10 Wrestlers With The Highest PWI 500 Position (In The Last 5 Years)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated began releasing a yearly list of the best wrestlers in the world back in 1991. Since then, it has become one of the most widely used metrics to determine the levels of success a wrestler has been able to achieve over the course of a calendar year.

More recently, the magazine has branched into the creation of Women's lists as well, but the Men's list has remained far more in-depth, at least for the time being.

Staying at or near the top of this list for a consistent amount of time is exceptionally difficult, but it is possible. Without further ado, here are 10 wrestlers with the highest average PWI 500 position in the last 5 years.

10 Hiroshi Tanahashi (Average Position: 23rd)

Hiroshi Tanahashi has been a New Japan Pro Wrestling mainstay for the last several years. The eight-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion had a great run in 2015 and 2019, while he struggled somewhat in the years between.

He put on a great match against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 13, where he won his eighth IWGP Heavyweight Championship before losing it to Jay White at The New Beginning In Osaka the next month. More recently, he teamed with Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship in February 2020. A weak stretch from 2016 to 2018 means that Tanahashi had an average PWI 500 position of 23rd.

9 Samoa Joe (Average Position: 20th)

Samoa Joe probably would have been a world champion in WWE by now if he had managed to remain injury-free. Unfortunately, the 41-year-old has spent a considerable amount of time on the sidelines, and has become a regular presence on the Raw announcer's table.

Joe had his best run with the promotion in 2017, when he was positioned as the number one contender to Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship. Even though he lost the feud, Joe looked like an absolute star, resulting in him being placed seventh on the PWI 500 that year. He had a strong 2016 and 2019 as well, giving him an average position of 20th.

8 Finn Balor (Average Position: 19th)

Finn Balor was destined for greatness when he made the move from NXT to Raw. After a strong run as the face of NXT, the Demon King was immediately pushed as one of the biggest stars on the red brand.

He picked up clean wins over Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in just a couple of weeks and was crowned the inaugural Universal Champion at SummerSlam in 2016 after a great match. That was the best year of Balor's career, with him coming in at third place on the PWI 500. Unfortunately, Balor has struggled for relevance since, meandering in the midcard, before eventually returning to NXT. This has left Balor with an average position of 19th over the last five years.

7 Kenny Omega (Average Position: 18th)

Kenny Omega solidified his status as one of the world's greatest wrestlers when his match against Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall was given 6.25 stars by Dave Meltzer. Omega was ranked fifth in that year's PWI 500, a big jump from being 23rd the year before and 54th the year before that.

The next year, Omega topped the list after working a 7-star rematch against Okada, before sliding down to 8th place in 2019 as a result of his move to AEW. His poor ranking in 2015 and 2016 means The Cleaner has had an average position of 18th over the last 5 years.

6 Kevin Owens (Average Position: 15th)

Kevin Owens had a fantastic run in WWE between 2015 and 2017. As the NXT Champion, Owens made his Raw debut and scored a clean win over John Cena in his debut match. From there, he won the Intercontinental Championship before winning the Universal Championship and forging a great on-screen friendship with Chris Jericho.

However, once he lost the gold to Goldberg, Owens slid down the power rankings, as he struggled for relevancy. He was positioned 40th in 2019, a far cry from being sixth in 2016 and third in 2017. Regardless, Owens has managed to maintain an average position of 15th in the PWI 500.

5 Shinsuke Nakamura (Average Position: 12th)

Shinsuke Nakamura had a strong run with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in 2015, before making the move to NXT in 2016, where he replaced Finn Balor as the face of the show. He wrestled a 5-star classic in his debut before entering a feud with Samoa Joe and becoming a two-time NXT Champion, before being moved up to the main roster.

While he failed to win the WWE Championship in 2017 from Jinder Mahal, Nakamura picked up high profile wins over the likes of John Cena and Kevin Owens. In early 2018, Nakamura eliminated Cena and Reigns from the Royal Rumble to win and earn himself a shot at AJ Styles' WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34.

A heel turn at WrestleMania did not win him the championship, as he slid down the card in 2019, and was ranked 31st that year, down 20 positions from 11th in 2018. In the years before that, Nakamura had been a consistent presence in the top 10, giving him an average position of 12th between 2015 and 2019.

4 Kazuchika Okada (Average Position: 8th)

After being ranked 27th in the PWI 500, 2015, Kazuchika Okada surged up the rankings, coming 2nd in 2016, with him becoming the new face of NJPW. The next year, Okada topped the list, by becoming the longest reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion of all time, and wrestling fantastic matches against the likes of Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes.

Okada slid down the rankings somewhat after that, but is still one of the greatest in the world, coming in 3rd in 2018 and 5th in 2019. He has an average position of 8th, brought down by his relatively poor showing in 2015.

3 Seth Rollins (Average Position: 6th)

Seth Rollins was chosen to be The Authority's Golden Boy when he turned his back on The Shield and aligned himself with the heel faction. Rollins pulled off the 'Heist of the Century' at WrestleMania 31, when he cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract in the main-event to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

He wrestled fantastic matches against the likes of John Cena and Brock Lesnar as the biggest heel in the company, leading him to top of the PWI 500 in 2015. His momentum suffered somewhat, heading into 2016, but he was back on top in 2019, topping the list once more, after defeating Brock Lesnar twice for the Universal Championship. A relatively poor 2017, which saw him placed 16th, means Rollins has an average position of 6th over the last 5 years.

2 Roman Reigns (Average Position: 5th)

While 2015 was Seth Rollins' year, it was also the year that Roman Reigns began to grow into a strong single's star, even winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in November of that year.

At WrestleMania 32, Reigns defeated Triple H in the main-event, with the match acting as his official coronation as the face of WWE. Reigns topped the list in 2016 before sliding down the ranks somewhat, partially due to his leukaemia diagnosis and WWE finally pulling him from the main-event to a degree. Regardless, Reigns was never ranked lower than seventh place between 2015 and 2019, meaning he has an average ranking of fifth place.

1 AJ Styles (Average Position: 3rd)

AJ Styles is widely considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time, capable of putting on fantastic matches with just about anyone. After making his WWE debut back in 2016, fans were worried that the promotion would misuse him. After a few months of uncertainty, Styles quickly established himself as one of the biggest stars of the promotion, winning marquee matches and championship gold. His feud with John Cena was absolutely phenomenal and reminded fans that he is the most consistently-great performers in the world.

Styles did not top the PWI 500 list between 2015 and 2019, but his position never dropped below fourth place. He has maintained an average third place position. While people may debate over him being the greatest of all time, no one can deny he has been the greatest over the last five years.

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