Table of contents for Pro Wrestling Illustrated Winter 2021 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

THANK YOU FOR buying this special, digital-only edition of Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine. For decades, our publication has covered Japanese pro wrestling to varying degrees, often depending on how much intersection or collaboration existed between Japanese and North American promotions. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly clear that many of our readers not only watch Japanese wrestling—in many cases, they actually prefer it to the offerings of U.S. federations. In particular, New Japan Pro-Wrestling has become a global phenomenon, with merchandise available in malls worldwide, and American fans (including yours truly) routinely eschewing sleep to catch the company’s biggest events live, as they air. In 2017 and 2018, Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega even parlayed their respective runs as IWGP heavyweight champion into #1 rankings on our annual…

FOR THE FIRST time in the 27-year history of the “PWI 500,” the top position goes to a wrestler who is not based in a major American promotion. “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada has been selected as the best wrestler of the past 12 months and earns the number-one spot. There were several factors that went into the selection of Okada as number one. For one thing, Okada has held the IWGP championship throughout the entire evaluation period. He is unquestionably the top dog in the second-largest wrestling promotion in the world and has faced elite level competition all year. And his Wrestle Kingdom title defense against Kenny Omega (and the subsequent rematch at Dominion) have been lauded as not only potential Match of the Year candidates, but arguably two of…

FROM THE VAULT: This article was originally published in the May 1993 issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The original text appears here alongside new photos and captions not included in the original story. For the third consecutive year, the stars of WCW journeyed to Japan to do battle with that country’s finest competitors. Once again, the site was the world-famous Tokyo Dome, and once again, the action was the most intense any fan will see anywhere. IT IS IRONIC that WCW World champion Big Van Vader, the man who forged his reputation for violence in Japan, did not compete on the third annual WCW/New Japan supercard at the Egg Dome in Tokyo on January 4. That irony was not lost on Ron Simmons, the man who lost the title to…

THE KING OF THE “500” Although Jushin Liger never ranked #1 in the celebrated PWI “500,” he holds the record for most appearances—having placed on the first 29 editions of the list. His rankings for each year were as follows: 1991: 27 1992: 18 1993: 21 1994: 21 1995: 143 1996: 38 1997: 9 1998: 9 1999: 15 2000: 8 2001: 25 2002: 41 2003: 66 2004: 53 2005: 39 2006: 40 2007: 34 2008: 119 2009: 315 2010: 317 2011: 80 2012: 150 2013: 226 014: 244 2015: 230 2016: 261 2017: 263 2018: 264 2019: 357…

HEAVYWEIGHT 1 KOTA IBUSHI 205, Kagoshima, Japan IWGP/Intercontinental champion 2 GO SHIOZAKI 243, Kumamoto, Japan GHC heavyweight champion 3 SUWAMA 265, Kanagawa, Japan All Japan Triple Crown champion 4 SHUN SKYWALKER 183, Gifu, Japan Dragon Gate champion 5 TETSUYA ENDO 194, Miyagi, Japan KO-D openweight champion 6 SANADA 220, Niigata, Japan #1 contender IWGP title 7 TAKUMI TSUKAMOTO 200, Nagasaki, Japan BJW heavyweight champion 8 TETSUYA NAITO 225, Tokyo, Japan Former IWGP champion 9 KEIJI MUTOH 243, Yamanashi, Japan 10 YUMA AOYAGI 200, Nagano, Japan FOR PERIOD ENDED JANUARY 6, 2021 WOMEN 1 UTAMI HAYASHISHITA 142, Kagoshima, Japan World of Stardom champion 2 MAYU IWATANI 117, Yamaguchi,, Japan #1 contender to Stardom title 3 SUZU SUZUKI 114, Miyazaki, Japan IceXInfinity champion 4 RIKA TATSUMI UNK, Nagano, Japan TJPW champion 5…

FOR THE SECOND straight year, New Japan Pro-Wrestling presented a two-night iteration of its annual Tokyo Dome event, which has been known for the last 15 years as Wrestle Kingdom. Though the COVID-19 pandemic meant some noticeable differences from last year—a limited audience, mandatory facemasks, and the banning of cheers and boos, all meant to prevent the spread of the virus—the event delivered plenty of memorable matches and moments for viewers around the globe. Wrestle Kingdom featured a total of 13 televised bouts, plus two bonus dark matches from World Wonder Ring Stardom, which were only seen by fans in attendance. Three major titles changed hands, rivalries exploded, and wrestling fans the world over were abuzz about every minute of it. Coming out of Wrestle Kingdom, Pro Wrestling Illustrated is…