Table of contents for February 2020 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

I LISTENED TO a PWI Podcast in September as my generals debated the age-old question concerning this magazine’s position on which championships were worthy of our recognition as “world” titles. I wouldn’t expect Harry Burkett, Al Castle, and Dan Murphy to be in full agreement about this issue, or any other for that matter. But, as the man who would ultimately have to make the final decision, it was useful to hear these three men discuss the matter in detail. It was four years ago that PWI decided that WWE had surpassed its competition by such a wide margin that only that company’s two top championships would be considered “world titles” by this magazine. The shifting tides of the wrestling industry have prompted us to re-examine the question. WWE remains…

COMEDY GIANT EDDIE Murphy is back in a big way. Not only is he hosting Saturday Night Live for the first time in 35 years, and returning to movie screens in the sequel to Coming To America, Murphy is even talking about returning to the standup circuit. Seeing as how he’s sure to be a bit rusty, here’s some advice for Eddie: Consider challenging for the WWE’s 24/7 title. You’re likely to get a win under your belt, and quality humor is not a high priority. Put on your red leather jumpsuit and enjoy this Eddie Murphy-themed edition of “Quick Count.” THE GOLDEN CHILD Scanning my 2019 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame ballot recently, I came upon a name that brought me pause: Randy Orton. Once upon a time, the…

CHRIS JERICHO HAS won at least one major championship in every promotion in which he has competed during his 29 years in the sport: four world titles in WWE, two WCW World titles, nine WWE Intercontinental titles, an IWGP Intercontinental title, plus a plethora of tag team, U.S., TV, and cruiserweight titles. Just a couple of months before his 49th birthday, on August 31, Jericho put himself on a “List” of just one, becoming the very first All Elite Wrestling World champion. In beating Adam Page in the main event of AEW’s All Out event in Chicago, he took the mantle of champion of the promotion that exploded on the wrestling scene even before its national TV debut. Jericho has made a career out of defying the critics and…

WITH THE BIRTH OF AEW and WWE gearing up for all-out war, the wrestling world is exploding with excitement. What could take place over the weeks and months to come is something we as fans haven’t experienced in a generation. But make no mistake: Professional wrestling is not suddenly awakening from the dead. The past year—indeed, the past decade—has been as thrilling as any in the sport’s history. It’s time again for you to cast your ballots for the PWI Achievement Awards in our traditional 11 categories. This year, however, there’s a twist. We have also put in nominations for the wrestlers and matches we’d like you to consider for our Decade Awards (years 2010-2019). This is first time our readers will be choosing the Decade Award winners, so we…

SEND LETTERS TO: BETWEEN FALLS BOX 96 Ft. Washington, PA 19034 Or you can e-mail your comments to prowrestlingllustrated@yahoo.com PRO WRESTLING ILLUSTRATED welcomes readers’ comments on any of our stories or columns PWI 500 Based on social media reaction and letters to this magazine, there was very little controversy over our selection of Seth Rollins to the top spot in the “PWI 500" (December 2019). But with a ranking this extensive, there are going to be detractors. “I can’t see how nine wrestlers finished ahead of Will Ospreay,” wrote Brian Mason. “This guy seems to invent moves as he goes along. He’s a special talent.” “If your top criterion is win-loss record, how can so many WWE wrestlers, who never win be in the rankings?” asked Alex Mahorn. “Don’t quote…

Well-kept secrets have shaped and changed human history at every level, ensuring victory in war while sustaining commerce and industry. For many decades, professional wrestling enforced its own code of secrecy to build the sport into a moneymaking endeavor, relying on tight-lipped performers and promoters to advance the storylines that kept dedicated fans coming back for every card. For better or worse, the days of linear plotlines and suspension of disbelief are long past, but Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson have chronicled the twists and turns of this bygone era—and just about everything else that has transpired since those times—in their book The Storytellers: From The Terrible Turk To Twitter. To be sure, sentimental commemorations and nostalgia are omnipresent themes in the wrestling world nowadays, and authors who turn an…

IF IT WASN’T clear before, it became clear the moment Cody Rhodes took a sledgehammer to a very familiar throne at May’s Double or Nothing event. This means war. And after months of anticipation over the eventual clash between WWE and the upstart All Elite Wrestling, the first skirmishes began in October with the debut of AEW’s weekly television show on TNT. The show would go head-to-head with WWE’s NXT program, which moved from its original home on the WWE Network to the USA Network. It’s not WWE’s first war, and it probably won’t be its last. But there are reasons why AEW presents a unique threat to WWE, which has, ultimately, come out on top of all its past promotional battles. While WWE’s experience taking on rival promoters…

What Smackdown’s numbers mean to Fox… WWE Friday Night Smackdown brought 3.87 million viewers to Fox on October 4, winning the night in the coveted 18- to 49-year-old demographic and placing second in total viewers. The big question: Is that worth $1-billion to Rupert Murdoch and Fox Broadcasting? Based on those numbers, it probably is. It was nearly impossible for Smackdown to penetrate CBS’ monster Friday-night lineup, particularly when it featured season premieres for three longstanding, highly rated dramas. Smackdown didn’t have a chance of catching up to Hawaii Five-O, with 6.4 million viewers, or Magnum P.I., with 6 million viewers. Comparing October 4 to the season-opener rollout last year, however, the numbers indicated that Smackdown did make a dent in total viewers against all these programs. Smackdown had the…

Top 10 and Tag Team ratings are based on won-lost records for the past month, quality of opposition, and inherent skill of each wrestler or tag team. These ratings are compiled by a committee consisting of Stu Saks, Pat Laprade, Kris Zellner, Brian Yoder, Louie Dee, and STRIGGA (cagematch.net, purolove.com). The numbers in parentheses indicate a wrestler’s position in that category last issue. Agate-sized ratings are supplied to PWI by promoters and can be e-mailed to us at pwiresults@yahoo.com (please put the word “ratings” in the subject line). TOP 10 1 SETH ROLLINS 217, Davenport, IA (5) WWE Universal champion 2 BROCK LESNAR 286, Minneapolis, MN (3) WWE heavyweight champion 3 KAZUCHIKA OKADA 236, Tokyo, Japan (2) IWGP heavyweight champion 4 CHRIS JERICHO 227, Winnipeg, MB (–) AEW World champion 5 SHINSUKE NAKAMURA 229, Tokyo, Japan (7) WWE…