WWE News: PWI's Top 500 Leaves Fans Scratching Their Heads

For those who aren’t avid wrestling fans, Pro Wrestling Illustrated is one of the most respected wrestling publications in the world, and they do an annual Top 500 for the business.

The magazine’s Top 500 is always a hot-button issue, but this year, it is making all kinds of waves in the Internet Wrestling community.

The biggest reason for the turmoil amongst fans is the wrestler who grappled away the No. 1 spot from his competition, and that’s the Miz.

While the Miz has become an excellent heel in his time with the WWE, there is no way that he deserves to be that high on the list. I know he got a championship push last year, but there is no way he was above John Cena or Randy Orton in his own company, let alone the whole sport.

I would have the Miz in the top 10 but certainly not No. 1.

The top wrestler has to be John Cena, and as much as it pains me to say that, he deserves it because he headlines every pay-per-view, and he puts people in the seats.

Randy Orton is right there as well because of his World Title push last year, but the list veers again.

Kane? At No. 4? Really?

What Kane did to deserve this honor is beyond me. Don’t get me wrong, I know what he is for the WWE and what he does, but he’s not No. 4 in the world.

At No. 5, Takashi Sugiura deserved the honor by holding the Pro Wrestling NOAH World title for over 581 days and the entirety of the PWI voting period.

As for the rest of the list, the magazine proves that it knows the business in and out (minus a few glaring mistakes), which makes figuring out the top five even more difficult.

My biggest personal qualm with this list was the fact that Jeff Hardy is as high on the list as he is (No. 16), and that makes me wonder if they saw the TNA Victory Road match that embarrassed the wrestling business.

Overall the list was great, but the top spots make it hard for you to go much further with an open mind, though.

For the full Top 500 list, click here.

Check back for more on the WWE as it comes and check out Bleacher Report’s Wrestling Page to get your fill of the WWE.

Donald Wood is a Bleacher Report Featured Columnist and Syndicated Writer.