Pro Wrestling: Best Of 2020 (Part 2)

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we discuss the best of pro wrestling in 2020. (Here’s Part 1.)

What was the best promotion of 2020?

Chad Gelfand: AEW.

Steven Jackson: AEW. While I may not like everything AEW does, I have to respect that it has been the best wrestling promotion of 2020. It has constantly delivered brilliant matches, TV shows and PPVs throughout the year, as well as brought new stars in who otherwise would have been overlooked.

John Corrigan: MLW deserves credit for still producing safe content (Pulp FUSION) during the pandemic, but I’m going with ECWA by default. WWE has pretty much lost me as a viewer. I can’t get into Impact having no fans in attendance. AEW has pulled out some fun surprises, but it’s not consistent. I’m usually bored by Dynamite. NWA disappeared during the pandemic and Ring of Honor has fallen off my radar. (At this point you’re probably thinking “why does he run a pro wrestling site?”) But ECWA, under its new management, has hit a home run with every event since returning for the Super 8 in September.

Neal Wagner: AEW by miles.

Jack Goodwillie: Every promotion was a mixed bag this year. There were highlights and lowlights in WWE, AEW, NJPW, Impact, RoH, you name it. However, with the general exception of Chris Jericho’s comedy, AEW has given the fans an extremely consistent product for the majority of the year and it shows in the ratings. By signing Sting and entering into a working relationship with Impact Wrestling, Tony Khan and AEW are looking to change the way we as fans think about pro wrestling, and that’s pretty powerful to note. I like when wrestling companies take risks. What was the biggest risk WWE took this year? Letting Edge back into the ring? Going through with WrestleMania? Not having regular COVID-19 tests for its talent at the peak of the pandemic? Of course, I’m being facetious as these are different kinds of risks. AEW has earned the right to be called promotion of the year – the only question now is where does it go from here.

What was the best wrestling event of 2020?

Gelfand: GCW: For The Culture.

Jackson: I loved AEW Full Gear! It had everything that makes a wrestling show great: awesome matches, fantastic build up and exciting results.

Corrigan: The 2020 Garden State Invitational. Jordan Oliver and Myron Reed had the match of the year, Gregory Iron won over a new audience (including me), Anthony Greene returned in a wonderful surprise and Tony Deppen went the distance in epic fashion.

Wagner: AEW Revolution. The Tag Team Title match, Cody vs. MJF, Moxley winning the title – everything was perfect on this night.

Goodwillie: I’m giving NXT Takeover: Portland the slight nod over AEW Revolution. Both have the commonality of being held in front of fans pre-COVID-19 and both shows were not short on well-worked, high stakes matches. However, one of these shows did not have The Young Bucks, and for me, that’s the clincher.

Just kidding, of course. However, I can remember the weekend NXT happened and having to work that Saturday. I remember thinking to myself, what if I caught a late-night flight out of LA and got to Portland on Sunday morning in time for the show? I knew it was going to kick ass and I’ve never been to Portland, so I would have killed two birds with one stone. After having seen the show, I can remember regretting NOT taking the plunge because there was so much to like about it with the main event match between Adam Cole and Tommaso Ciampa being a match-of-the-year candidate.

What was the best moment/angle of 2020?

Gelfand: Roman Reigns becoming the Tribal Chief.

Jackson: Jonathan Gresham winning the ROH Pure Championship. As many people know, I’m a massive Jonathan Gresham fan, and finally seeing The Octopus with singles gold in ROH filled me with pride. The story leading into the win was beautifully told, and Jonathan’s win was a true feel-good moment of 2020.

Corrigan: Edge shocking the world at the Royal Rumble. We all needed a pick-me up after Kobe Bryant’s tragic death earlier that day, and the Rated-R Superstar delivered.

Wagner: I would say Omega and Callis on 12/2, but Sting’s debut that night trumps everything.

Goodwillie: One word: Retribution.

In all seriousness, the best moment of the year is Edge returning, which is also one of the best stories of the year from a human-interest angle. However, if something is to rival it, it may have been The Undertaker’s send-off at Survivor Series. As far as angles go, 2020 was a great year if you’re more into angles than matches. Of course, there’s MJF, Cody and the 10 Lashes, there’s Jon Moxley’s faceoff with Eddie Kingston, there’s Jey Uso’s attack on Roman Reigns, and then there’s Jade Cargill and Brandi Rhodes. Might want to strike that last one, but I’m not going to bite anybody’s head off as far as great angles go this year.

What was the best match of 2020?

Gelfand: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley at Hell in a Cell.

