Tag: pro wrestling illustrated

The Ballad of PWI’s World Title Recognition

Recently, Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) officially conferred World Championship status on The IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship and Pan-Afrikan World Diaspora Wrestling Championship. 

Since 1979, PWI has provided news and rankings with their highly selective World Championship distinction. This news took me down memory lane, recalling treks to the newsstand as a kid (RIP Bookends) to secure the latest issue. I still remember the first issue I ever purchased.

The magazine served as a kayfabe sanctioning body for the industry. Fans ate it up as it provided a sports motif, which made wrestling feel more legitimate. 

However, there is one time I vehemently disagreed with their ruling. 

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The Wrestler & Inside Wrestling Magazines Cease Publication

WD1998

Pro Wrestling Illustrated will discontinue its sister publications, The Wrestler and Inside Wrestling. These two magazines were combined into one large issue recently and have been in circulation since 1968. Growing up, my magazine of choice was a combination of Pro Wrestling Illustrated, The Wrestler, and Inside Wrestling.

Before internet websites, these magazines were where one would go for all the latest wrestling news. I was unaware of the Kayfabe nature of the articles that teased inter-promotional dream matches such as Sting vs. The Ultimate Warrior, which were impossible at the time. There were also speculative articles about wrestlers leaving one company for another. Sometimes it was true, and other times it was tabloid gossip.

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