MJF Claims No. 1 Spot Of PWI 500

AEW’s MJF has been ranked top of the latest PWI 500.

Having captured his second AEW World Championship at Worlds End last year, MJF has had an incredibly strong 2026. The star has been a main focus of the company’s programming, as such, he’s now been recognised at the top of this year’s PWI 500.

Earlier today, Pro Wrestling Illustrated released the top 10 of the 36th annual PWI 500, which saw MJF ranked at number one.

#andNEW: Congratulations to @The_MJF, the number-one wrestler on our 36th annual #PWI500 list. Find the full top 10 (along with links to buy the digital/print mag) in the comments 👇 pic.twitter.com/CxQSvufY2U

— PWI (Pro Wrestling Illustrated) (@OfficialPWI) September 24, 2026

For clarification’s sake, it should be mentioned that the window for the PWI 500 runs from August through July, with the list being heavily weighted towards kayfabe achievements such as world championship wins. As such, MJF winning the AEW World Championship and defending it in big-name bouts against the likes of Hangman Page, Kenny Omega, Bandido, and Brody King certainly stood him in good stead for the award. Plus, after losing the gold to Darby Allin in April, it took just 39 days for the former champion to reclaim the title, further raising his stock within the PWI window.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that, prior to his return to AEW in December, MJF had a strong feud with Mark Briscoe which culminated at All Out in a Tables ‘n’ Tacks match. Although “The Devil” came out on the losing side, his couple of months before having time away from our screens will have also contributed to his success.

The full top 10 of this year’s PWI 500 can be found below:

1. MJF
2. Cody Rhodes
3. CM Punk
4. Mistico
5. Konosuke Takeshita
6. Hangman Adam Page
7. Yota Tsuji
8. Trick Williams
9. Oba Femi
10. GUNTHER

For more AEW news, you can click here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the PWI 500 as soon as we hear more.