WWE's Cody Rhodes, AEW's MJF Included in Top 10 of PWI Top 500 List for 2026, Roman Reigns Snubbed

For the first time in his career, AEW star MJF is atop Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine's prestigious PWI 500 list.

MJF was chosen as the No. 1 wrestler of the year for the 2026 PWI 500, beating out WWE's Cody Rhodes, who topped the list in both 2024 and 2025.

Ahead of the release of the entire 2026 PWI 500 in the latest issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, the publication revealed the top 10 on Thursday:

1. MJF (AEW)

2. Cody Rhodes (WWE)

3. CM Punk (WWE)

4. Mistico (CMLL)

5. Konosuke Takeshita (AEW)

6. "Hangman" Adam Page (AEW)

7. Yota Tsuji (NJPW)

8. Trick Williams (WWE)

9. Oba Femi (WWE)

10. Gunther (WWE)

During the evaluation period for the 2026 PWI 500, which lasted from August 2025 until July 2026, MJF held the AEW World Championship twice.

His previous high water mark in the PWI 500 was a sixth-place finish in 2023, but the charismatic heel can now be recognized as the standard bearer in pro wrestling.

MJF is the third AEW wrestler to top the PWI 500 since the inception of the company, joining Jon Moxley in 2020 and Kenny Omega in 2021.

Had Rhodes beaten out MJF, he would have become the first wrestler in history to be named No. 1 in the PWI 500 in three consecutive years.

Perhaps the biggest talking point coming out of the PWI 500 announcement is the absence of Roman Reigns, who is the reigning world heavyweight champion in WWE.

Wrestle Ops explained that Reigns being left off the list was due to him failing to meet the requirements Pro Wrestling Illustrated has in place when it comes to in-ring activity:

Reigns has twice been No. 1 in the PWI 500, and he was also No. 2 on the list in 2021 and 2023.

Since winning the world heavyweight title at WrestleMania 42, Reigns has appeared and wrestled far more often than he had in recent years, which suggests he has a good chance of regaining eligibility for the 2027 PWI 500.

Another major takeaway from the 2026 PWI 500 is the emergence of rising stars in WWE, as both Trick Williams and Oba Femi made their debuts in the top 10.

Williams is already a two-time United States champion, and Femi is undoubtedly a future world champion who won the King of the Ring tournament and beat Brock Lesnar twice since April.