Table of contents for April 2020 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

AS MUCH AS Tony Khan likes to talk to the media, like any smart business executive, he tells us only what he wants us to know. We can make assumptions about the state of AEW’s business based on buy rates of a few pay-per-views, and, of course, Dynamite’s Nielsen ratings are a matter of public record. But we don’t know what was written in that business proposal Tony wrote to convince his father that it was worth parting with a portion of his $8-billion to carry out his vision for a new wrestling company. Presumably, there were spreadsheets that projected profits and losses for the coming years and the 37-year-old’s estimate as to when the company would see mostly black on its ledger. Tony had learned at his dad’s knee…

THERE WERE MORE than a few talented rookies vying for this award, but none made quite as strong an impression on our readers as Brian Pillman Jr., as suggested by his vote dominance. It’s not hard to imagine why. After all, it’s been an incredible first two years for this preternaturally gifted young grappler. Pillman exudes an effortless confidence and swagger—not to mention awesome athleticism—reminiscent of his father, the legendary Brian Pillman Sr. Like more than a few of the industry’s rising talents, he trained under Lance Storm at the now-shuttered Storm Wrestling Academy. He debuted in January 2018 and immediately rose to indy prominence, scoring a memorable victory over Joey Janela in his first appearance for Black Label Pro. From there, Pillman continued to pick up wins against high-profile…

THE WINNER OF our Most Inspirational Award, Roman Reigns had a much tougher road to travel this year than many of his colleagues. The four-time world champ took a leave of absence last October, after the revelation that he was once again battling leukemia—a disease that had been in remission for more than a decade. Fans who were often split in regard to their feelings about Reigns were unanimously supportive as he made his emotional announcement and vowed to return to a WWE ring as soon as he was able. In the days that followed, his colleagues took to social media to praise his integrity and cite him as a locker room leader. On the February 25 edition of Raw, the “Big Dog” made that return sooner than many expected.…

AFTER TAKING THE second runner-up slot last year, Becky Lynch made history this year by becoming the first woman to win PWI’s Most Popular Wrestler award. Of course, it’s not hard to see why. Lynch’s 2019 was nothing short of remarkable. She held both the Raw and Smackdown women’s titles simultaneously after scoring a victory over Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in the main event of WrestleMania. Following her dominance against fierce competition on both brands, she topped this year’s edition of our “Women’s 100” list—almost a foregone conclusion, given her massive success. However, her journey to the top actually started much earlier. Though the “Lass Kicker” has long been widely respected for her in-ring abilities and undeniable charisma, she often found herself overlooked as Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks…

2019 WAS A strong year for tag team wrestling, and the close competition in this category proves it. However, no team stood out quite so much to our readers as Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish. Comprising one-half of The Undisputed Era, O’Reilly and Fish are indispensable members of the NXT roster. As the brand has moved to a two-hour time slot on the USA Network, the star power of this tandem has only increased. O’Reilly and Fish went a long way in cementing their place as the top team of 2019 by defeating The Street Profits for the NXT tag title back in August. They’ve remained dominant since then, with wins over the likes of The Revival and Matt Riddle and Keith Lee. While they’ve certainly benefited from their alliance…

THE BIGGEST STORY of the year came on the very first day of 2019, with the announcement of a new wrestling promotion that promised to give WWE a run for its money like no other company since WCW. Following months of rumors, at the stroke of midnight on January 1, the formation of All Elite Wrestling was officially announced on an episode of Being The Elite—the popular web series created by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks, who would all take on roles as executive vice presidents of the upstart wrestling league. Leading AEW would be its president, Tony Khan, a long-time wrestling fan and the son of the company’s financial backer, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan (ranked by Forbes magazine as the 61st wealthiest man in the United States).…

