Table of contents for May 2025 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

WITH PENNSYLVANIA’S WINTER still blowing strong, the term “wind chill” has returned to my daily vocabulary. There are days when the bitter sting of wind causes the ambient temperature—the one on the thermometer out on the porch—to feel like an utter fabrication. The wind-chill temperature better reflects what to expect when I step outdoors. These two different metrics each have their uses. I don’t want to get too much in the weeds with meteorology, as it is far from my area of expertise. But amidst all my ruminating about the “real” temperature, which numbers are most useful in discussing it, and the sometimes blurry line between perception and reality, I can’t help but draw comparisons to pro wrestling. For instance, what makes for a successful wrestling promotion in 2025? Is it…

SINCE ITS INCEPTION, “One To Watch” has sought to identify top prospects in the world of pro wrestling—performers on the cusp of something truly spectacular. This month’s edition is devoted to Aaron Rourke, one of the standout indie wrestlers to be signed to the WWE ID (Independent Development) program.. “The WWE ID program truly changed my whole outlook on my time in wrestling and really rejuvenated me,” said Rourke, a Northeastern indie stalwart who got “ID’ed” on a November episode of IWTV’s Wrestling Open. “There were a lot of times where wrestling wasn’t positive for me and I got down on myself. I am my own biggest critic—as I’m sure every wrestler is to themselves—so, sometimes, I felt like I was running on a hamster wheel with no real end…

WHEN NEW JAPAN Pro-Wrestling announced in 2022 that it would begin showcasing Stardom talent on its international shows, Mina Shirakawa became one of the first to be featured—and for good reason. An ambitious performer with plentiful charisma to match her staunch work ethic, “The Venus Of Wrestling” was seemingly built for the international spotlight. Shirakawa made her first stateside appearance for New Japan at Rumble on 44th Street, teaming with fellow Cosmic Angels member Waka Tsukiyama. In 2023, she broke away from Tam Nakano’s group after launching her own faction, named Club Venus, and became the one responsible for halting Saya Kamitani’s consecutive defense record with the Wonder of Stardom championship. In 2024, Shirakawa took a major career leap, not only representing Stardom on NJPW international tour stops, but also…

EN NIHON PURORESU: better known to English-speaking wrestling fans as All Japan Pro Wrestling. For many, the mere mention of the promotion invokes memories of the 1980s and ’90s, when giants went to war in some of the most famous bouts in wrestling history. But as memorable as its past has been, AJPW’s present and future are looking incredibly bright. The year 2024 marked a clear shift in direction for the promotion, one highlighted by ascendant younger talent. It began with the shocking story of Yuma Anzai defeating Katsuhiko Nakajima to become the youngest-ever Triple Crown heavyweight champion at 24 years old. Directly after the title win came Champion Carnival, All Japan’s annual round-robin tournament. There, the former “Super Rookie” would shed the standard young boy attire of black trunks and…

THREE YEARS AFTER THE seeds were planted for Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling, Candice LeRae appeared as the first international wrestler to battle for the promotion. LeRae won her debut match against Yuka Sakazaki on TJPW’s first show at Korakuen Hall. Eight years later, Kira Summer debuted as the first international wrestler to begin her career at TJPW. Summer had already dipped her toe in wrestling yearsbefore, attendinga wrestling school and learning the ropes from her sister, former Riot City Wrestling Women’s champion Miki Fortune. Summer was reluctant to pursue a career in the ring, until a friend took her to a live women’s wrestling event after the pandemic shutdown. By then, the 28-year-old Australian had already lived in Japan for six years, pursuing her career as an illustrator and animator, but the…

GREETINGS, GRAPPLE FANS. And welcome to the first “Irish Whip” of 2025. With lots happening in the U.K. and European scenes, let’s dive right in. Luke Jacobs can no longer lay claim to being the undisputed top man in English wrestling. When we ran a feature on the Manchester native in our “Tag Team 100” issue, Jacobs was riding high as the heavyweight champion of both PROGRESS and RevPro. At the time, it seemed like Jacobs might hold onto both championships for a while … but Michael Oku had other plans. At RevPro’s Uprising show on December 21, Oku defeated Jacobs via submission to become a two-time champ in an excellent back-and-forth encounter. The new champion didn’t get much time to celebrate, however, as Ricky Knight Jr. attacked him after…

TYPICALLY, WHEN THE topic of “greatest managers of all-time” is brought up, there are common names that are mentioned time and time again: Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Jim Cornette, Paul Heyman, Capt. Lou Albano, “Classy” Freddie Blassie, The Grand Wizard, Gary Hart, and a few others. All very worthy names, to be sure. All with a claim to being on a list like that. And yet, more often than not, there’s a major name that’s left off that list; someone who helped to establish the very role we think of as the modern wrestling manager, but who walked away from the business so long ago that he’s before the living memory of the vast majority of fans today. That person is Bobby Davis. Once a darling of wrestling magazines—thanks to his…

