Cody Rhodes Tops The PWI 500 For The First Time, Top 10 Revealed

The wins keep coming for Cody.

WWE.com

Pro Wrestling Illustrated has been reporting on professional wrestling since 1979. Back before the internet was a thing, PWI was the primary news source for many rabid wrasslin' fans out there.

In 1991, they began publishing a yearly list of the 500 best wrestlers in the world. The PWI 500 is a great barometer for who's hot in the world of pro wrestling, and who's next. And although they don't always nail it (Dean Malenko's number one spot was questionable), they certainly have their thumb on the pulse of the global wrestling landscape.

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This year seems to be one of the years that they've called it correct, as Cody Rhodes has garnered the top spot for the first time in his career.

During the PWI 500 evaluation period from August 1, 2023, to July 31, 2024, Rhodes racked up several achievements including winning the Royal Rumble, capturing the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40, as well as a WWE Tag Championship run with Jey Uso.

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It's been incredible to watch The American Nightmare's ascension to the top of the pro wrestling industry. After failing to make the main event scene on his first run with WWE, Cody traveled the world with successful runs in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor, dozens of American indy promotions, and then AEW before returning to "finish the story."

#andNEW: Congratulations to @WWE champion @CodyRhodes for ranking number one on this year's #PWI500! See who else made the list—and read Cody's thoughts on this milestone—in the latest issue of PWI.

Buy print/digital: https://t.co/iDdfY1e2Vd pic.twitter.com/PNiUrT4RDL

— PWI (Pro Wrestling Illustrated) (@OfficialPWI) September 10, 2024

Here's the full top ten rankings from this year's PWI 500:

1. Cody Rhodes
2. Swerve Strickland
3. Will Ospreay
4. Seth "Freakin" Rollins
5. Tetsuya Naito
6. Damian Priest
7. MJF
8. Jon Moxley
9. Gunther
10. Mistico

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The list is determined through criteria like win-loss record, championships, status within a promotion, and overall wrestling ability. Seth Rollins took the No. 1 spot in 2023.