NEARLY TWO DECADES since Raw battled Nitro over cable ratings supremacy, wrestling fans once again found themselves flipping back and forth between channels as AEW’s new Dynamite program went head-to-head with WWE’s NXT program on Wednesday nights. After months of speculation about a TV deal for AEW, in May, WarnerMedia announced the plan to air the upstart wrestling promotion’s new series, Dynamite, Wednesday nights on TNT. The partnership marked the return of pro wrestling to the cable empire created by Ted Turner. Not to be outdone, weeks later WWE announced that it was moving its popular NXT series from its longtime home on the WWE Network to the USA Network and expanding it to two hours. The series would air on Wednesdays at 8 p.m.—head-to-head against AEW. Despite Vince McMahon’s…

FOR THE SECOND straight year, Roman Reigns has taken home the prize for Most Inspirational wrestler—making him only the second wrestler to ever do so. (Bayley managed the same feat in 2015 and 2016.) For viewers casually tuning in to WWE programming, his year probably didn’t seem all that different from many of the company’s other top stars. He won some big matches, lost some others, and consistently performed at the level expected of someone of his standing. Of course, that’s only part of the story. On the October 22, 2018, edition of Raw, Reigns—who was then Universal champion—revealed that he was once again battling leukemia. More than a decade after turning back the disease, he would need to step away from the ring to focus on his health. Fans…

IF IT WASN’T ENOUGH that Becky Lynch ranked number one in this year’s PWI “Women’s 100,” she can now claim top billing among our readers for the second consecutive year. With no disrespect to her competition, the voting for this one wasn’t even close. Lynch ran away with this award after having one of the best 12-month runs of anyone in recent memory. She faced the best WWE had to offer, and she consistently prevailed over them. Perhaps the best way to sum up Lynch’s year is that it’s hard to pick out a single highlight. She started off 2019 by winning the women’s Royal Rumble match, eliminating her arch-rival Charlotte Flair to seal the deal. In doing so, she guaranteed herself a championship opportunity at WrestleMania 35 in East…

IN THE MODERN wrestling landscape, genuinely earning the ire of fans is no simple task. For one thing, the average fan knows a lot more about the personal lives of the performers, be they heroes or villains. They understand the risks taken on by the talent, as well as how hard it is to perform at the highest level. They also have a respect for the craft behind pro wrestling. With all that in mind, it can be much more difficult for some fans to get swept up in the drama of it all and truly “hate” the talent in the ring. Hats off to King Corbin for continually finding ways to earn the ire of this more modern, more savvy fan base. Corbin’s path to the “top” of this…

SAY IT WITH us: ADAM COLE, BAY BAY! He’s the wrestler that fans love to hate—or love to love, depending on whom you ask. But, like him or not, he always commands a captive audience. The leader of the Undisputed Era, Cole has been a central part of NXT programming ever since 2017, when he was signed away from Ring of Honor after winning that company’s heavyweight title three times. However, it was only this year that he officially entered the main-event picture with NXT. Cole’s forward momentum began on March 20, when he bested four other competitors (Ricochet, Matt Riddle, Velveteen Dream, and Aleister Black) to become the number-one contender to Johnny Gargano’s NXT title. At TakeOver: New York, Cole challenged Gargano to a best-of-three falls match. In one…

Paul Adams Perro Aguayo Sr. Paco Alonso Atsushi Aoki Trevor Adonis Rex Bacchus Otto Bahn Leon Baxter Belladonna Salvatore Bellomo Dick “The Destroyer” Beyer Rick Bognar Snake Brown King Kong Bundy John Chambers Eric Chapel Sir Norman Frederick Charles III John Cheatham Chet Coppock El Corsario John Davidson Fernand Frechette Rene Goulet Giant Gustave Mike Hammer Billy Ray Hickerson Gerry Hoggarth Bobby Hunt Thomas Ivey Brian Keck Jim Kelly Rip Kirby Koji Kitao Lionheart Eddie Marlin Chuck Martoni The Masked Marvel Ashley Massaro Shawn Mayne Kenneth Mick Moondog Rex Pedro Morales Alberto Munoz Max Muscle Gene Okerlund Alex Payne Mike Porter Kent Power Colton Quest Big John Quinn Harley Race Alex Rain Bob Ramstead Jimmie Richardson Andy Robin Shannon Rose Jacques Rougeau Sr. Clifford Sheats Silver King Mike Skillz Izzy…