Jackson: Go Shiozaki vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima for the GHC Heavyweight Championship at the NOAH 20th Anniversary Show. The world of Puroresu is dominated by NJPW. But during 2020, many more Puro promotions have regained exposure with Western fans. The main event of the 20th Anniversary Show – Shiozaki vs. Nakajima – was everything you would want from a main event title match. Hard-hitting offense, beautiful counter-strikes, a hot crowd, insane chemistry, and commentary which kept you on the edge of your seat. This was as good as it gets in 2020.

Corrigan: Jordan Oliver vs. Myron Reed at the Garden State Invitational. It’s of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen in person. In a nod to Oliver’s viral clip from earlier this year, he and fellow Injustice member Myron Reed opened with a lightning quick sequence that dazzled the capacity crowd (55 people as per the venue’s social distancing guidelines). As Oliver gained his composure on the outside, Reed pounced with a suicide dive that sent Oliver crashing into a chair. At this point, Oliver’s left shoulder was seemingly injured as he tucked it between his legs and tried to yank it back into place. Even though they’re brothers from another mother, Reed showed no mercy, immediately attacking the wounded body part. As the action continued, the masked crowd realized they were witnessing something special, chanting “This Is Awesome” and “Both These Guys” – acknowledgements not ubiquitous at Synergy Pro Wrestling.

Wagner: The 6-star Tag Team Title match at Revolution. Probably the only match that may beat Okada and Omega at Dominion.

Goodwillie: I’m going to tap into an unlikely source for this one: NXT UK. I am very high on Ilja Dragunov. If WWE is looking for more international stars, it need not look further as this guy is sensational. He is an excellent promo and can sell a beating as good as anyone on NXT UK. Why am I pumping Dragunov as much as I am here? Because when a lot of people look at this match, they’ll chalk it up to the greatness of WALTER, and make no mistake there’s a reason WALTER has reigned as champion for more than 600 days.

However, it takes two to tango, and much like Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio at Halloween Havoc, or even Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate at NXT Takeover XX, these guys just had the magic that night. You also won’t find a better-paced match than this one, which speaks volumes with the lack of an audience. With the crowd removed from the equation, I’ve found a lot of matches to either move at warp speed or a pace that would trump methodical. The match also suspends your disbelief on a number of occasions, and for this wrestling writer, the ability to suspend my disbelief is truly the mark of a good match.

Who was the greatest wrestler of 2020?

Gelfand: Jon Moxley.

Jackson: Jay White. Starting out as a young lion, Jay White has quickly become one of the best wrestlers in the world. Insane charisma, awesome in-ring ability, and a confidence which is growing every day, White stands above everyone else as the wrestler of 2020!

Corrigan: If Thunder Rosa wasn’t benched for most of the year due to the pandemic, she would have got the nod. Instead, Jordan Oliver is my pick. He has silenced his critics who labeled him a “spot monkey” at the beginning of the year, making the most of the shutdowns by packing on size and building confidence. He has emerged with excellent matches both on the indies and on MLW Fusion, demonstrating the rare ability to play fan favorite or cocky, chickenshit heel. He’s also a draw – I paid my hard-earned money to see him clash with Ace Austin at Black Friday.

Wagner: No one has touched Omega on performance and overall match quality. He is pro wrestling right now.

Goodwillie: There are three realistic options for this and surprisingly, two of them are under contract to WWE. Of course, there’s Jon Moxley, my 2019 wrestler of the year, and I wouldn’t begrudge anyone for giving him the nod this year as AEW’s workhorse during a pandemic. Similarly, Drew McIntyre cemented himself as a cornerstone in WWE, and while we don’t really have a great gauge for just how over he is or could have been, he did win the Royal Rumble and got a great reaction for it, and I myself attended one of the last episodes of Raw with fans in Ontario, CA, and was very impressed with some of the reactions he got. Normally, this award would have Drew’s name on it, no question. But it’s not about how you start the year, it’s how you finish.

Because of that, how could I bestow this honor on anyone not named Roman Reigns? Although he has Paul Heyman by his side, Reigns has seemingly overnight become a top-10 promo in wrestling himself, and that’s not to be taken lightly. His matches have become less athletic and more theatrical, but in a day and age where Twitter stans go loco for tope suicidas and tower of doom spots, the alterations he’s made seem to suit him even better. In Reigns, I now see what Vince McMahon and Co. have seen in him all along. My only question would be why it took WWE seven years to realize THIS is the fully realized version of Reigns, who has the capability of taking pro wrestling by storm.