Best Gimmick:
Matt Cardona, “Deathmatch King”, GCW
You have to hand it to Matt Cardona, a true self-made man. His creativity got him a cult following in WWE against their wishes, and his time on the indies has allowed him to showcase his creative voice again. He has come up with a wonderfully subversive gimmick that makes him a must-see attraction. He gets a genuine rise out of the fun-loving GCW crowds, and anyone who dares cross Nick Gage and turn it into a wildly successful gimmick is award-worthy in my book. -Justin Bailey
Roman Reigns, “The Tribal Chief”, WWE
The level of stardom that this gimmick brings to Roman is incredible. His entrance, his look, his promo style, the way he works a match and carries himself have all changed since he turned heel and it is a HUGE improvement. This is the star that WWE has wanted Roman to be for so many years. It is easily the best thing in WWE right now.-Alex Kalil
Best Commentator:
Excalibur, AEW
Excalibur has two qualities that most commentators can only hope to have one of: he makes everything seem exciting, and he makes it seem legitimate. His vast knowledge married with his passion for the business make him the premier commentator in wrestling today.-Justin Bailey
Excalibur, AEW
While Kevin Kelly from NJPW and Ian from ROH are both great commentators, Excalibur is still my favorite. He makes the matches feel exciting, he knows about wrestling and the people involved. Plus he is one of the hardest working commentators as he constantly is plugging shows, tickets, merchandise, upcoming matches, everything.-Alex Kalil
Breakout Star of the Year:
Dante Martin, AEW
With all the star power added to AEW this past year, Dante Martin managed to shine despite being relatively unknown coming in. At first he wowed with his insane athleticism, but as the year progressed he learned to tell a story in the ring. It has been a joy to watch him grow so rapidly, and in the coming years he could become the best high flier in the business.-Justin Bailey
Bron Breakker, WWE NXT 2.0
Bron has one of the few highlights of the NXT 2.0 era. The man screams star in the making and has been able to deliver every time he is in the ring and has risen to the occasion time and time again. Even more insane when you take into account that he has been in less than 20 matches.-Alex Kalil
Most Overrated:
EVIL, NJPW
There may very well be wrestlers more overrated, or in a better position than EVIL that they don’t deserve. I have to pick EVIL because watching him makes me miserable. While he is no longer champion, he was still featured in high profile matches against Okada, was involved in the New Japan Cup and G1, and got a title shot against Shingo. He is still a heavily featured, upper-midcard act in NJPW, despite the fact he has regressed as a performer and his matches have largely been a slog. It isn’t entirely his fault, as his booking has been quite poor, but he has done nothing to make up for it. EVIL was my least favorite wrestler to watch in 2021.-Justin Bailey
Chris Jerichio, AEW
It honestly hurts me to say this because Jericho's run as AEW Champion was fantastic but everything sense than has been pretty average to bad. This year was a lot of bad with Jericho forcing himself into spotlights he didn't need to be in. The Inner Circle and Pinnacle feud should have been a feud to get over the new stable instead it quickly became the Jericho/MJF feud which Jericho won. From there it was more dull feuds that Jericho always won to help "get guys over" but no one got over working with him. Less Jericho in 2022, please!-Alex Kalil
Most Underrated:
Ricochet, WWE
Let’s be honest, you could put 50% of the WWE roster in here. WWE seems pathologically unable to use its talent correctly. However, Ricochet is still one of the best flying wrestlers in the world (and the best of his generation), and gives his fullest effort regardless of how poorly he is used. You would never know how mind-blowingly great he is watching the WWE product.-Justin Bailey
Keith Lee, WWE
Keith Lee is one of the most marketable babyfaces in years and somehow Vince didn't like him. He looked like a beast, wrestled fantastic matches, could cut a great promo, was charismatic and had a look. He had the It Factor needed to get over in WWE... and they wasted him. Barely on TV. No feuds or storylines or promos. Yes, he was off due to COVID issues but when he was healthy, WWE didn't even give him a big comeback storyline like they did with Roman. Oh and they nicknamed him Bearcat. What the fuck?! Hopefully AEW or somebody puts his man on TV soon-Alex Kalil
Most Improved:
Raquel Gonzalez, WWE NXT
Raquel Gonzalez went from “being pushed too soon” to being a credible NXT Women’s Champion who regularly turned in strong performances in 2021. Both her in-ring work as well as her character work improved dramatically. She could have merely gotten by on her stature, but she worked to develop into a complete wrestler. She did have a downswing in being well-utilized near the end of the year, but that doesn’t discount her major improvements.
