The Top 500

Every year, Pro Wrestling Illustrated puts out its list of the top 500 competing wrestlers. Now, P.W.I. has, for the longest time, gone along with the wrestling storylines and whatnot, making believe that the whole game's real. But over the last couple of years, they've been straddling the line, commenting a lot more on booking and actual athletic performance.

I know this because I stop to look at it every now and then when I'm at the grocery store.

But generally, I don't pay any more attention than that.

Except in September, when they release their Top 500. Which, like the magazine, has shifted somewhat in focus from the bigger names to the top performers. For example, you still have Brock Lesnar and Triple H at the top, but you also have quality performers like Booker T and The Big Show, who maybe haven't held a lot of titles and been at the top of many show cards, but still have managed to be consistently good in their matches.

Well, P.W.I. has just released its list. A copy can be found here, at Steve's Wrestling.

I've been attending the Nashville based NWA-TNA for about fifteen months, now. A little less faithfully lately, due to my lack of extra spending money. But I've seen about 90 to 95 percent of everything they've done. I'm a booster. What they're doing is head and shoulders higher than anything Vince McMahon and the WWE has been doing. Mainly because the performers care.

Just a quick rundown of some of the names from NWA-TNA that have made it onto the Top 500:

11. A.J. Styles (Current N.W.A. World Champ)
15. Jeff Jarrett
20. "the Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels
22. Raven
26. Low-Ki
29. Jerry "Jelly" Lynn (He's just the Man)
42. "the Amazing" Red
45. Paul London (who sadly, just joined the WWF)
48. Ron "the Truth" Killings
71. Kid Kash (who hails from Johnson City, in the TN)
73. "Wildcat" Chris Harris
77. "Cowboy" James Storm
81. Brian Lawler
87. Steve Corino
92. Glenn Gilbertti.
95. "the Ace in the Hole" Sonny Siaki
107. Shark Boy
108. "Prime Time" Elix Skipper
111. "the Killdozer" Brian Lee
114. Konnan
117. Slash
124. Crash Holly, who recently joined as "Mad Mikey"
129. Johnny Storm
131. Frankie Kazarian
135. Sabu
144. Don "I'm Happy" Harris
146. Chris "Hail" Sabin
148. Ron "I'm Fat" Harris
149. Joel Maximo
151. B.G. James
152. David "the Messiah of the Spinebuster" Young
158. Joel Maximo
163. the Sandman
166. "the Franchise" Shane Douglas
170. Malice
171. C.M. Punk
178. Michael Shane
179. Mike Sanders
184. Matt "Unibrow" Stryker
189. Julio "Julio! Julio! Julio!" Dinero
213. Justin Credible
223. Simon Diamond
227. New Jack
233. Tenacious Z (who competes in the WWF as Zack Gowan)
246. Jason Cross
273. Iceberg (who recently competed as Edward Chastain)
334. Kevin Northcutt

Disappointments: I was a little disappointed not to find Chris Vaughn or Ric Santel, or maybe even Rex Sexton, Delirious or Matt Sydell on the list. The 500 is a little too heavily populated with your former big names who have fallen out of the spotlight (King Kong Bundy, Buzz Sawyer). It doesn't focus enough on the younger guys who have been doing extra good work in some of the smaller feds, and who may be on their way up.