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHER GWF Hegel spent many hours contemplating what was “real” back in his time. These days, pro wrestlers have joined the debate in earnest, arguing that wrestling’s physicality is as real as it gets in sports—even if the outcomes of matches are predetermined. But what if the rivalries, enmity, and brutality of in-ring competition weren’t all for show? Independent authorVictor Rodgers examined the idea in his book Chairshot: A Savage Sports Story, and wrestling fans have surely debated the “what ifs” of imaginary shoot fights for ages. The newwrestling-themed horror film Dark Match goes all-in on the concept, and the results are downright scary. Dark Match follows a scrappy band of independent wrestlers on an ill-advised trip to a show in a creepy, middle-of-nowhere locale. Plied with an array of…

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA of how long Jeff Jarrett has been wrestling: He was named Rookie of the Year by the AWA … in 1986. In fact, he holds the astounding honor of being the only person to challenge for both the AWA and AEW World titles. He’s wrestled everyone from Tojo Yamamoto and Bill Dundee to “Hangman” Adam Page and Orange Cassidy. He’s held tag team titles with partners from Mil Mascaras to Owen Hart; was a member of the Four Horsemen, the NWO, and the Bullet Club; and is an inductee to both the TNA and WWE Halls of Fame. His recent major push in All Elite Wrestling has demonstrated Jarrett’s chameleon-like ability to stay relevant, to move from one place to another and always manage to…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKvauNYImfg DOMINATING THREE DIFFERENT wrestling promotions at once may seem like a lofty goal for Konosuke Takeshita. That is, until you learn what his previous athletic goal was: dominating 10 different sports at once. “There’s a reason not a lot of athletes go into the decathlon. It’s because it’s really hard to be good at one thing. It’s almost impossible to be good at 10,” Don Callis said of his charge, Takeshita, who once excelled as a decathlete with hopes of competing in the 2020 Olympic Games. “I say it all the time, and I mean it 100 percent: This is the best athlete in wrestling right now. This is the best bell-to-bell in-ring wrestler in the world.” Takeshita is well on his way to proving his manager right. At…

THE CROSSOVER BETWEEN PRO wrestling and hip-hop is the strongest it’s ever been. Rappers have spent years referencing pro wrestling in their rhymes and showing up at big events to cheer right alongside the other fans in the building. At the forefront of that stands rapper and the head of Griselda Records, Westside Gunn. You’ve probably seen him in the front row of your favorite wrestling company, from TNA’s biggest events to AEW Grand Slam to WrestleMania. Native to Buffalo, New York, the artist is a longtime pro wrestling fan, referencing the business in songs for 15+ years and heading up the current wave of influence that pro wrestling enjoys in hip-hop. I first discovered Gunn on a song titled “Elizabeth,” in reference to the legendary manager of “Macho Man”…

THE QUEBEC INDEPENDENT scene recently celebrated its most compelling wrestlers of 2024. Benjamin Tull received the Wrestler of the Year award, the first of his 25-year career. Tull won the three major singles titles in Quebec last year: the NSPW, IWS, and Battlewar championships. On the women’s side, Kristara was named Female Wrestler of the Year for the first time. “The Sweetest Pea” won the IWS heavyweight title, the IWS Women’s title (against Masha Slamovich), and the NSPW junior heavyweight title, as well. In the tag team division, The Wonderboys (Dylan Donovan & Yann Pike) won the Tag Team of the Year award for a second year in a row. North Shore Pro Wrestling won Promotion of the Year for the 14th consecutive time. And brothers Jason and Keven Gray brought…

“THE NEW BEGINNING IN Osaka” was the perfect title for New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s February 11 event, as longtime puroresu observers were surprised by some of the developments on the show. Foremost among these surprises was the main event, which saw Hirooki Goto defeat Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World heavyweight championship. Sabre, after all, possesses an international following on par with that of Will Ospreay, and his 2024 G1 Climax victory—followed by his World title victory over Tetsuya Naito on October 14—felt like a definitive change in course for New Japan. Only four months later, 22-year veteran Goto stopped Sabre’s hot streak cold. There’s something to be said for the lonely quest of this ring warrior, who first challenged for the IWGP championship way back in 2007. Goto accumulated nearly…