Britt Baker, AEW
In 2020, Baker was able to get more and more comfortable with her heel role and quickly became the person everyone saw her to be: AEW's big female star. In 2021, she became that star. No other female in AEW has been able to deliver in the ring on a consistent basis, cut a great of promos or get as over as Baker. She is the female star of AEW and has come a long way from her early days as a white meat babyface and then a dull heel. She is fantastic at everything right now-Alex Kalil
Female Wrestle of the Year:
Bianca Belair, WWE
The elephant in the room: yes, she got absolutely buried. The rug was pulled out from under here. She was done DIRTY. However, even after having a disgusting ending to her title reign and rise to a legitimate superstar, she still put in great performances and had strong matches. Her Royal Rumble victory and spectacular title win at Wrestlemania were thrilling to watch. She is a superstar whether WWE realizes it or not. She rose to the occasion of being the top woman in the company before falling prey to Vince McMahon’s whims. I see you Bianca, you’re great, and you deserve this award.-Justin Bailey
Britt Baker, AEW
Speaking of the excellence of Baker. While yes, Charlotte and Becky had great years, they both had major issues for me. Charlotte never taking a backseat to any other female and Becky for some inexplicable reason returning as a heel and squashing Bianca Belair's push. Baker was a top star before winning the AEW Women's Champion and became a bigger one after. Baker vs. Rosa in the Light's Out match was one of the best women's matches of the year and Baker was able to elevate other women when they got in the ring with her.-Alex Kalil
Worst TV Show:
WWE Raw
This is a bit of a default pick, as there isn’t much wrestling TV out there that is actively terrible. Raw itself is rarely flat-out bad. It’s generally hopelessly mediocre and overly long. It gets this pick because of how unimaginative and stale it continues to be. Smackdown has become just about equally stale, but Raw wins by virtue of being longer.-Justin Bailey
WWE Raw
Pretty easy "win" here for Raw. Smackdown at least had Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman and NXT was solid before the 2.0 revamp but Raw is 3 hours of everything wrong with the WWE.-Alex Kalil
Best TV Show:
AEW Dynamite
First things first, in my heart I actually might love Rampage even more. I just find a breezy hour of great wrestling action a joy to watch. However, there’s no doubt Dynamite is the best out there. Dynamite’s absolute floor is “solid” which is the highest floor in wrestling TV history. It’s the best in match quality, it’s the best in storylines, and the best in promos. No question.-Justin Bailey
AEW Dynamite
Another easy win for AEW. Dynamite is far from perfect but in terms of wrestling TV, it is the easiest and most enjoyable TV out there.-Alex Kalil
Best Talker:
Eddie Kingston, AEW
2021 was a bit of a revelation for me as a wrestling fan, as it was a year we finally got great promos again. Oh how I missed them. Eddie Kingston captivated me more on the mic than any wrestler has in many years. Not only are his promos extremely realistic and heartfelt, they are very complex emotionally. Kingston’s emotions have gotten the best of him in the past, but he’s turned them into his greatest strength in his AEW run. Whenever I turn on Dynamite, Eddie Kingston is the wrestler I am most excited to see.-Justin Bailey
CM Punk, AEW
CM Punk is still one of the best talkers in the world. In a year full of amazing MJF and Paul Heyman promos, Punk is still king. His return promo in Chicago was a masterpiece and he has not had a single promo not land since then. We also got a tease of what a heel Punk could/will be in Long Island and it was amazing. Weekly Punk Promos Forever.-Alex Kalil
Promo of the Year:
Eddie Kingston and CM Punk, AEW Rampage 11/5/21
Speaking of Eddie Kingston, this was his magnum opus. Kingston and Punk are absolute geniuses on the mic, and this promo segment was absolutely perfectly done. The “worked shoot” can be the hardest promo style to believably pull off, but this was an all-timer. These two men conveyed years of emotions based on resentment from the past, but underneath it all was a sense of respect. An explosive, raw promo but one that had serious layers. *Chef’s kiss*-Justin Bailey
"Cowboy Shit" by "Hangman" Adam Page, AEW
While Punk was the clear promo guy of the year, Adam Page surprised everyone when he delivered this iconic promo on AEW Dynamite from October 16th. This was in my opinion one of the best babyface promos in years. It was perfect. It told a story. It got the people more behind Page and made it all but certain that Page was going to be the next AEW Champion and you wanted him to be the champion. It was beautiful.-Alex Kalil
Worst Feud of the Year:
Randy Orton vs. The Fiend, WWE
Oh God. They really dared to put Orton and Bray Wyatt into a program for Wrestlemania again. This wasn’t just bad, it was constantly embarrassing. It was nothing short of complete schlock, and while that often makes for great entertainment, this made me embarrassed to be a wrestling fan. This buried The Fiend forever and sucked Alexa Bliss into its vortex of doom. The Fiend managed to become a worse and worse concept over its existence in WWE, and this was the logical final point of implosion.-Justin Bailey
Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton, WWE
I am counting Alexa Bliss in this feud because it was all trash. Orton burns Bray alive, Orton and Alexa feuding leading to a match with magical powers like some shit from Carrie, Bray coming back looking like a burnt up Jason from Friday the 13th, a flat match at Mania and Bray off TV and gone from the company. In the words of Randy Orton: STUPID!
