Table of contents for December 2015 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

I WAS ACQUAINTED with Roddy Piper, but I was far more familiar with his work than with the man himself. In one hour on a Saturday afternoon seven years ago, I think I learned about as much about him as I needed to know. On that early-fall day, Piper was one of the special attractions at the Signamania meet-and-greet in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. I was on hand to photograph the stars and arrange for future interviews, Piper in particular. As he signed for the long line of fans, I snapped a few photos. Piper recognized me and waved hello. I told him I needed to speak to him, and he said he’d be happy to, as soon as he was through. I grew to admire the man as I sat…

As “WrestleMania Moments” go, they don’t get much more memorable than that which Seth Rollins experienced at this year’s main event. With WWE champion Brock Lesnar and number-one contender Roman Reigns both lying supine on the mat, feeling the effects of a hard-fought World title match, Rollins scurried to the ring, cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, and quickly stole a pinfall victory over Reigns to capture the most cherished prize in the sport on its biggest stage. “It almost went by too fast. I tried desperately, as the fireworks were going off behind me, and the crowd was losing their minds, to soak it all in. But it was so much,” Rollins recalled. “It’s really hard to feel like you’re in that moment: That Shawn Michaels moment.…

FOR PERIOD ENDED AUGUST 4, 2015 TOP 10 1 seth rollins 217, Davenport, IA (1) WWE World heavyweight champion 2 JOHN CENA 251, West Newbury, MA (2) WWE U.S. champion 3 KAZUCHIKA OKADA 240, Tokyo, Japan (-) IWGP heavyweight champion 4 ROMAN REIGNS 265, Pensacola, FL (3) No. 1 contender WWE World title 5 JAY LETHAL 225, Elizabeth, NJ (-) ROH heavyweight champion 6 RANDY ORTON 245, St. Louis, MO (8) No. 2 contender WWE World title 7 KEVIN OWENS 266, Marieville, QC (6) No. 3 contender WWE World title 8 ETHAN CARTER III 225, Cleveland, OH (10) TNA heavyweight champion 9 RYBACK 291, Las Vegas, NV (9) WWE Intercontinental champion 10 FINN BALOR 190, Bray, Ireland (–) NXT heavyweight champion TAG TEAMS 1 CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN Combined…

ONE OF A KIND While trying to land a “Legends Q&A” with my childhood hero, Roddy Piper, a few years ago, “Hot Rod” asked me if he could make the cover of the magazine. I responded that retired wrestlers didn’t usually make the cover, although we did make an exception for Trish Stratus—and that was because she was willing to wear a skimpy outfit. Retorted Piper, “I’ll wear my Fruit of the Looms!” HOGAN IN DISGRACE I don’t think Hogan is a racist. But I think “The Hulkster” has had a bad habit of trying to prove his street cred by trash-talking and using these racial slurs, especially behind the scenes, somehow trying to seem hip to the younger generation. This seems especially true in his jailhouse conversations with son,…

112 Abyss 58 ACH 406 Acid Jaz 274 Aero Boy 166 Aero Star 444 AHTU 88 Akebono 264 Akito 150 Jun Akiyama 347 Gran Akuma 9 Alberto El Patron 85 Cedric Alexander 13 Dean Ambrose 353 Americos 226 Enzo Amore 79 Karl Anderson 118 Mr. Anderson 492 Arrick Andrews 159 Angel de Oro 117 Angelico 25 Kurt Angle 372 Lance Anoi'a 341 Greg Anthony 376 Robert Anthony 224 Steve Anthony 92 Lance Archer 296 Argenis/Barrio Negro 50 Austin Aries 420 Chris Aros 308 Asylum 485 T-Rex Atkins 313 Atlantis 464 Peter Avalon 142 Curtis Axel 324 Mike Bailey 28 Finn Balor 408 Brent Banks 105 Trent Barreta 20 King Barrett 461 Tyler Bateman 294 B-Boy 401 Milo Beasley 443 Beer City Bruiser 358 Buxx Belmar 407 Kevin Bennett 82 Michael…

WITH TNA FACING an uncertain future a year ago that included possibly losing its cable television home, I pondered this question in my “Take” on the 2014 “PWI 500”: What would our 2015 Top 10 list look like if TNA were no longer around? One year later, TNA is still facing an uncertain future that, once again, includes possibly losing its cable television home. But, somehow, it is still around. Nevertheless, I got the answer to my question. You’ll have to scan all the way down to number 18 to find the first TNA wrestler ranked in this year’s list. It’s the lowest we’ve ever ranked TNA’s top wrestler since the company debuted in the “500” in 2003. In 2010, AJ Styles even achieved the number-one ranking while working for…

NICOLE MATTHEWS, SEXY Star, and Santana Garrett all scored wins over men in the past year, so should they be ranked in the “PWI 500”? Matthews defeated Bishop for the ECCW title in Vancouver, Star beat Superfly and Pentagon Jr. in Lucha Underground, and Garrett—the current NWA Women’s champ—scored wins over men (Josh Hess in Full-Impact Pro, for example) and was often the difference-maker in several six-person tag team bouts. In what has become a growing trend, many women earned victories over men this year. We’ve ranked women before. Miss Texas (Jacqueline Moore) became the first woman to be ranked in 1993, due to her Memphis feud with Jamie Dundee. Madd Maxxine, who held the PWF junior heavyweight belt in the Carolinas, was included from 1995 to 1997. Chyna beat…