FORESHADOWING HIS heel turn, Finn Balor famously said in an October promo that his “past” was his “future.” He may have taken that straight from Vince McMahon’s playbook. In 2019, McMahon turned to three notable names from wrestling’s past to lead WWE’s two biggest brands. The company announced it had appointed Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff as the respective executive directors of Raw and Smackdown. “The creation of these roles further establishes WWE’s ability to continuously reinvent its global brand while providing two distinct creative processes for its flagship shows,” WWE said in a press release about the appointments. Heyman, who was already employed by WWE as Brock Lesnar’s on-air “advocate,” had long been respected by his peers for his creative prowess, which was mostly memorably on display during his…

WOMEN’S 100 We didn’t rank Becky Lynch number one in the “Women’s 100” (February 2019) because we were afraid of consumer backlash or, worse yet, Becky once again tweeting about our esteemed publisher, “Is Stu short for Stupid?” She received the top ranking because she had the best year and deserved it. But what of last year’s number one? “It surprised me to see Ronda Rousey ranked at number three,” noted Bethanne Rosemont. “It seems that she’s been gone so long, but she did have some major accomplishments during your time frame. I loved the funny video of her and her husband that came with my digital edition.” “I didn’t see much of Tessa Blanchard in your weekly online rankings, so it was great to see her in the number-five…

ADAM COLE HAS been in the wrestling business for 13 years, and until this issue, had never been on the cover of a wrestling magazine. When he sees this issue, he’ll give that cool little smile of his, congratulate himself, and then, in a moment of humility, count his blessings that he’s finally had the opportunity to display his talents on the world stage. If he’s thankful to PWI that we honored him with the magazine’s top annual prize, that appreciation would be misdirected. It wasn’t us, it was you who made it happen. You voted for Adam Cole as Wrestler of the Year. Actually, you probably didn’t. The closest Wrestler of the Year voting in recent memory came down to a photo finish, with Cole, Chris Jericho, and Seth…

FIRST, LET᾿S ACKNOWLEDGE the double-edged sword that comes with being “Most Improved” in any setting: Those words often imply underachievement in the past. While that may be the case for many other wrestlers, in the case of “The Machine” Brian Cage, the improvement was simply a matter of tapping into his natural abilities and taking things to the next level. Heading into 2019, the former Lucha Underground standout already had a slew of championships on his resume, including a memorable run with the Impact X division title in 2018. But 2019 marked the first year Cage enjoyed a run with the top title of a major televised promotion. Cage earned that status by defeating Johnny Impact (John Morrison) at Impact Wrestling Rebellion to become the company’s heavyweight champion. He’d hold…

A GOOD WRESTLING FEUD should have at least one of three key ingredients: an intensely personal issue, a series of great matches, or some very high stakes. When all three are present, you’ve got something truly special. And that’s why fans saw the rivalry between Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole over the NXT championship as the clear choice for 2019’s Feud of the Year. The first one-on-one encounter in what would be an epic trilogy of matches came after Tommaso Ciampa was forced to relinquish his NXT championship because of a neck injury, leaving Gargano and Cole to compete for the vacant title in a two-out-of-three falls match in April. The bout—the main event of TakeOver: New York—was filled with suspense and excitement, as both men battled for nearly 40…

IN ITS INAUGURAL event, Double Or Nothing, it was imperative that All Elite Wrestling make a statement. One of its featured bouts that night, pitting Cody against his brother, Dustin Rhodes, made several: Cody would not be your average pro wrestling executive; the Rhodes wrestling family legacy was alive and well; and, most importantly, AEW was for real. Fans that witnessed the 22-minute battle of brothers had a statement of their own: There was no better wrestling match in 2019. A departure from the dazzling acrobatics and athleticism on display throughout the rest of the critically acclaimed card, storytelling was front and center when “The Natural” took on “The Nightmare” in the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 25. The generational battle between the two Rhodes boys…