Best Feud of the Year:
CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston, AEW
Very hard choice for me here, as no one feud stood out for me. There really weren’t any spectacular longer feuds to speak of in 2021. This one was very brief, but it burned brightly. It combined the best promo of the year with a killer pay-off with a brilliant match at Full Gear. I give a lot of credit to the Omega and Page payoff, but a lot of the legwork was done in 2019 and 2020. Danielson vs. Omega, Danielson vs. Page and Omega vs. Impact were all good ones, but this one was enthralling from start to finish, despite its brevity.
Kenny Omega vs. Adam Page
Honestly I had a hard time picking a feud of the year but after I thought about it, this was the best feud to me. It was built up well and the crowd wanted to see this match happen and when it did, it delivered big and made Page look like a star and put him over. Plus it gave us a lot of quality promos, segments and matches in the build up. Plus we actually got a payoff to this feud.-Alex Kalil
Worst Major Show:
WWE Elimination Chamber 2021
This show was actually not that bad, and I would say all of WWE’s shows were pretty decent in 2021 for me. However, it was completely meaningless and went out of its way to be unsatisfying. Both chamber matches were pretty good, but had the exact same stupid gimmick to undercut them. After Daniel Bryan won his chamber match for a title match, he was immediately squashed by Roman Reigns. Then, after McIntyre defended his title in the main event chamber match, he fell victim to a pointless Miz cash-in. Individually, these decisions might not have been quite so terrible, but combined made for the biggest waste of time of 2021.
WWE Wrestlemania Backlash
A lumberjack match with zombies. That's why this show is the worst of the year. It was also just a blah show but THAT pushed it over the edge. Stupidest thing I saw all year and that's saying something.-Alex Kalil
Best Major Show:
AEW Full Gear 2021
This was a top-to-bottom great show, which was what a great wrestling show should be: a variety show. It had a great opener with MJF and Darby Allin, a great tag title match, a very fun and wild street fight, one of the best brawls in recent memory with Punk vs. Kingston, and capped off with the emotional and satisfying coronation of Adam Page. Great stuff.-Justin Bailey
AEW Full Gear 2021
While a lot will say All Out was the better AEW show, I think this show is superior. We got a classic with MJF vs. Darby. A solid tag match with Lucha Brothers vs. FTR. Danielson vs. Miro in a great match. Punk vs. Kingston in one of the best fights of the year. Topped off with Page taking the World Title from Omega. It was an amazing show to watch.-Alex Kalil
Stable of the Year:
The Foundation, ROH
Wow, some love for ROH! Amazing. Jonathan Gresham deserves some recognition for his great 2021 and rise to a very hot commodity on the wrestling scene. The Foundation resurrected Rhett Titus into relevance, and showcased Tracy Williams’ ability (finally). The Foundation was the bright spot in a company falling apart, and they consistently made shows worth watching.-Justin Bailey
The Foundation, ROH
This is just personal preference. I love this stable and what they brought to ROH and the indies. Gresham, Lethal, Tracy Williams and even Rhett Titus are all boys of mine. Plus the late addition of Josh Woods before the end of the year. What is not to like about this stable?-Alex Kalil
Tag Team of the Year:
The Young Bucks, AEW
Well, it’s (checks calendar) 2022 and The Young Bucks are still the best tag team in the world, and in my opinion easily the best ever. They just keep finding ways to do something new and exciting, while always turning in great performances. There isn’t much of an explanation needed here. They are the best until proven otherwise.-Justin Bailey
The Young Bucks, AEW
At this point, the Bucks would have to actively try not to win this award for me. They are an amazing team. If you want to pick at the way they were booked and their proms, sure. But in the ring, they were the best and were almost always the highlight of the TV or PPV. Their match with the Lucha Brothers at All Out was a modern classic, but they also had great matches with Moxley and Kingston, PAC and Fenix and Jungle Boy and Luchasaur.-Alex Kalil
Best Promotion of the Year:
AEW
AEW has the best TV show, the best roster, and has put on the most consistently great Pay Per Views. This is an easy decision.-Justin Bailey
AEW
