Pro Wrestling FAQ

Our all-time ranking engine. Every world champion in history gets a score from 0 to 99, computed from real title lineage data — days as champion, reigns, longest run, era share, promotions, span, plus annual honors like Wrestler of the Year and Royal Rumble wins — and you can put any two champions in the same division head to head — men's and women's each get their own chart. It also powers the What If Index and the Mount Rushmore builder. The full methodology is published on the page, so when you disagree with it, you'll know exactly which weight to yell at.

Cody Rhodes. He won the title from Drew McIntyre on the March 6, 2026 episode of SmackDown — his second WWE Championship reign. Rhodes has been WWE's top babyface since winning the title at WrestleMania 39 in 2023. He's currently on SmackDown. See all current champions on the Champions page.

Raw airs Monday nights at 8PM ET on Netflix. It moved from USA Network to Netflix in January 2025 — it's included with any Netflix subscription at no extra cost. Episodes are available on-demand immediately after the live broadcast. See the full TV and streaming guide on the Watch page.

AEW Dynamite (Wednesday, TBS) and AEW Collision (Saturday, TNT) are both available live on streaming services that carry those channels — Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, FuboTV, and DirecTV Stream all work. Max (formerly HBO Max) carries AEW PPV events. You don't need a cable subscription for any of it. Full streaming options on the Watch page.

WrestleMania 42 took place April 18–19, 2026 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The headline results: Roman Reigns won the World Heavyweight Championship on Night Two, Rhea Ripley won the WWE Women's Championship, Trick Williams won the US title, and Liv Morgan won the Women's World Championship — all on the same night. John Cena was involved in a memorable WrestleMania moment on Night Two in what is widely expected to be among his final appearances. Danhausen appeared in a segment and got his own blimp. See full results on the Results page.

A professional wrestler on WWE's main roster who became, against most expectations, the company's #2 merchandise seller within 90 days of his debut. The character is horror-comedy: black-and-white face paint, a jar of teeth, and a curse he places on anyone who disrespects him. He was loudly booed at his debut at Elimination Chamber in February 2026. Three months later Triple H and Nick Khan were internally calling him the second-biggest merch seller in the company behind Cody Rhodes. He's also appeared on ESPN twice in character, including taking over SportsCenter's Top Plays segment. Full Danhausen profile →

WrestleIndex's weekly power ranking of the most relevant active wrestlers across WWE, AEW, NJPW, TNA, AAA, CMLL, ROH and NXT. It's not based on career legacy or popularity — it's based on a rolling 90-day body of work: who's holding a title, who's winning and defending titles, and who's performing in the main events of the biggest premium live events, with recent work weighted most — plus this year's tournament honors and tier-weighted flagship main events, drawn from the same verified datasets behind the GOAT Index. Scores update automatically. Danhausen holds the permanent honorary #31 spot. View The WrestleIndex Top 30 →

WrestleIndex tracks eleven active promotions: WWE and its developmental brand NXT, AEW, NJPW (New Japan Pro-Wrestling), AJPW (All Japan's Triple Crown lineage), NOAH (the GHC lineage), TNA, AAA and CMLL (Mexico's two biggest lucha libre promotions), ROH (Ring of Honor), and the NWA — plus full archives for the retired WCW and ECW promotions. Current champions, events, results and the weekly Top 30 power rankings span all of them. See all current champions →

WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world — think NFL scale, global reach, Netflix deal, stadium WrestleManias. It's the mainstream product. AEW launched in 2019 and positioned itself as the alternative — longer matches, more in-ring focus, fewer production theatrics. The audience overlap is significant but the cultures are different: WWE fans and AEW fans argue about which is better constantly and neither group is entirely wrong. Both are worth watching. The shows are on different nights so you can watch both without conflict.

WWE Raw on Netflix is the easiest entry point in 2026. It's Monday nights, it's on a platform you probably already have, and each episode is reasonably self-contained. The commentary explains what's happening for people who aren't caught up. If you try it and want something with a harder edge and more athletic matches, try AEW Dynamite on Wednesday. If you want to understand what's actually happening in any given storyline, the WrestleIndex dashboard keeps everything in one place.

TNA (Total Nonstop Action) is the third major US wrestling promotion, airing Impact on AXS TV on Thursdays at 8PM ET. It's been around since 2002 and has gone through several ownerships and near-collapses. The current product is solid — it's where a lot of wrestlers go after WWE or when AEW doesn't have room for them, and some genuinely good matches happen there. Less mainstream attention than WWE or AEW but a dedicated fanbase.

WWE's annual flagship event — the Super Bowl of wrestling. Held every April over two nights in a major stadium. The biggest matches of the year happen here, major title changes happen here, and it's where careers are defined. WrestleMania 42 drew over 60,000 fans per night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. See the full upcoming event calendar at the schedule page.

A match where 30 wrestlers enter one at a time, every 90 seconds. You're eliminated by being thrown over the top rope. Last person in wins a world title match at WrestleMania. There's a men's and women's Rumble. It's held every January and it's one of the most entertaining matches of the year because of the unpredictability — surprise entrants, unexpected winners, cameos from legends. The Royal Rumble is often the first real indication of WWE's WrestleMania plans.

A ladder match where competitors climb to retrieve a briefcase hanging above the ring. The briefcase contains a contract for a world title shot redeemable any time — including immediately after a champion just defended the title and is exhausted. These "cash-ins" create some of the most chaotic moments in wrestling. WWE holds an annual Money in the Bank event in the summer. The 2026 event is in New Orleans in September. See the full schedule at the schedule page.

AEW's signature annual PPV, held every May over Memorial Day weekend. It's traditionally the biggest show on AEW's calendar — title defenses, blowoff matches for major feuds, and historically where AEW makes its biggest statements. The 2026 edition took place May 24 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York. Results are on the Results page.

Face (babyface) = the hero, the one the crowd cheers. Heel = the villain, the one the crowd boos. Most storylines are built around a heel vs face conflict. A "heel turn" is when a popular face turns villain — often the most dramatic moment in a wrestler's career. Cody Rhodes is currently WWE's top face. Roman Reigns spent years as one of the best heels in wrestling history before turning face in 2023.

"Over" means the crowd genuinely reacts to you — positively or negatively. Getting over is the goal. The opposite is being "buried" — losing so often or being booked so weakly that nobody cares. "Putting someone over" means doing a job (losing) to make another wrestler look stronger. Danhausen got over almost entirely on the internet and merch table before WWE ever aired a segment with him.

Kayfabe is the convention of treating wrestling as real — the characters, the rivalries, the championships. A heel and face wouldn't be seen hanging out together in kayfabe. The internet largely ended strict kayfabe in the 1990s, but promotions still maintain it on screen. When someone "breaks kayfabe" they're acknowledging the reality behind the performance. CM Punk's 2011 pipe bomb promo is the most famous example — it felt real enough that nobody was sure if it was a work or a shoot.

A professional wrestler on WWE's main roster who became, against most expectations, the company's #2 merchandise seller within 90 days of his debut. The character is horror-comedy: black-and-white face paint, a jar of teeth, and a curse he places on anyone who disrespects him. He was loudly booed at his debut at Elimination Chamber in February 2026. Three months later Triple H and Nick Khan were internally calling him the second-biggest merch seller in the company behind Cody Rhodes. He's also appeared on ESPN twice in character, including taking over SportsCenter's Top Plays segment.

Read the full Danhausen profile on WrestleIndex →