WRESTLING MAGAZINES HAVE never been short on hyperbole. So when, in awarding Steve Austin the 1990 Rookie of the Year award, we wrote that Austin immediately became a “household name” upon joining the USWA 30 years ago, there may have been a little bit of exaggeration going on. But fans rightly saw something special in the broad-shouldered, blond-haired Texan who broke into the sport as a protégé of “Gentleman” Chris Adams. And, over the next decade, their instincts would be proven right, as Austin would become not only a bona fide household name, but one of the biggest stars pro wrestling had ever seen. “I think I was given that thing [the Rookie of the Year award] in Louisville, Kentucky, backstage. A couple of guys took the picture and I…

ABSCESS MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER: Wrestler/dentist Dr. Britt Baker —Tom Smail LAKE HIAWATHA, NJ AEW EARNED THE HYPE BUT MLW MADE THE MOVES: Expanded to three countries, resurrected two tournaments, held first PPV, launched women’s division —Sean Connor BRONX, NY A FIEND IN NEED IS A FIEND INDEED: Bray Wyatt —Tom Smail LAKE HIAWATHA, NJ AGELESS AND AWESOME: Rock ’n’ Roll Express —Jimmy Nance ASHEBORO, NC ALL BRAWN BUT NO BRAIN TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR: Authors of Pain —Irvin Deitz HIGHSPIRE, PA ALL THIS MONEY AND YOU GOT THEM?: Cain Velasquez & Tyson Fury at Crown Jewel —Daniel Garcia SEBEWAING, MI ALL WE ARE SAYING IS GIVE JOBBERS A CHANCE: WWE 24/7 title —Scott Stetzler LENHARTSVILLE, PA ANDRE THE GIANT AWARD FOR WINNING A WORLD TITLE WITH ONLY…

WE BID FAREWELL to many pioneers and history-makers each year, and, considering the immense contributions of those who died in 2019, it’s no surprise their collective passing from the scene was a major story in itself. Let’s take a look at some of the greats who became immortals: “Mean” Gene Okerlund, the iconic interviewer of the WWF and later WCW, died on January 2 in Sarasota, Florida. The 76-year-old had undergone three kidney transplants in recent years before suffering a fall that led to his death. The former radio DJ and program director served as an announcer in the AWA during the 1970s and early-’80s before defecting to the WWF and becoming a standout personality of the Rock ’n’ Wrestling era. His rapport with Hulk Hogan was compared to that…

SETH ROLLINS AND Becky Lynch rose to the top of WWE in 2019, both as the dominant male and female performers in the company, and as its ultimate power couple. In May, the pair dubbed “Secky,” went public about their romance with a photo shared on social media of a backstage kiss. Three months later, the couple broke more news on Instagram when Lynch revealed she and Rollins were engaged. The romance only added pressure to two of wrestling’s most closely watched stars of 2019. Riding a wave of popularity that began in 2019, Lynch kicked off the year by winning the second women’s Royal Rumble match to earn a shot at Ronda Rousey’s Raw Women’s title at WrestleMania. Later, Smackdown champion Charlotte Flair put her title on the line…

FOR PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 15, 2019 TOP 10 1 BRAY WYATT 286, Brooksville, FL (–) WWE Universal champion 2 CHRIS JERICHO 227, Winnipeg, MB (4) AEW World champion 3 BROCK LESNAR 286, Minneapolis, MN (2) WWE heavyweight champion 4 KAZUCHIKA OKADA 236, Tokyo, Japan (3) IWGP World heavyweight champion 5 REY MYSTERIO JR. 175, San Diego, CA (–) WWE U.S. champion 6 ADAM COLE 210, Panama City, FL (8) NXT heavyweight champion 7 SHINSUKE NAKAMURA 229, Tokyo, Japan (5) WWE Intercontinental champion 8 KING CORBIN 275, Lenexa, KS (–) No. 1 contender Universal heavyweight title 9 NICK ALDIS 242, King’s Lynn, England (9) NWA heavyweight champion 10 PCO 300, Montreal, QC (–) ROH heavyweight champion TAG TEAMS 1 ERIK & IVAR Combined weight: 552 pounds (7) Raw tag team champions…