Top 10 Moments Of 2020
What made you remember why you love pro wrestling?
I only tuned into Survivor Series for Undertaker’s farewell, and just like every other time WWE hypes a nostalgia act, I got my hopes up. It should have been the best thing WWE did all year rather than an uninspired, never-ending snoozefest. Thankfully, there were better farewells (and returns) this year. Without further adieu, here are the top 10 moments of 2020.
10. Mike Law’s Suicide Dive
Tensions were high between former PCA brethren as Mike Law finally clashed with Joey Ace at ECWA’s Christmas Spectacular. It was also a unification match for the ECWA Heavyweight and WORLD-1 Wrestling Championships. Throwing caution to the wind, Law soared to the outside with a suicide dive that almost lived up to its name. A clip of the daredevil stunt went viral, drawing more eyeballs on ECWA than at any point in its history.
9. Drew McIntyre Eliminates The Beast
Having cleared out half the Royal Rumble participants, it appeared that Brock Lesnar would be watching WrestleMania 36 at home like the rest of us. And then Drew McIntyre entered, hit a Claymore Kick and sent the champion sailing over the top rope. It was a huge moment for McIntyre, signaling that he was on his way to become WWE Champion.
8. Dominik Gets Caned
The sickest part of the never-ending Rey Mysterio-Seth Rollins feud went down right before SummerSlam, as Rollins and Buddy Murphy whacked Mysterio’s son with a Singapore cane like he was a pinata. With all those welts and bruises, WWE forgot sports-entertainment and reverted to an old-school angle for just one night. Welcome to wrasslin’, Dominik!
7. Another Legend Killed
After 48 years in the pro wrestling industry, Ric Flair can still deliver on the mic. In the buildup to SummerSlam, he poured his heart out to Randy Orton, revealing that he only wants the best for the kid he mentored almost 20 years ago. Of course, the water works are to be expected when the Nature Boy is on screen, but the Legend Killer had no sympathy. He dropped Flair to his knees and was about to punt him before the lights went out.
6. Jake Roberts Returns
Perhaps the unlikeliest comeback story of the past 20 years. Jake “The Snake” Roberts interrupted Cody to a thunderous pop, looking healthier than he had any right to. Addressing Cody as “mighty Caesar,” Roberts revealed that he had a client coming to AEW to slay Cody and all others in their path. It was a chilling promo that reminded the wrestling world that Jake the Snake was still a master of the mic.
5. New Day Breaks Up
Whether it was time for The New Day to split is up for debate, but it’s easy to see that the members didn’t feel that way. As part of the 2020 WWE Draft, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were sent to Raw, leaving Big E alone on SmackDown. Xavier’s pleas for Stephanie McMahon to say E’s name really tug at the heartstrings.
4. Moxley Wins AEW World Title
Jon Moxley’s declaration of a paradigm shift came true at AEW Revolution. Despite having one eye covered, the former Dean Ambrose brought the fight to Chris Jericho. As Le Champion attempted the Judas Effect, Moxley somehow ducked and hit a DDT. Then, the lunatic pulled the eye patch off, revealing his master plan of luring Jericho into a false sense of security. A Paradigm Shift for good measure, and Moxley was the new AEW World Champion.
3. Becky Lynch Is Pregnant
The only thing that could stop The Man’s incredible run was becoming a mom. In May, the Raw Women’s Champion relinquished the title to Money in the Bank winner Asuka, and then surprised the Empress of Tomorrow with the best news possible. If a crowd was there, you can just picture the sea of tears.
2. Sting Debuts In AEW
“It’s Stiiiing!” Tony Schiavone’s iconic call of the legend’s return to TNT after 18 years was like stepping out of a time machine. We knew winter was coming, but we had no idea Sting was, too. His epic, Glacier-like entrance on Dynamite immediately blew away his entire, albeit brief WWE run.
1. Edge Returns
On this day, the fans couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
After nine years in retirement, Edge shocked the world by entering the Royal Rumble. When his music hit, 42,000 fans erupted in Houston, along with millions more around the world. Rumors had persisted for months that the Rated-R Superstar was planning a comeback since he speared Elias at SummerSlam 2019, but Edge denied anything of the sort.
It didn’t matter that Edge fell short at the Rumble because his return was the greatest triumph of all. Similar to Daniel Bryan, Edge trained hard to get medically cleared, believing he had one more run left in him. And on the same day that the world mourned the loss of Kobe Bryant, Edge gave us some much-needed joy.
If only we could have bottled that energy for the rest of the year.
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