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PWI
''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The magazine is the longest published English language wrestling magazine still in production. ''PWI'' publishes bi-monthly issues and annual special issues such as their "Almanac and Book of Facts". The magazine recognizes various world championships as legitimate, similar to '' The Ring'' in boxing. ''PWI'' is often referred to as an "Apter Mag", named after its long-time photographer Bill Apter, a term used for wrestling magazines that keep kayfabe. In recent years, the ''PWI'' has moved away from reporting on storylines as actual news and mixed in editorial comments on the behind-the-scenes workings. Since 1991, ''PWI'' has been publishing its annual "Top 500 Wrestlers" listing the top male wrestlers in the world. In 2008 ...
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List Of Pro Wrestling Illustrated Awards
This is a list of both active and inactive ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' awards which are voted on by ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') readers every year from 1972 onwards, expanding to more categories in later years. Unlike other wrestling magazines and websites, ''PWI'' is largely a magazine written within the fictional realm of professional wrestling and the awards recognize this. Active awards Wrestler of the Year The ''PWI'' Wrestler of the Year award recognizes the best professional wrestler of the year. Ric Flair has won the award a record six times, and remains the only wrestler with more than three wins; he also established the record for most consecutive wins with three from 1984 to 1986, with AJ Styles later tying that record in 2016-2018. Since 2020, female wrestlers have been included in this category. Woman of the Year The ''PWI'' Woman of the Year award recognized the best female professional wrestling personality of the year. Originally known as Girl W ...
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Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanning over 50 years. He is noted for his tenures with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Much of his career was spent in JCP and WCW, where he won numerous titles. Since the mid-1970s, he has used the moniker "the Nature Boy". A major pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, Flair headlined the premier annual NWA/WCW event, Starrcade, on ten occasions, while also co-headlining its WWF counterpart, WrestleMania, in 1992, after winning that year's Royal Rumble. ''PWI'' awarded him their Wrestler of the Year award a record six times, while ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' named him the Wrestler of the Year (an ...
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Bryan Danielson
Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he worked from 2009 to 2021 under the ring name Daniel Bryan. Danielson began his professional wrestling career in 1999 on the independent circuit, and signed an 18-month contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 2000; he later went on to make uncontracted appearances in WWE until 2003. He joined Ring of Honor (ROH) in 2002, wrestling in the main event of the promotion's first event, The Era of Honor Begins. Considered a mainstay of ROH, he stayed with the company until 2009 and, during his career, won the ROH World Championship and ROH Pure Championship once each, unifying them at one point, and was the inaugural winner of the annual Survival of the Fittest tournament. Due to his contributions to ROH, he was part of the inaugura ...
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Sting (wrestler)
Steve Borden (born March 20, 1959), better known by the ring name Sting, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Bodybuilding, bodybuilder, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as the mentor of Darby Allin. He is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, having #Legacy and influence, cultivated a legacy over a career spanning five decades. Throughout his career, he won a total of fourteen world championships. Sting is widely known for his time spent as the public face of two major American professional wrestling promotions: the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which was bought by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 2001, and Impact Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling). Although the WWF had purchased WCW, Sting did not sign with them at that time. Prior to WCW, he also wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the Universal Wrestling Federa ...
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Ron Simmons
Ronald Nasir Simmons (born May 15, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He performed for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under his real name, and in the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/E) under both his real name and the ring names Faarooq Asaad (sometimes spelled Asad) and Faarooq (sometimes spelled Farooq). In WCW, Simmons was a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion; as the first African American to win the title, he is recognized by WWE as the first Black world champion in professional wrestling history. He was also a one-time WCW World Tag Team Champion with Butch Reed and a one-time WCW United States Tag Team Champion with Big Josh. He was one of the most prominent stars in the WWF in the early Attitude Era. In the WWF, he was a three-time WWF Tag Team Champion with Bradshaw as one half of the Acolytes Protection Agency. Simmons was a sporadic world ...
