AEW World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega has been named the number-one wrestler in the 2021 Top 500 list from Pro Wrestling Illustrated. It was revealed on Busted Open Radio by PWI’s Al Castle, this morning that the reigning champion has managed to capture the spot for the second time in his career. The first time he accomplished the spot was in 2018.
Kenny Omega ranked #13 on the 2020 list, which was topped by Jon Moxley fka Dean Ambrose of WWE. He ranked #8 on the 2019 list, which was topped by WWE Superstar Seth Rollins. Then he jumped back to the top spot after spending much of the last year holding the AEW World Championship, AAA Mega Championship, and Impact World Championship. He was dual champion a few weeks ago but then he lost the Impact World Title to Christian Cage at the debuting episode of AEW Rampage on Friday nights.
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That being said, “The Cleaner” has now joined Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Triple H, John Cena, and Seth Rollins as the only wrestlers to top the list on multiple occasions. The top 10 spots for the PWI list goes as follows, AEW World and AAA Mega Champion Kenny Omega, WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, WWE Champion Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, Kota Ibushi, Jon Moxley, RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, Finn Balor, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi, Rich Swann.
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Kenny Omega had tough competition with Roman Reigns
PWI also responded to a fan tweet and commented on how WWE’s tribal Chief Reigns almost captured the top spot.
“Worth noting that we did still have a debate, and Roman would’ve been #1 in just about any other year. But this year belongs to Kenny,” they wrote.
Worth noting that we did still have a debate, and Roman would've been #1 in just about any other year. But this year belongs to Kenny. https://t.co/AxZN8VXMiG
— PWI (Pro Wrestling Illustrated) (@OfficialPWI) September 8, 2021
The PWI 500 issue With Kenny Omega on the cover is now available for pre-order now, while the digital edition is for sale at pwi500.com.
Check out the list of PWI’s top wrestlers over the past three decades
1991: Hulk Hogan
1992: Sting
1993: Bret Hart
1994: Bret Hart (2)
1995: Diesel
1996: Shawn Michaels
1997: Dean Malenko
1998: Steve Austin
1999: Steve Austin (2)
2000: Triple H
2001: Kurt Angle
2002: Rob Van Dam
2003: Brock Lesnar
2004: Chris Benoit
2005: Batista
2006: John Cena
2007: John Cena (2)
2008: Randy Orton
2009: Triple H (2)
2010: AJ Styles
2011: The Miz
2012: CM Punk
2013: John Cena (3)
2014: Daniel Bryan
2015: Seth Rollins
2016: Roman Reigns
2017: Kazuchika Okada
2018: Kenny Omega
2019: Seth Rollins (2)
2020: Jon Moxley
2021: Kenny Omega (2)
