MJF has added another major individual accolade to his résumé, taking the No. 1 position in the 2026 PWI 500 for the first time in his career. And, in keeping with the confidence that has defined Maxwell Jacob Friedman’s public persona from the beginning, the former AEW World Champion did not present the achievement as a surprise.
Speaking with Pro Wrestling Illustrated, MJF made clear that he believes the recognition arrived later than it should have.
“I'll be honest, my first thought was ‘What took so long?’” MJF said. “My second thought was ‘Some people are slow learners.’ But we got there, we got where we needed to be, we got MJF the number one spot. Is there an argument it should have happened a long time ago? Sure, people are talking about it but that's fine. We got there.”
The 2026 list places MJF ahead of a field that includes former mentor Cody Rhodes at No. 2, CM Punk at No. 3, Místico at No. 4, and Konosuke Takeshita at No. 5. Hangman Page, another defining rival of MJF’s recent run, ranked sixth. Yota Tsuji landed seventh, followed by Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and GUNTHER to complete the top 10.
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For MJF, the distinction represents a clear rise from his previous placement in the annual ranking. He finished sixth in 2023 and seventh in 2024, results that still put him among wrestling’s most highly regarded active performers but short of the top spot. His 2026 placement moves him past Rhodes, who had occupied No. 1 in each of the prior two years.
A Championship-Heavy Year for MJF
The PWI 500 evaluation window ran from August 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026, and MJF’s case was built around sustained main-event success. During that period, he remained one of the central figures in All Elite Wrestling’s championship scene, collecting two AEW World Championship reigns that combined for 154 days.
Across those two runs as AEW World Champion, MJF recorded nine successful title defenses. He also headlined four AEW pay-per-view events in championship matches, winning each of them. Those results gave his year a strong combination of top-level positioning, championship achievement, and major-event victories—the kinds of factors that routinely define a serious contender for the annual No. 1 ranking.
In a promotion built around a deep collection of established stars and rising headliners, MJF’s ability to repeatedly return to the AEW World Championship picture stood out. The title is the company’s highest prize, and holding it twice during a single evaluation period helped establish the scale of his campaign. The four pay-per-view main events further emphasized that his success was not limited to television or isolated title defenses; he was consistently positioned in the biggest matches on AEW’s calendar.
MJF’s place at the top also reflects how much his body of work has expanded beyond simply being a prominent talker or a polarizing character. He has long had the verbal presence to command attention, but the 2026 ranking was supported by concrete championship results. Two world-title reigns, nine defenses, and a perfect record in four AEW pay-per-view title headliners supplied the substance behind his familiar self-assurance.
Success Beyond AEW
MJF’s year was not confined to AEW. On August 1, 2025, he won the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, adding an important international accomplishment at the very beginning of the evaluation period. The title win broadened an already substantial case and demonstrated that his reach extended beyond his home promotion.
His reign as CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion lasted until mid-September, when Místico defeated him in a match that was regarded as one of CMLL’s most critically acclaimed bouts of 2025. While MJF’s time with the championship was relatively brief, it remained a meaningful piece of his record during the ranking window. Winning a recognized championship in CMLL and sharing the ring with Místico in such a highly praised contest strengthened the overall profile of his year.
The CMLL title change also connects directly to the makeup of the 2026 top five. Místico, the man who ended MJF’s reign, finished fourth on the list. That placement underscores the level of competition involved and illustrates why MJF’s cross-promotional work carried significance. It was not a detached appearance outside AEW; it was part of a period that featured championship stakes and a major matchup with one of lucha libre’s most prominent names.
For a wrestler whose recent career has been closely associated with AEW’s world-title landscape, the CMLL chapter gave his ranking résumé an additional dimension. The PWI 500 has traditionally assessed a wrestler’s accomplishments across the industry rather than treating a promotion’s boundaries as the limits of a candidate’s case. MJF’s accomplishments in both AEW and CMLL made for a broader record than a purely domestic title run would have provided.
A Top 10 Filled With Significant Rivals
The names immediately around MJF on the list give added context to the year he assembled. Rhodes, ranked second, had been the previous No. 1 wrestler for two consecutive years. CM Punk, MJF’s former AEW rival, placed third. Místico was fourth after their CMLL championship encounter, while Takeshita completed the top five.
Page’s sixth-place finish is equally notable given his history with MJF over the past year. The presence of both Page and Punk within the top six means MJF’s ranking comes amid a field containing multiple wrestlers with direct ties to pivotal chapters of his recent career. That does not change the statistical record behind the No. 1 spot, but it reinforces how concentrated the upper tier was with performers who have been central to major wrestling conversations.
The rest of the top 10 illustrates the range of promotions and styles represented near the summit. Tsuji’s seventh-place finish put him just ahead of WWE’s Trick Williams and Oba Femi, who were eighth and ninth respectively. GUNTHER rounded out the group in 10th. MJF’s move to the top required him to surpass performers working across several of the industry’s most visible environments, not merely a small group of AEW contemporaries.
That depth is part of why MJF’s response carries an obvious competitive edge. His remarks were not those of a wrestler satisfied merely to make the list. He treated the No. 1 spot as a long-delayed acknowledgment of a standing he feels he had already earned. Whether observers agree with his assessment of prior years, the 2026 result gives him the formal distinction he had not previously held.
From High Ranking to the Top Spot
Finishing sixth in 2023 and seventh in 2024 established MJF as a consistent presence near the peak of the PWI 500, but there is a meaningful difference between being considered among the world’s best and being placed above everyone else. The top position serves as a recognition of the complete evaluation period: title success, quality of opposition, major-event importance, visibility, and overall influence.
MJF’s 2026 campaign checked each of the most visible boxes available in the information surrounding the ranking. He was a two-time AEW World Champion within the period. He successfully defended that championship nine times. He won four AEW pay-per-view main events with the world title on the line. He captured the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship. And he competed in a highly acclaimed CMLL match against Místico.
Those facts do not erase the competitive arguments that accompany any annual ranking, especially one that compares wrestlers across different promotions, schedules, and championship systems. MJF himself acknowledged that people would debate whether he should have reached No. 1 earlier. But his focus was on the final result rather than the debate around timing.
“We got there,” MJF said, summing up a year in which his championship record made an unusually compelling case.
Now, after previous top-10 finishes and a 2026 evaluation period filled with world-title success, MJF has the ranking he wanted. The self-proclaimed best in the world can point to the PWI 500’s No. 1 position as another piece of evidence in an argument he has been making for years.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.