MJF Tops 2026 PWI 500 List, Reacts To Claiming No. 1 Spot

MJF Claims No. 1 Spot In 2026 PWI 500, Promises To "Shove It Down Everyone's Throats" Upon AEW Return

Former AEW World Champion MJF has officially claimed the top spot in the 2026 Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 rankings, jumping 29 positions from his No. 30 ranking in 2025.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated unveiled the top ten on Thursday, September 24, 2026, ending the two-year reign of WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes, who fell to No. 2. CM Punk finished third, while CMLL icon Mistico and AEW star Konosuke Takeshita rounded out the top five.

NJPW’s Yota Tsuji posted the largest climb in the top tier, jumping 24 spots to No. 7, while NXT powerhouses Trick Williams (No. 8) and Oba Femi (No. 9) both secured top-ten placements.

The 2026 PWI 500 Top 10

MJF (AEW)
Cody Rhodes (WWE)
CM Punk (WWE)
Mistico (CMLL)
Konosuke Takeshita (AEW/DDT)
“Hangman” Adam Page (AEW)
Yota Tsuji (NJPW)
Trick Williams (WWE)
Oba Femi (WWE)
Gunther (WWE)

Speaking with PWI’s Lyric Swinton following the announcement, MJF—who has been absent from television since failing to win the Casino Gauntlet match at AEW All In—promised to make his new accolade a centerpiece of his eventual return:

“I don’t want to give anything away, but just know, whenever I come back, because I’m waiting for the right time and the right moment, whenever I come back, just know that the PWI cover is not going to be far behind… I’m going to be shoving this down everybody’s throats for as long as humanly possible.”

Roman Reigns Ineligible For 2026 Rankings

One major omission from the 2026 list is Roman Reigns. The current WWE World Heavyweight Champion was ruled ineligible because he failed to meet PWI’s criteria requiring a minimum of 10 singles matches during the evaluation period (August 1, 2025 – July 31, 2026). Reigns competed in only seven singles contests during that timeframe.