typically "invented" by the feature's writer.
PWI is now headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Golden Boy Enterprises.
PWI's family of magazines has given out annual awards since 1972. Unlike the PWI 500 which is voted on by the PWI Staff, the fans ostensibly vote for the winners of the year-end awards. A ballot is printed in the special year-end issue.
A special PWI Awards magazine is put out annually, which shows not only the winners, but the first three runners-up with the number of votes. The wrestlers receive plaques for each PWI Award that they win.
The awards that PWI has given out are as follows:
- Wrestler of the Year (since 1972)
- Tag Team of the Year (since 1972)
- Match of the Year (since 1972)
- Feud of the Year (since 1986)
- Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (since 1972)
- Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (since 1972)
- Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (since 1978)
- Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (since 1972)
- Rookie of the Year (since 1972)
- Stanley Weston Award (since 1981)
- Comeback of the Year (since 1992)
- Woman of the Year (since 1999)
Discontinued awards are as follows:
- Manager of the Year (1972 to 1999)
- PWI Girl Wrestler of the Year (1972 to 1976)
- Midget Wrestler of the Year (1972 to 1976)
- PWI Announcer of the Year (1977)
Recognized championships with World Title status
PWI has its own personal criteria when it comes to classify the championships that have "World Title Status".
World Heavyweight titles
Pro Wrestling Illustrated has granted world title status to the following promotions: National Wrestling Alliance, World Wrestling Entertainment (and its previous names), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, American Wrestling Association (now defunct, and not to be confused with post-1991 versions of the AWA, though PWI considers their championships to be a single title), Extreme Championship Wrestling (now defunct and not to be confused with the WWE version of ECW even though their championships are the same), World Championship Wrestling (now defunct). PWI currently recognizes both of the world championships in the WWE and differentiates them as the WWE RAW World Championship (currently the World Heavyweight Championship), the WWE SmackDown! World Championship (currently the WWE Championship). Also the NWA Championship is currently only given world title status from 1948 to 1991 and again from 2002 to 2007 and the ECW Championship from 1999 to 2001.
| Championship | Promotion | Time as World Title |
|---|---|---|
| WWE Championship | World Wrestling Entertainment | April 29 1963 – Present |
| World Heavyweight Championship | World Wrestling Entertainment | September 2 2002 – Present |
| TNA World Heavyweight Championship | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling | June 17 2007 – Present |
| AWA World Heavyweight Championship | American Wrestling Association | January 9 1959 – December 12 1990 |
| NWA World Heavyweight Championship | National Wrestling Alliance | July 19 1948 – January 11 1991 |
| Total Nonstop Action Wrestling | June 19 2002 – May 13 2007 | |
| ECW World Heavyweight Championship | Extreme Championship Wrestling | July 6 1999 – April 11 2001 |
| WCW World Heavyweight Championship | World Championship Wrestling | January 11 1991 – March 26 2001 |
| World Wrestling Entertainment | March 26 2001 – December 9 2001 |
PWI World Champions
Number of world title reigns (as of August 31 2008)
Footnotes
a PWI recognizes one of Flair's reigns from the '80s, unlike WWE. WWE recognizes his 10th NWA reign in 1993, unlike PWI. His 8th NWA reign and 1st WCW reign are considered by both PWI and WWE as one single reign.[1]
b Pat O'Connor held both of his AWA and NWA titles at the same time, meaning his total reigns length lasted 903 days not 1,488. Chris Jericho won his second WCW title and his WWE title on the same day, meaning his total reigns length lasted 113 days not 114. Randy Orton won both of his WWE titles on the same day, meaning his total reigns length lasted 231 days not 232.
World Tag Team titles
Pro Wrestling Illustrated has historically granted world tag team title status to the following promotions: World Wrestling Entertainment (and its previous names), National Wrestling Alliance, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, American Wrestling Association (now defunct, and not to be confused with post-1991 versions of the AWA, though PWI considers their championships to be a single title), Extreme Championship Wrestling (now defunct) and World Championship Wrestling (now defunct). PWI currently recognizes two world tag team championships in WWE and differentiates them as the WWE Raw World Tag Team Championship (currently the World Tag Team Championship) and the WWE SmackDown! World Tag Team Championship (currently the WWE Tag Team Championship). It should also be noted that, although the NWA recognizes its World Tag Team Championship since 1992 onwards, PWI only gives world tag team title status to reigns from 2002 to 2007.
| Championship | Promotion | Time as World Tag Team Title |
|---|---|---|
| World Tag Team Championship | World Wrestling Entertainment | June 3, 1971 – Present |
| WWE Tag Team Championship | World Wrestling Entertainment | October 20, 2002 – Present |
| TNA World Tag Team Championship | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling | May 14, 2007 – Present |
| AWA World Tag Team Championship | American Wrestling Association | August, 1960 – January, 1991 |
| ECW World Tag Team Championship | Extreme Championship Wrestling | July 6, 1999 – April 11, 2001 |
| NWA World Tag Team Championship | Total Nonstop Action Wrestling | July 3, 2002 – May 13, 2007 |
| WCW World Tag Team Championship | National Wrestling Alliance | January 29, 1975 – January 11 1991 |
| World Championship Wrestling | January 11 1991 – March 26, 2001 | |
| World Wrestling Entertainment | March 26 2001 – November 18, 2001 |
PWI World Tag Team Champions
Number of world tag team title reigns:
Special PWI editions
Besides the special year-end edition and the special PWI Awards Edition, PWI also publishes other special issues. They have published the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts since 1996. It includes all of the PWI 500 rankings over the years, title histories, PPV histories, wrestler stats, top stories of the year, PWI Award Winners and a What's In/What's Out list.
