Table of contents for October 2020 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

I’VE BEEN STRUGGLING a bit with what to say in this, my first column as Editor-in-Chief of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. It’s a tremendous honor to follow in the footsteps of Stu Saks, who announced back in March that he’d finally be taking the retirement he’s worked so hard for. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t also a little intimidated. Over four decades, Stu turned this publication—once merely the newest of many popular titles under the Weston banner—into the most iconic, most trusted pro wrestling magazine of all time. Of course, he had a lot of help from a team of talented writers, editors, and photographers. But those who have worked alongside Stu know the truth: It’s his vision that made PWI the world’s number-one wrestling magazine. PWI and…

IT’S APPARENT EVERY time she steps into the ring that Charlotte Flair has picked up a lot from her old man. But she’s learned one of the most valuable lessons about achieving success in pro wrestling on her own: how to tune out all the noise. It’s a skill that has served her well as some fickle fans have rejected WWE’s “Queen,” like they have many other top acts in recent years, including John Cena, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. And it’s been absolutely invaluable in recent months, as the COVID-19 outbreak has forced WWE stars to perform in front of largely empty houses, including at WrestleMania. While other wrestlers have been clearly thrown off by the eerie silence that envelops almost every WWE match these days, Flair has appeared…

THE 50 QUESTIONS that were expected to comprise this year’s PWI Poll had been chosen, written up, and were ready to go out to our panel of subscribers when the world changed. Each year, the PWI Poll attempts to pose questions that reflect the state of professional wrestling at the time the poll is taken. As such, it was critical that this year’s slate of inquiries captured the far-reaching ramifications of the COVID-19 outbreak on the sport. From the prospect of wrestling fans risking their lives by attending events to the reality of some wrestlers losing their livelihoods because of the financial impact of the pandemic, the coronavirus has prompted questions that nobody could have anticipated a year ago. Among them: Was WWE right to put on WrestleMania 36 despite…

RUTHLESS AGGRESSION? LET’S SAY THUNDER ROSA SHOWS RELENTLESS DETERMINATION. IN ONLY SIX YEARS, SHE’S BECOME ONE OF THE INDUSTRY’S TOP STARS, REIGNING AS NWA WOMEN’S CHAMPION. OPPONENTS (AND CRITICS) UNDERESTIMATE HER AT THEIR OWN RISK … AT 5’3” AND 119 pounds, Thunder Rosa is often outsized and sometimes outmuscled. Yet she’ll never be outworked. She’s one of the most driven competitors ever. Some might call her obsessed … she takes that as a compliment. “I have the heart of a champion,” Rosa said. “I don’t take ‘no’ as an answer. From the moment I became a professional wrestler, the word ‘professional’ has always meant something to me. I always want to look, act, and be a professional. I’m risking my life in that ring, so I take it seriously.” She…

BY EVERY INDICATION, 2020 looked as if it would be a banner year for professional wrestling, from the biggest of the multimedia monoliths all the way down to the mom-and-pop promotions running shows at county fairgrounds on the weekends. Indeed, independent wrestling looked to be a potential beneficiary of the renaissance created by exciting new developments like the mounting competition between AEW and NXT, as well as the impending infusion of new ideas and talent into Ring of Honor. Then, COVID-19 happened. And with the advent of social distancing and statewide lockdowns came the delays and cancellations of live wrestling shows everywhere. While AEW and WWE continued by presenting crowd-free shows, the independent scene shuttered almost overnight, leaving scores of indie grapplers with time on their hands and looming questions…

FOR PERIOD ENDED JUNE 8, 2020 TOP 10 1 JON MOXLEY 224, Cincinnati, OH (3) AEW World champion 2 DREW McINTYRE 265, Ayr, Scotland (1) WWE heavyweight champion 3 BRAUN STROWMAN 385, Sherrills Ford, NC (4) WWE Universal champion 4 TETSUYA NAITO 225, Tokyo, Japan (2) IWGP World/Intercontinental champion 5 ADAM COLE 210, Panama City, FL (5) NXT heavyweight champion 6 RUSH 225, Jalisco, Mexico (6) ROH heavyweight champion 7 TESSA BLANCHARD 125, Charlotte, NC (8) Impact heavyweight champion 8 JACOB FATU 285, Sacramento, CA (9) MLW heavyweight champion 9 CODY RHODES 220, Atlanta, GA (–) AEW TNT champion 10 APOLLO CREWS 240, Sacramento, CA (–) WWE U.S. champion TAG TEAMS 1 BIG E & KOFI KINGSTON Combined weight: 498 pounds (–) Smackdown tag team champions 2 KENNY OMEGA &…

WILLIE MACK HASN’T HAD AN EASY LIFE, BUT HE’S STRONGER FOR HAVING LIVED IT. NOW HE’S EAGER TO WRITE HIS CHAPTER IN THE IMPACT WRESTLING HISTORY BOOK. LET IT NEVER be said that Willie Mack isn’t willing to put it all on the line. He’s weathered loss, heartbreak, and even homelessness, but he’s never stopped chasing his boyhood dream of being a professional wrestler. A decade-and-a-half after he first started training, his persistence is paying off in a big way. As a teenager, Mack was a huge fan of TNA/Impact’s burgeoning X division. At age 33, he became its champion—defeating Ace Austin on Night One of Impact’s two-part Rebellion event in April. “It feels great,” he said. “Knowing all the great guys that came out of the X division, like…

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, the clashes between police and the communities they’re supposed to serve … the only positive about these worst of times is they came at a time of relative stability (at least in terms of the economy at large). Yet even a billion-dollar company such as WWE cannot maintain its business model without worldwide touring and butts in seats. In addition to reducing executive and board member compensation and postponing plans to expand its headquarters, WWE trimmed the talent rosters for all three brands. The list of released wrestlers and referees was scary because it ranged from talent that barely had a chance to prove themselves to longtime employees and popular superstars. “Rusev Day” chants once reverberated throughout arenas around the world. But, without the crowds chanting his…

AS JOSH BRIGGS lay on the canvas, his thoughts lay elsewhere. He wasn’t thinking about the pre-match attack he had just suffered, or the fact that his scheduled opponent, EVOLVE champion Austin Theory, was about to walk out of the building without even defending the title. Briggs was thinking back to eight months before—to the same ring, in the same building—when he was carried out of a match with a dislocated hip. What followed had been a grueling journey of rehabilitation that culminated in him becoming the number-one contender to the title. Briggs was determined that he would not be carried out of an EVOLVE ring for a second time … especially on the biggest night of his career. Snapping out of his thoughts, Briggs began to drag himself toward…

SEND LETTER TO: BETWEEN FALLS Box 96 Ft. Washing, PA 19034 Or you can e-mail ypur comments to prowrestlingilustrated@yahoo.com PRO WRESTLING ILLUSTRATED welcomes readers’ comments on any of our stories or columns. WRESTLEMANIA 36 Every year, Pro Wrestling Illustrated does a deep dive into WrestleMania—revealing the real winners and losers beneath the surface of each match. This year’s incredibly unconventional event made that task slightly harder … and our readers also had plenty to say about the two-night affair. “You guys got it right with the cover of your August 2020 issue,” said Clay Atwater. “Braun Strowman really was the biggest winner, especially after all the times he’s been robbed of World titles in the past.” “As a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan, I never thought I’d say this, but Rob…