The editorial board of Pro Wrestling Illustrated — a publication once considered the standard-bearer for sports journalism — is under fire today after keen-eyed readers noticed that the recent “PWI 500” includes more than 70 entries for Baron Corbin.

In the publication’s prestigious annual ranking of the top 500 professional wrestlers in the world, Corbin is listed at number 17, number 29, number 57, numbers 187 through 254, and, rather mysteriously, at number 501.

baron corbin pwi
Baron Corbin makes up 14 percent of the wrestlers in the PWI 500.

Longtime PWI columnist and totally real person Matt Brock, speaking to reporters outside the company’s global headquarters on Manhattan’s Park Avenue, said the repeated entries of Corbin is the result of “an honest mistake” by an overworked team of investigative journalists.

But some pundits believe Corbin’s multiple appearances on the list are indicative of something more sinister — alleged collusion between PWI publisher Stu Saks and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, the two most powerful media moguls in the sport.

An anonymous whistleblower alleged that McMahon himself orchestrated the supposed “mistake,” and wrote the multiple Corbin entries himself.

The number 192 entry, for example, says Corbin is “Quite frankly, a bankable superstar, pal,” while entry number 206 describe’s Corbin’s signature Deep Six as “what a maneuver, quite frankly.”

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