HERE I LAY ME down to sleep to wait the coming morrow, perhaps success, perhaps defeat, and perhaps everlasting sorrow. Pro wrestling’s Black Bart actually had little in common with an English-born stagecoach robber of the same name, known for leaving poetic messages at the scenes of his crimes. While I could see Ricky Harris in his black hat and long coat in the role of outlaw, I can’t imagine him as a gentleman bandit in the mold of “Black Bart” Charles E. Boles. Yet I do think the above line of poetry, left by Boles after a stagecoach robbery in Northern California in 1877, applies to our Mr. Harris. It’s almost an ode to the journeyman wrestler. For the decade following his 1975 debut, Harris knew he could face loss…

When it comes to working with other wrestling companies, WWE has traditionally lived by the adage that good fences make good neighbors. After the WWF’s national expansion in the early-1980s, the company tended to behave—at least publicly—like other wrestling promotions didn’t exist. There were exceptions to this, of course, such as the low-key alliances with ECW and the USWA in the 1990s. In almost all these cases, however, there always seemed to be some kind of ulterior motive—such as creating a pipeline of ECW talent for future excavation, or keeping Jerry Lawler happy. But if the industry leader was cold toward other North American companies, it downright ignored Japanese ones. Recently, that has started to change. In a drastic shift from the traditional business model, WWE has been forging an…

AT THE TIME OF WRITING this latest column, I was bundled up in a cozy wrap sweater, waiting to see if my local weather forecaster’s prediction of snow was indeed going to materialize. And with visions of the beaches of Brigantine and Playa del Carmen dancing in my head, I’m at least going to bring sunshine to you in the form of the latest wrestling-meets-entertainment news. Now, on with the show! THEKLA’S VULNERABLE ART WORLD This is the first time I’ve written here about a wrestler’s visual artistic ventures. I’m thrilled today to spotlight the magnetic Thekla: her Fractured art exhibition in Tokyo, her inspiration behind it, and her overall artistic process. I spoke with the Stardom talent after the show had already commenced—and she was pleased to note how…

THERE IS MORE THAN one way to find success in the wrestling and entertainment industries, and perseverance does eventually pay off. Vinny Pacifico’s 11-year journey as a professional wrestler includes a two-time run as the Pro Wrestling Magic junior heavyweight champion, jaunts around the world performing for All Elite Wrestling, Slam Wrestling Finland, Romanian Pro Wrestling, and Barrie Wrestling—and, yes, testing The Rock’s Papatui grooming products for PWI. Yet with all his in-ring success over the years, the New York native is swan-diving into a new chapter in his acting career with roles in a The Secret-inspired movie, The Frequency of Miracles, and an untitled horror-thriller wrestling TV series. Pacifico always knew he’d end up expressing himself for a living; not just as an athlete but also as a working thespian.…

ARIZONA PHOENIX—American Warrior Wrestling Alliance at Bullshooters Billiards & Sports Bar: Pop Chulo pinned Donny Palmer … Cameron Walker pinned Johan Nara … Tecelote pinned AWWA Global champion Johnny Saovi to win the title … Capane defeated Traditional Wrestling Entertainment heavyweight champion Ramrock in a Last Man Standing match to win the title … Vikram pinned AWWA heavyweight champion El Lycan to win the title … Smoke Signals defeated Cornerman tag team champions Sensational Heat in a ladder match to win the title … Kay Davver beat Maria James by submission … Eliza Haze defeated Panda Moanyum and AWWA Women’s champion Sassi in a triple-threat to win the title. (01-17-25) —Christopher Behrens GEORGIA FAYETTEVILLE—ACTION Wrestling at the Line Creek Bus Barn: Sean Campbell pinned Grayson Pierce … Mortar defeated Kasey…

FOR PERIOD ENDED FEBRUARY 9, 2025 The top singles wrestlers, tag teams, and more are ranked and dissected. HEAVYWEIGHT 1 CODY RHODES (1) WWE Undisputed Universal champion 2 Atlanta, GA  GUNTHER  (2) WWE World heavyweight champion Vienna, Austria 3 JEY USO  (-) 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble winner San Francisco, CA 4 JON MOXLEY  (3) AEW World champion Cincinnati, OH 5 ZACK SABRE JR.  (4) IWGP World heavyweight champion Isle of Sheppey, U.K. 6 JOE HENDRY  (-) TNA World champion Edinburgh, Scotland 7 OZAWA (-) GHC heavyweight champion Shizuoka, Japan 8 BRON BREAKKER  (8) WWE Intercontinental champion Atlanta, GA 9 JUN SAITO  (-) AJPW Triple Crown champion Miyagi, Japan 10 MATT RIDDLE  (-) MLW World champion Las Vegas, NV WOMEN 1 RHEA RIPLEY (-) WWE Women’s World champion Adelaide, South Australia…