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Vader (wrestler)
Leon Allen White (May 14, 1955 – June 18, 2018), better known by his ring names Big Van Vader or simply Vader, was an American professional wrestler and professional football player. Throughout his career, he performed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH) during the 1990s and 2000s, He is widely regarded as the greatest super-heavyweight professional wrestler of all time. White performed as a monstrous wrestler, and he was capable of aerial maneuvers: his diving moonsault was voted the " Best Wrestling Maneuver" of 1993 by ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') readers. Among other accolades in WCW and Japan, he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship three times each, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship twice, the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship once, and won the battle royal main ...
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Bob Backlund
Robert Louis Backlund (born August 14, 1949) is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/ World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, where he held the WWWF Championship/WWF Championship on two occasions. His first reign was the second longest in history as recognised by the WWE. (Backlund lost the title to Antonio Inoki in Japan in 1979 but regained the belt within a week, and the WWF never acknowledged the title change in the USA) Backlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. Backlund began his career in amateur wrestling, competing for the North Dakota State University Bison from the late 1960s to early 1970s. He began training as a professional wrestler in 1973 under Eddie Sharkey and competed for the American Wrestling Association. He then wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and won the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship in 1976. Later that ye ...
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Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for his work with Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Luger is a two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time WWA World Heavyweight Champion. He is also a five-time NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Champion who holds the records for consecutive days and total days as champion. He is the second WCW Triple Crown Champion. Although he never won a championship in the WWF, he challenged for every title in the organization (including WWF World Heavyweight Championship matches at SummerSlam in 1993 and WrestleMania X in 1994) and was the 1994 Royal Rumble co-winner with Bret Hart. ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' readers voted Luger the Most Popular Wrestler of the ...
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Masa Chono
is an American-born Japanese-American retired professional wrestler and actor best known for his 26 year stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As the leader of nWo Japan, Team 2000 and Black New Japan, he was the promotion's top heel for much of his career, beginning in 1994 when he adopted his Yakuza inspired gimmick. Aside from his work in NJPW, Chono has also made appearances for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as a member of the New World Order, as well as occasional appearances in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Zero1. Chono holds the record for most wins of the G1 Climax at 5, which has earned him the nicknames "Mr. August" and "Mr. G1". Overall, he is a two-time world champion, with one reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion and NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion each. He is also a seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champion. Professional wrestling career New Japan Pro-Wrestling Early years (1984–1989) Chōno debuted in 1984 ...
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Bill Apter
William Stanley Apter (born October 22, 1945) is an American journalist and photographer specializing in professional wrestling. He was an editorial staff member and photographer for several magazines during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, notably ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated''. These magazines often reported wrestling in kayfabe, focusing on the storylines and angles rather than reporting "backstage" goings on. Apter was so closely associated with these magazines that they were often known as "Apter Mags." The influence of these publications in the days before cable television and the internet was such that Apter has been credited with launching the careers of many young wrestlers whom he featured on magazine covers. 1970s Working for Stanley Weston Bill Apter made his debut as a writer in January 1970, writing for his first employer in publishing Stanley Weston (who he also credits as his mentor). He became a reporter, writer and photographer for several wrestling and boxing magazine ...
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Independent Circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community theatre, community or Regional theatre in the United States, regional theatre. Specific promotions on the independent circuit are referred to as indie promotions or indies. A wrestler is said to be in the indies or working the indies if they are wrestling in one of the independent promotions, or working the indie circuit if they are performing in different independent promotions. Origins The indie scene in the United States dates back to the days of regional territories. When a promoter ran opposition in even one town controlled by a National Wrestling Alliance sanctioned territory, they were often called an "outlaw" territory. This is considered by some to be a forerunner to indies since some stars o ...
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Professional Wrestling Promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event (''see promoter''). Within the convention of the show, the company is a sports governing body which sanctions wrestling matches and gives authority to the championships and is responsible for maintaining the divisions and their rankings. In truth, the company serves as a touring theatre troupe, as well as event promotion body for its own events. The most prominent promotions in the United States are World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor (ROH), Major League Wrestling (MLW), and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The largest Mexican lucha libre promotions are Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) and Luc ...
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