Tony Khan was pleased to see MJF claim the top spot on the 2026 PWI 500, especially after the AEW star finished ahead of WWE’s Cody Rhodes and CM Punk. The All Elite President viewed the ranking as another recognition of what MJF had accomplished and what the promotion had built around him.
“Pro Wrestling Illustrated” revealed its 2026 top 10 on September 24, with Maxwell Jacob Friedman taking No. 1 for the first time in his career. Rhodes, who had topped the PWI 500 in 2024 and 2025, finished second, while Punk was ranked third.
MJF’s position came after a strong evaluation period that ran from August 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026. During that span, he held the AEW World Championship twice, giving him a significant championship resume alongside his position as one of AEW’s central stars.
Tony Khan discussed the honor during the AEW All Out media call on September 24. He called MJF a great choice for the top spot and focused on what it meant for the Jacksonville-based promotion to have a long-established wrestling publication place one of its performers at No. 1.
“When you talk about feathers in the cap of AEW, this is another feather to have a longstanding publication rank him as #1,” Khan said. “It says a lot about his passion, his work, his prestige, and AEW itself.”
Khan’s comments tied MJF’s individual recognition to the promotion around him. For AEW, the result gave the company another accomplishment to point to, with one of its biggest stars sitting above several prominent WWE names on the annual list.
MJF Led a PWI 500 Top 10 Filled With WWE and AEW Stars
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The 2026 PWI 500 featured a mix of talent from several promotions. MJF led the way, followed by Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Mistico, Konosuke Takeshita, Hangman Adam Page, Yota Tsuji, Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and Gunther.
The ranking also marked a notable change from the previous two years. “The American Nightmare” had been No. 1 in both 2024 and 2025, meaning MJF became the wrestler who ended his run at the top of the list.
Roman Reigns was one of the biggest WWE names missing entirely. His absence was not because PWI placed 500 wrestlers ahead of him; he simply did not meet the activity requirement. The evaluation period required at least 10 singles matches, or six singles matches spread across six different months, and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion did not reach either threshold.
MJF’s No. 1 finish therefore gave Khan a result that went beyond one wrestler’s placement. It put an AEW star at the top of PWI’s annual ranking while Rhodes and Punk occupied the next two spots, giving the promotion another notable accolade heading into All Out, set for September 26 at the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
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