Table of contents for January 2023 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2022, Japan’s World Wonder Ring Stardom presented an excellent five-hour show, headlined by the final of its 2022 5STAR Grand Prix. The much-discussed event saw Giulia take home the honors as winner of this year’s round robin tourney—battling friend-turned-rival Suzu Suzuki to a time-limit draw to win the “Blue Stars” block, before defeating “Red Stars” winner, Tam Nakano, in the main event. Giulia vs. Suzuki was an emotional bout between two talented athletes who had trained together at the Ice Ribbon promotion and took separate paths, ultimately butting heads again in a Stardom ring. Their encounter was followed by a solemn moment: ten tolls of the ring bell, recognizing the passing of Antonio Inoki at age 79. Inoki, of course, is a figure without parallel in…

IN LAST YEAR’S “Women’s 150,” Syuri boasted one of the most impressive jumps in recent memory—leaping to #7 from #78 in 2020—after making headlines with fellow Stardom wrestler Utami Hayashishita and their 5.5 star-rated World of Stardom championship match. That bout ended in a double knockout just past the 43-minute mark. Syuri went on to win the 2021 5STAR Grand Prix, Stardom’s round robin tournament akin to NJPW’s G1 Climax, further solidifying her rank in last year’s top ten. Her quest for the World of Stardom championship finally reached its conclusion on December 29, when she defeated Hayashishita after a brutal 36 minutes. 2022 began with a loss of the Goddesses of Stardom tag team title and Syuri’s voluntary relinquishing of the SWA Undisputed championship. But the newly minted World…

WHEN READERS DISAGREE with the rankings in the PWI “500” and “Women’s 150”—particularly, with the rankings near the top of the list—we like to give a gentle reminder about the pages laid out before you right now. The annual PWI Achievement Awards offer you, the reader, a chance to weigh in on your favorites (and least favorites; see: Most Hated) of the calendar year. Though we do provide you with our shortlists (call them “nominees” if you must) and some general guidance, it is ultimately up to you to vote for whomever your favorites are in each category. This is truly your biggest chance all year long to make your voice heard—to show some love to the wrestling personalities and programs you most appreciated in 2022. First, let’s go over…

Ratings are based on won-lost records for the past month, quality of opposition, and inherent skill of each wrestler or tag team. Unless submitted by promoters, ratings are compiled by a committee consisting of Kevin McElvaney, Pat Laprade, Kris Zellner, Louie Dee, Harry Burkett, Jason McVeigh, Marek Indyka (Australian ratings), Paul Pratt, and STRIGGA (cagematch.net, purolove.com). The numbers in parenthesis indicate a wrestler’s position in that category last issue. HEAVYWEIGHT 1 JON MOXLEY 234, Cincinnati, OH (2) AEW World champion 2 ROMAN REIGNS 265, Pensacola, FL (1) WWE Undisputed champion 3 KAITO KIYOMIYA 216, Saitama, Japan (–) GHC heavyweight champion 4 JAY WHITE 220, Auckland, NZ (3) IWGP World champion 5 BOBBY LASHLEY 273, Colorado Springs, CO (7) WWE U.S. champion 6 CHRIS JERICHO 227, Winnipeg, MN (–) ROH World…

FOLLOW THE BUZZARDS Wladek Zbyszko was the reigning American heavyweight champion when the 1918 influenza pandemic surged ’round the world. Amid the backdrop of one of the deadliest plagues in modern history, professional wrestling was still evolving into a pop culture phenomenon. And fans didn’t have dirt sheets, the IWC, or the ThunderDome to help them follow the sport. This time around, intrepid enthusiasts have all that stuff, plus the added benefit of bestselling author Keith Elliott Greenberg, who chronicled how it all went down in his book, Follow the Buzzards: Pro Wrestling in the Age of COVID-19. Greenberg’s narrative opens not in a wrestling ring or a remote locale, but at the effective denouement of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election—a nod to the rampant politicization that added complex new…

WITH WRESTLING MORE or less back to its pre-pandemic “normal”—or, perhaps, as close as it will get anytime soon—our ranking committee had even less trouble this year finding 150 competitors worthy of being included in our annual women’s wrestling list. On the contrary, our challenge was once again to make difficult decisions about the order in which these wrestlers would be ranked—and, even more challenging, which remarkable performers would not be included on this year’s edition. As with the “500” and the “Tag Team 100” (FKA “Tag Team 50”), making those cuts is not something that brings us any pleasure. Indeed, this easily could have been a “Women’s 200” or “Women’s 250.” However, we decided that it would be better, at least for now, to continue with the number we…

We encourage promoters and readers to e-mail results to: PWIResults@yahoo.com Please try to utilize the exact format you see in the “Arena Reports.” Also, please distinguish between handicap matches and three- or fourway matches. And, when reporting the result of a handicap match, indicate the number of competitors and who was the last man eliminated. Finally, please note pinfall finishes. Following these guidelines will help us greatly and make it more likely that your report will be used. SPOTLIGHT CARD OF THE MONTH MINNESOTA BLOOMINGTON—F1RST Wrestling Saturday Night Nitro at Mall of America: Arik Cannon defeated Darin Corbin … Ethan Page defeated Jah-C … Uptown VFW champion Devon Monroe beat Brandon Gore, Lince Dorado, and Rylie Jackson in a four-way to retain … Free-Range Kara defeated Billie Starkz … Orange Cassidy…

"WHAT TOOK SO long?” I heard that question time and again leading up to WWE’s September 3 event, Clash at the Castle, in Cardiff, Wales. Fans inside Principality Stadium held signs posing the same question. In an interview with India’s Times Now website three full months before Clash at the Castle, Cody Rhodes expressed the same sentiment: “As one of the biggest fans ever of SummerSlam 1992, I am shocked it’s taken this long. Clearly, by the sign-up interest and the pre-sale interest and everything that’s happening, this aims to be the biggest stadium show in the world.” While WWE has traveled across the pond many times since that historic SummerSlam, this was the first major stadium show the company had presented in the U.K. in 30 years. Other U.K.-based…

CANADA HAS BEEN home to many great women’s wrestlers. Calgary has third-generation Natalya. Winnipeg has SHIMMER’s co-founder Allison Danger. Toronto has WWE Hall-of-Famer Trish Stratus and IMPACT Hall-of-Famer Gail Kim. And Montreal has “The Wrestling Queen” Vivian Vachon and “The Wounded Owl” LuFisto. In the context of the “Women’s 150,” I’m really proud to offer my first “Coast To Coast” column exclusively about the Canadian women’s wrestling scene. And let’s start with the 150. In total, 13 wrestlers from the Great White North have been listed this year. Not bad, considering that as of this writing, the WWE main roster has two Canadian women, AEW has only one, and IMPACT has four. And, of those seven women, only five are part of the “150.” IMPACT’s own—and current AAA Reina de…