PWI also publishes a Women of Wrestling magazine that has short bios of the divas of pro wrestling and includes lots of pictures.
From 1989 through 2000, PWI published a weekly newsletter entitled PWI Weekly. It had results from the previous week that included all wrestling shows, title changes, injury updates, wrestlers leaving/entering promotions, and obituaries. It was canceled due to monetary and time constraints on the part of its writers.
PWI 500
PWI has published its list of the top 500 wrestlers each year since 1991, in an annual special edition magazine called the PWI 500. Here are the top ten ranked wrestlers for each year:
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Hulk Hogan | Lex Luger | Ric Flair | Randy Savage | Sting | Scott Steiner | Ricky Steamboat | Steve Williams | Arn Anderson | Rick Steiner |
| 1992 | Sting | Randy Savage | Ric Flair | Rick Rude | Bret Hart | Ricky Steamboat | Jerry Lawler | Scott Steiner | Ultimate Warrior | Steve Austin |
| 1993 | Bret Hart | Big Van Vader | Shawn Michaels | Sting | Yokozuna | Ric Flair | Lex Luger | Rick Rude | Mr. Perfect | Scott Steiner |
| 1994 | Bret Hart | Hulk Hogan | Ric Flair | Big Van Vader | Shawn Michaels | Steve Austin | Razor Ramon | Sting | Ricky Steamboat | Owen Hart |
| 1995 | Diesel | Shawn Michaels | Sting | Bret Hart | Sabu | Hulk Hogan | Big Van Vader | Randy Savage | Razor Ramon | Mitsuharu Misawa |
| 1996 | Shawn Michaels | The Giant | Sting | Kenta Kobashi | Ahmed Johnson | Kevin Nash | Rey Misterio, Jr. | Hulk Hogan | Sabu | Ric Flair |
| 1997 | Dean Malenko | Mitsuharu Misawa | Steve Austin | Diamond Dallas Page | Lex Luger | The Undertaker | Shinya Hashimoto | The Giant | Jushin Liger | Chris Benoit |
| 1998 | Steve Austin | Goldberg | Mitsuharu Misawa | Diamond Dallas Page | The Undertaker | Kenta Kobashi | Booker T | Ken Shamrock | Jushin Liger | Chris Jericho |
| 1999 | Steve Austin | Rob Van Dam | Mitsuharu Misawa | Rey Misterio, Jr. | The Rock | Diamond Dallas Page | Keiji Mutoh | The Undertaker | Goldberg | Taz |
| 2000 | Triple H | The Rock | Chris Benoit | Kenta Kobashi | Jeff Jarrett | Justin Credible | Mike Awesome | Jushin Liger | Chris Jericho | Kensuke Sasaki |
| 2001 | Kurt Angle | Steve Austin | Chris Benoit | Keiji Mutoh | Booker T | Triple H | Scott Steiner | Mitsuharu Misawa | Chris Jericho | Rhyno |
| 2002 | Rob Van Dam | The Undertaker | Keiji Mutoh | Chris Jericho | Eddie Guerrero | Kurt Angle | Edge | Yuji Nagata | The Rock | Triple H |
| 2003 | Brock Lesnar | Triple H | Kurt Angle | Keiji Mutoh | Chris Jericho | Big Show | Booker T | Kenta Kobashi | Eddie Guerrero | Rob Van Dam |
| 2004 | Chris Benoit | Eddie Guerrero | Triple H | Kenta Kobashi | Randy Orton | Toshiaki Kawada | John Cena | A.J. Styles | Shawn Michaels | Chris Jericho |
| 2005 | Batista | John Cena | Satoshi Kojima | Triple H | JBL | Kurt Angle | A.J. Styles | Edge | Shelton Benjamin | Hiroyoshi Tenzan |
| 2006 | John Cena | Kurt Angle | Edge | Samoa Joe | Místico | Rey Mysterio | Brock Lesnar | Kenta Kobashi | Shawn Michaels | Jeff Jarrett |
| 2007 | John Cena | Edge | Mistico | Kurt Angle | The Undertaker | Shawn Michaels | Christian Cage | Perro Aguayo Jr. | Bobby Lashley | Takeshi Morishima |
| 2008 | Randy Orton | Kurt Angle | Triple H | Samoa Joe | Edge | The Undertaker | Shawn Michaels | Nigel McGuinness | John Cena | Shinsuke Nakamura |
All-Time Top Fives
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrestlers | Undertaker | Ric Flair | André the Giant | Bret Hart | Antonio Inoki |
| Tag Teams | The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) |
Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) |
Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy) |
The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) |
British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid) |
References
- 2005 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts.