Kazuchika Okada To Be Named #1 In This Year's PWI 500

Another major accolade for the IWGP Heavyweight Champion's banner year.

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IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada will become the first Japanese wrestler to ever rank #1 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 wrestlers, as per PWI editor Dan Murphy on this week's Ross Report.

It'll be the latest in a long line of accolades for 'The Rainmaker,' who is enjoying a career-best year as New Japan Pro Wrestling's top champion, and has shot to new levels of international prominence in 2017.

Traditionally published in September, the PWI 500 attempts to rank the best wrestlers in the world from a kayfabe standpoint. Okada finished second to Roman Reigns on last year's list, and given how many major matches WWE's 'Big Dog' has lost in the past 12 months, it's no surprise he has been overtaken.

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Okada's losses to EVIL and Kenny Omega in this year's G1 Climax tournament were his first since August 2016. He is the cornerstone around which NJPW's modern success is built, and is currently 432 days into his fourth reign as IWGP Champion. He has broken Dave Meltzer's famous match rating system with three six-star bouts in 2017, and has now done what countrymen like Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi couldn't - top the PWI 500.

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You can buy our Kazuchika Okada cover for our very own list of 100 Greatest Wrestlers In The World Today in our latest Wrestling Issue 6 magazine. Buy it now.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.