If NJPW wasn't cursed this year, maybe this would have been closer but AEW was on fire this year. Great TV, great PPVs and matches plus getting CM Punk and Bryan Danielson helped raise them from up and comer to a legit promotion.-Alex Kalil
Most Outstanding Wrestler:
Shingo Takagi, NJPW
Shingo Takagi, from a strictly in-ring quality standpoint, was unquestionably the best wrestler in the world in 2021. He started the year off with an unbelievable spectacle against Jeff Cobb, followed by another against Tanahashi. He put in blow-away performances in the New Japan Cup, including the all-time best New Japan Cup Finals. The rematch against Ospreay for the title was even better. With Ospreay out, Shingo was given a well-deserved chance to run with the IWGP Title, and he turned in another 5 star outing against Tanahashi. He even went the extra mile and had an outstanding G1 highlighted by a great match with Ishii. His last title defense was a banger with Zack Sabre. While Uncle Dave has gotten very generous with his ratings, Shingo having a whopping SIX 5 star or better matches in 2021 speaks for itself. The man is a machine, and an easy choice for this award.-Justin Bailey
Bryan Danielson, WWE/AEW
All wrestlers should try to be more like Bryan Danielson. He has zero holes in his work. Even before coming to AEW, he put on great matches with guys like Roman and Edge but in AEW it has been next level. His matches with Omega and Page were two of the best matches in AEW history. He also had amazing matches with Suzuki, Kingston and Miro. Danielson is everything you should want in a pro wrestler.-Alex Kalil
Match of the Year:
Shingo Takagi vs. Jeff Cobb, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night 2
There were so many great matches in 2021 across the wrestling landscape, but for me, nothing topped this match. This was nothing short of the greatest hoss battle I have ever seen, with two men possessing freakish strength delivering one mind-blowing showing of power after another to each other. It was a constant spectacle for its 21 minutes, with a breakneck pace and an appropriate level of drama down the stretch. This is one I will revisit over and over in the years to come, and the best of a year of classics.-Justin Bailey
WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov at NXT Takeover 36
In a year full of great matches, this one STILL stood out. It was amazing in every possible way and was what I want from a modern wrestling match. Two fantastic wrestlers, an easy to follow story of the match, physical, hard hitting wrestling and a hot crowd. This was wrestling!-Alex Kalil
Wrestler of the Year:
Bryan Danielson, AEW/WWE
This was a tough decision. Shingo Takagi had an all-timer of an in-ring year. Kenny Omega had a great run as AEW Champion including a very fun feud with Impact, and it ended spectacularly. However, Bryan Danielson made the biggest individual shockwave in the wrestling landscape in 2021, despite being out of the picture for nearly 4 months in the midst of the year. He made the most of the end of his WWE run including main eventing Wrestlemania and having great title matches with Roman Reigns. After disappearing from WWE in April, he re-emerged in AEW at the All Out event. While getting CM Punk was a huge coup for AEW, this was the moment that solidified AEW as a game changer in the wrestling world. Danielson went on to prove he is still one of the best wrestlers in the world, kicking off his run with a 5 star masterpiece against Kenny Omega. He then proceeded to have one killer match after another, against the likes of Eddie Kingston and a dream match with Minoru Suzuki. He punctuated his stellar 2021 AEW run with a phenomenal one-hour draw against Adam Page. Everything he did was captivating, everything was must-see, and everything kicked ass. He didn’t have the largest body of work in 2021, but none made a greater impact. The American Dragon is back, and if AEW goes on to be a true competitor to WWE, we can look back at his debut as the origin of AEW going “big time”.-Justin Bailey
Bryan Danielson, WWE/AEW
Danielson is and forever will be one of the greatest pro wrestler in the history of wrestling and this year, he reminded us why that is. Classic match after classic match. He was the show stealer every time he got in the ring. I don't know what else I can say about this man but in short: Bryan Danielson is the Wrestler of the Year and the Wrestler of a Lifetime-Alex Kalil
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