Well, this is bound to cause some disagreements! Wrestling is one of the most subjective forms of entertainment in the world and these awards will certainly divide opinions. With that said, I'll try to be as unbiased as possible but I'd still love to hear everyone's outlook on these awards, so be sure to let me know your choices! Enjoy!
MALE WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
Nomines
Roman Reigns (WWE)
Kenny Omega (AEW)
Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH)
Bryan Danielson (AEW)
Young Bucks (AEW)
WINNER - SHINGO TAKAGI (NJPW)
2021 has been the year of the Dragon. NJPW have had more setbacks than most wrestling companies this year, yet they persevered and had a respectable year, which was largely due to the impact of Shingo Takagi. This award could've easily went to Roman Reigns, who I'm aware many would of assumed would win here, but Shingo just edges it purely due to him carrying New Japan on his back throughout one of the toughest times in the promotions history
WOMENS WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
Nominees
Bianca Belair (WWE)
Syuri (STARDOM)
Britt Baker (AEW)
Miyu Yamashita (TJPW)
Deonna Purrazzo (IMPACT)
WINNER - UTAMI HAYASHISHITA (STARDOM)
STARDOM is the pinnacle of womens wrestling and Utami is without doubt the top star in that division. The World of Stardom champion has made the belt feel more prestigious than ever with her stellar performances. STARDOM gathered many new fans throughout this year and Utami has played a huge role in that. Her rivalry with Syuri has been very impressive and the two women had a contender for Match of the Year, and arguably one of the greatest womens matches of all time. She's still incredibly young and is bound to get even better. All hail Utami Hayashishita.
MATCH OF THE YEAR
Nominees
Kenny Omega vs “Hangman” Adam Page | Full Gear (AEW)
Utami vs Syuri | Tokyo Dream Cinderella (STARDOM)
Shingo Takagi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi | Grand Slam (NJPW)
Nakajima vs Kenou | N-1 Victory Final (NOAH)
Takeshita vs Ueno | D-Ou Grand Prix Final (DDT)
WINNER - WALTER VS ILJA DRAGUNOV | NXT TAKEOVER 36 (WWE)
Perhaps the toughest category to decide on. This year has been full to the brim with extraordinary performances, and as you can tell by the nominees, it's been an all round great year for matches all over the world. WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov from NXT Takeover 36 ultimately just wins it though. This was special for a plethora of reasons. It was of course a fantastic display of durability and talent by both men, and the build up to this too was perfect as Ilja had to overcome his past failures to have the courage to fight the Ring General once more. This was where the legendary reign of WALTER ended and it couldn't of been executed better. A Wrestling masterclass which combined emotion and drama to an outstanding degree
RIVALRY OF YEAR
Nominees
CM Punk vs Eddie Kingston (AEW)
Roman Reigns vs Edge vs Daniel Bryan (WWE)
Seth Rollins vs Edge (WWE)
WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov (WWE)
Utami vs Syuri (STARDOM)
WINNER - Kenny Omega vs “Hangman” Adam Page (AEW)
mThis feud didn't begin this year but it reached it's climax at Full Gear earlier in 2021. There was so many hidden details located in this storyline that make it so special, and when Hangman won the AEW World Championship it was an overwhelmingly satisfying end to this chapter in the story between the two men
BEST RETURN/DEBUT OF THE YEAR
Nominees
Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW)
John Cena (WWE)
Bryan Danielson (AEW)
Brock Lesnar (WWE)
Go Shiozaki (NOAH)
WINNER - CM PUNK (AEW)
Even with all the nominees listed, it's important to point out there's still some notable omissions due to the sheer amount of returns and debuts in Wrestling this year. Nothing will top CM Punks return after seven long years though. The emotion was contagious as the crowd erupted and many fans all over the world rejoiced as our hero finally came home. It's a night myself and many others will cherish forever, and it's quite frankly one of my favourite moments in Professional Wrestling history
PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
Nominees
STARDOM
NJPW
GCW
DDT
WWE (shoutout to NXT UK!)
WINNER - AEW
5 star classics, remarkable returns, dazzling debuts and an overall immense year for AEW. There's certainly room for improvement, but AEW are on fire and have no evidence that shows that they'll lose any sort of momentum heading into the new year
MOST SHOCKING MOMENT OF THE YEAR
Nominees
CM Punk Returns (AEW)
The Forbidden Door gets kicked open (AEW/NJPW)
The NXT Rebrand (WWE)
Will Ospreay defeating Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Title (NJPW)
Adam Cole & Bryan Danielson both debuting at Full Gear (AEW)
WINNER - KATSUYORI SHIBATA ANNOUNCES HIS IN-RING RETURN (NJPW)
This was very recent but my god it was so special. It was announced beforehand that Shibata would be making a major announcement, and some NJPW fans had an idea of what may happen but many refused to get too excited as it sounded too good to be true. But when the news broke, it was such an emotional and heartfelt moment. Wrestling is at it's best when it pulls at your heart strings and this perfected that. It's unknown as of right now who Shibata will face in his return bout at Wrestle Kingdom, but whoever it is it's going to be an encounter that will be nothing sort of historical
MOST IMPROVED
Nominees
Great O-Khan (NJPW)
Maki Itoh (TJPW)
Matt Cardona (IMPACT)
Dante Martin (AEW)
Jamie Hayter (AEW)
WINNER - ROMAN REIGNS (WWE)
This is pretty obvious. Roman went from being labelled as overpushed and boring to being in the debate for wrestler of the year whilst having one of the greatest world title reigns WWE has seen in recent years. He's had a remarkable transformation and is by far the most interesting thing WWE has to offer
BREAKOUT STAR OF THE YEAR
Nominees
Bron Breakker (WWE)
Dante Martin (AEW)
Alex Coughlin (NJPW)
Aussie Open (PWA)
Lee Moriarty (AEW)
WINNER - DANIEL GARCIA (AEW)
“Red Death” has been working incredibly hard this year and it's most definitely payed off. He's faced the very best in the world in CM Punk, Jay White and Eddie Kingston. When it comes to the indies, he's had an exhilarating year too as he's had eye-catching bouts with “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Minoru Suzuki and Wheeler Yuta, with the latter going for an entire hour. On top of all that, Garcia officially became All Elite this year which was the least he deserved for his spectacular work
INDY WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR
Nominees
Mark Haskins vs LJ Cleary (OTT)
Josh Alexander vs Fred Yehi (AAW)
Daniel Garcia vs Wheeler YUTA (IWTV)
Trey Miguel vs Blake Christian vs Will Ospreay (Warrior Wrestling)
Alex Colon vs AKIRA (GCW)
WINNER - WILL OSPREAY VS RICKY KNIGHT JR (REVPRO)
The British Wrestling scene may not be what it once was, but there's still some real hidden gems, and few are better than Ricky Knight Jr. Everyone is aware of the abilities of Ospreay, but RKJ really made an impact here. 2022 is going to be huge for the youngster, and it wouldn't be surprising if RKJ is the face of this new era for RevPro and British Wrestling in general
These takes are all good because you’re a god damn genius and wwe smells like shit
These tales are all good because you’re a god damn genius and wwe smells like shit