1997 PWI 500 Revisted

I recently found myself cleaning up around the house and stumbled upon a stack of old wrestling magazines. A few of which happened to be issues containing Pro Wrestling Illustrated's annual ranking of the top 500 wrestlers. While thumbing through them I was amazed at how certain stars have fallen while others have risen. Also, in hindsight how redicluous some of the rankings were. I have a very limited knowledge of the Japanese & Mexican wrestling scenes so I'm basically ignoring them.

#1 Dean Malenko - I had forgotten that Malenko was once ranked #1 so I was really surprised to see him at the top of the list. PWI is notorious for being written in kayfabe (acting as if wrestling is real) and putting image first and actual ability second. Malenko was a great wrestler and all, but he had absolutely no gimmick. Unless you consider doing nothing a gimmick.

#5 Lex Luger - This was around the time period where he started to look really old. This wasn't the Lex Luger of the old WCW where he feuded with Flair, Sting, and the rest. This is the talentless Luger. The Luger where all he did was threaten to 'rack' people. #5 ? No Way! #50 I could somewhat believe. Not #5.

#19 Randy Savage - I was talking about this the other night with a friend of mine. When Savage was in WWF in the late 80's he peaked. He was awesome. With the big capes, headband, and solid lens sunglasses. Then the Macho King thing happened and it was all downhill from there. And then he got all jacked up on 'roids and started wearing full body suits and stupid cowboy hats. He sucked...A LOT! His career hit an all-time low when he went to WCW. I'm not just talking about his lame feuds with DDP and Flair. I'm talking about his entire run with the company. No way he should be #19.

#24, #26, #29 Eddy Guererro, Chris Jericho, & Rey Mysterio respectively - I have no problem with these 3 rankings. These guys were still young and just making a name for themselves. As much as I don't like Rey & Eddy I think that their stars rose alot since then along with Jericho's. Jericho was the first Unified Champion, Eddy would go on to win the World Title, and Rey looks like he may get the belt @ Wrestlemania 22 (I hope I'm wrong about the last one).

#35 & #55 Ric Flair and Hogan - Even back then their careers had started plummeting.

#84 Booker T - While Booker T's character seems to go into a slump every couple of months I think that he's come a long way since 1997.

#103 Rocky Maivia - Obviously, this is during his early WWF days. Back when all the fans hated him. He went from #103 to being perhaps the most over guy the business has ever seen.

#173 Justin Bradshaw - I remember when he first came in to the WWF with Uncle Zeb. Look at him now. A former World Champion and one of the more lengthy title reigns in recent memory. He's got his own radio show, is an author, and is a former TV financial analyst as well.

#175 New Diesel - I'm going under the assumption that this is Glen Jacobs a.k.a. Kane. It goes to show how a bad gimmick can kill a wrestler while a good one can make a wrestler a major star.

#268 Christian Cage - Although I can't speak much to his ability back then since it was before he made the big time, he has certainly come a long way. He's currently the TNA World Champion (not that I see the title being that significant).

#280 Taijiri - WWE pretty much buried his character, but his ECW days were awesome. He has certainly come a long way since being #280.

#373 Ernest Miller - I don't care what anyone says; Even at his worst days in WCW there is no way that I would ever put him this low. Especially considering the nobodies that are ranked ahead of him. Quick! Somebody call his mama! The WWE should have kept him around. Even if just as an announcer.

#398 Rhino Richards - This is when he was just starting out. He too has come a long way. He's also the last official ECW World Champion.

#425 Joey Matthews - For those who don't know, he is now known as Joey Mercury from MNM and a multiple time tag champion.

#425 Surge - Currently wrestling under his real name of Matt Hardy on Smackdown he's one of the most over guys on the show eventhough they job him. I've never been known as a big MF'r (some may disagree, but I'm talking about being a Mattitude Follower), but he has certainly paid his dues and made a name for himself since 1997. His profile states that he teams with his brother Jeff who goes under that name of Wolverine (unlisted).

There were also a lot of mid-carders mixed throughout the 500 that an argument could be made for. Whether it be that they were ranked too high or too low or whatever. They just all seem to blend together to me; The Savio Vegas, Craig Pittmans , Mr Hughes, etc...I've only commented about some of the more notable wrestlers that I saw as I was going through the list. Also, Sting's not on the list. He's listed as inactive. This was during the time that he just hung out in the rafters.

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