A Recap of Wrestling in 2021
It's been an ever so eventful year for professional wrestling all over the globe this year. Covid has caused setbacks but despite that it's been one of the most exciting 12 months in recent memory
When it comes to WWE, it a was mixed bag of a year in terms of the quality of the product, but they certainly produced some iconic spectacles. Roman Reigns continued to lead the company forward as he proved to be the most dominant champion in wrestling. He main evented Wrestlemania and was victorious as he stacked and pinned both Edge and Daniel Bryan. The Cesaro match was very satisfying as fans have been begging for the Swiss Superman to get his opportunity at the top and he did not disappoint. Arguably Romans most ground-breaking encounter though came against John Cena. Even if the bout itself wasn't your cup of tea, you can't deny the significance of the match. It seriously had a big match feel which is rare in wrestling nowadays
Speaking of Cena, it'd be disrespectful not to mention the sheer amount of returns in WWE this year. We already mentioned Cena, but there was also Brock and Becky at SummerSlam, Goldberg, Zelina Vega and more. On NXT, we witnessed an entire new iteration of the brand as it got transformed into an actual developmental show. The severely underrated NXT UK had a fascinating year, as they put on one of most consistently fulfilling weekly shows of the year. The NXT UK title brought us arguably the greatest match of the year in WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov at NXT Takeover 36, a gruelling war that will go down in history
As far as AEW is concerned, 2021 has been their biggest breakout year to date. Kenny Omega reigned as the world champion throughout the majority of the year. Overall, his run was a success as he had multiple magnificent battels against the likes of Rey Fenix, PAC and Orange Cassidy, Bryan Danielson and more. However, it would be the culmination of his reign that would obtain the spotlight as he fell short against "Hangman" Adam Page at Full Gear. It was an occasion that will live on in the memories of fans for years from now. The satisfactory aftermath is an example of how vital and influential long-term storytelling is in Professional Wrestling
Sticking with the theme of The Elite, the Young Bucks had a brilliantly booked reign as AEW Tag Team champions, it seemed like whenever they were defending their belts they were bound to steal the show. The run really solidified them as an all-time great Tag Team. Darby Allin also had a fairly underrated run as TNT champion and Miro had perhaps the best run with the belt in its history. Britt Baker took the womens division by storm and became one of the faces of AEW, she's currently the AEW womens champion which is more than deserved. In a similar vein to WWE, AEW had their fair share of gargantuan surprises. At All Out alone, Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, Ruby Soho and Minoru Suzuki made appearances. Malakai Black and Andrade also made their way to AEW amongst other names. The pick of the bunch though was obviously the return of CM Punk after seven long years away from the squared circle. That first promo back on Rampage is such an enjoyable watch as Punk speaks from his heart to the Chicago faithful. He made his in-ring return at the aforementioned All Out, which has been labelled by some as the best wrestling PPV in the last decade. AEW dominated the wrestling scene this year and 2021 was certainly a historic year for the company
There's been a plethora of activity taking place outside of the two most recognisable companies that deserve a mention. NJPW had a troublesome year but in the end, they displayed some determination as they still had an entertaining year. Shingo Takagi, who is arguably the greatest performer of 2021, had countless gratifying wars versus Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jeff Cobb, Zack Sabre Jr, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay and more. Sticking with the theme of Japanese wrestling, Stardom once again stated their claim as the summit of womens wrestling. Utami Hayashisita led the charge for Stardom this year as they produced match of the year candidates in both Utami vs Syuri bouts, Tam Nakano vs Giulia and Giulia vs Konami, with the latter being an emotional tale that is sure to pull at your heart strings
GCW, Warrior Wrestling, TJPW, DDT, ChocoPro and NOAH all treated us with some underrated encounters and i expect big things from all those mentioned promotions in 2022. RevPro, OTT, PWG and more emerged from the ashes to relaunch their shows, meanwhile the newly established Japanese company GLEAT gathered it's audience with their unique style of impressive matches with a sprinkle of UWF to spice things up. AAA gave light to the acrobatic maniac Vikingo this year, and he's currently the world champion despite being very young
2021 was such a jam-packed year that i wasn't able to cram everything into this recap, it was a tremendous year and i for one am thoroughly excited to see what the future holds for 2022