Disclaimer: I can't watch every piece of wrestling, so if I have missed something or someone you love, I probably didn't see it or maybe I just didn't like them/it as much as you do, and that's ok. Kind suggestions are welcome though, we all love wrestling here.
Male Wrestler Of The Year - Jon Moxley
My favourite male competitor of the year, be that through matches, gimmick, microphone work etc.
Although the first few months of Moxley's 2019 was plagued by a poor gimmick change and story line within WWE, he managed to explode out of WWE into the independent scene in a way that could only be rivalled to CM Punk's exit in 2013. Moxley made his first post-WWE appearance in a shocking fashion at All Elite Wrestling's first PPV event 'Double Or Nothing' and then a mere 11 days later made his first post-WWE match at New Japan's 'Best Of The Super Juniors Finals' in an incredible bout against Juice Robinson. Clearly showing the wrestling audience around the world that he is an incredibly versatile performer, versatile in a way no one had seen before while he was employed by WWE. He kept up this momentum for the rest of year and I found myself enjoy most of his matches this year as you will see in my 'Top 15 Matches Of The Year' later on in this blog.
Runner Ups:
Will Ospreay
Japanese strong style of wrestling is often seen as a very gruelling and physically intensive wrestling style, it leads to exciting matches but has a higher risk of injuries. Japanese tournaments then, are an even more gruelling and physically intensive part of the wrestling scene, usually opting for round robin tournaments with events every night, and with travelling around the country. Will Ospreay found himself being apart of the three biggest New Japan tournaments this year, putting his body on the line, especially with his high flying style, but ultimately resulting in the best matches of year across all three tournaments. When it comes bell to bell, I don't think there was anyone better in 2019, and although I believe Will Ospreay is a top tier athlete in every sense, with New Japan only bringing Ospreay to a full Heavyweight recently, it seems New Japan don't, and that in itself is frightening, Ospreay could be better than he is right now when he inevitably gets that support.
Shingo Takagi
To some, Shingo Takagi may be an odd choice for Wrestler Of The Year, yes he was and has been impressive all his career, but why this year over other competitors like Chris Jericho, who had a career rejuvenation again in 2019, or maybe some clearer main event stars like Seth Rollins or Adam Cole. The simple answer is: this was my first true exposure to the magnetic charisma of Takagi. Similar to Ospreay, Takagi found himself in both 'Best Of The Super Juniors' and 'G1 Climax' tournaments this year, therefore putting on several impressive matches in both. I would argue that Takagi found himself adjusting from junior heavyweight to heavyweight more fluidly than Ospreay. It felt like Takagi's star quality raised this year through these appearances and performances, where the year previous he was more of a tag team competitor for the uber popular 'Los Ingobernables de Japon', this year he felt he rivalled and surpassed his stablemates. I hope to see Takagi's stock rise even further in New Japan, but the obstacle of being more popular than L.I.J's leader Tetsuya Naito may be a barrier that he can never get past.
Female Wrestler Of The Year - Becky Lynch
Same as the male category but for female competitors. The best of the year.
Although there is an argument to be made that the initial wave of popularity that Lynch garnered in 2018 through her 'The Man' persona drastically went down over the course of 2019, it is hard to argue that Becky continues to be the most popular and entertaining part of women's wrestling around the world. 2019 saw her history defining Royal Rumble win and WrestleMania main event, plus a lot of the matches she had were great. It also seems Hollywood notice how popular Lynch is now and how much more she could be in the future.
Runner Ups:
Shayna Baszler
Even though Shayna Baszler has been a consistent on these lists, I have felt that Shayna has been a much more inconsistent performer. This year however, I felt she really reached the soaring heights that she would always allude to. There were a lot of highlights for her throughout the year, but the best section of time has to be the Survivor Series/War Games and eventual loss to Rhea Ripley. All of these marked Shayna as an ultimate tier competitor in my eyes, and although it seems Vince and other WWE backstage didn't fully agree, I think she is one of the best around.
Io Shirai
Io has been a popular joshi star for a long time, but as someone who has yet to delve into that scene I only got to see her talent when she debuted on NXT. When she did I really liked her but she felt like Kairi Sane's friend. She didn't feel like her own competitor. This year she underwent a gimmick change that felt both unique and refreshing. Io was always great in ring but the added character details from the new gimmick has made her a stand out in my eyes.
Tag Team Of The Year - The Young Bucks
Same as Male and Female awards but for the tag team division.
Yet another Young Bucks win. It is really hard for any other team to really make a valid case for The Young Bucks. They are consistent, they are talented, they have incomparable chemistry. This year with AEW debuting, a lot of the top stars have felt slightly weaker, like Kenny for example. But Young Bucks never lost a step.
Runner Ups:
Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish)
Last year I gave a runner up spot to Kyle and Roderick, but finally it's good to have the band back together with the original reDRagon. Not much more to say here other than these guys are consistently the second best to Young Bucks, when it comes to the top 2 tag teams these two are it.
Lucha Brothers
It feels like it has taken far too long to finally get the likes of Pentagon Jr and Fenix on my end year lists. I was a massive fan of Lucha Underground back during Seasons 1 & 2, but since then I tuned into some matches by Pentagon and Fenix but they weren't anywhere I watched consistently. Impact, sure, but I fell off that horse a long time ago. Finally AEW picked up the two and have been booking them as a team and they have been hot ever since, love them as a duo and singles, can't wait to see where AEW takes them.
Male Breakout Year - El Phantasmo
Runner Ups:
Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish)
Last year I gave a runner up spot to Kyle and Roderick, but finally it's good to have the band back together with the original reDRagon. Not much more to say here other than these guys are consistently the second best to Young Bucks, when it comes to the top 2 tag teams these two are it.
Lucha Brothers
It feels like it has taken far too long to finally get the likes of Pentagon Jr and Fenix on my end year lists. I was a massive fan of Lucha Underground back during Seasons 1 & 2, but since then I tuned into some matches by Pentagon and Fenix but they weren't anywhere I watched consistently. Impact, sure, but I fell off that horse a long time ago. Finally AEW picked up the two and have been booking them as a team and they have been hot ever since, love them as a duo and singles, can't wait to see where AEW takes them.
Male Breakout Year - El Phantasmo
New star or veteran, this award gives props to a wrestler who broke through and improved massively as a performer.
ELP made his New Japan debut this year by joining the Bullet Club and being a part of the Best Of The Super Juniors. Every single match the man had during that tournament was extremely entertaining, he is vastly talented and his heel demeanour and Bullet Club shenanigans in the mix, he comes across as a massive star. As a BritWres fan, I had been introduced to ELP in RevPro as the major fan favourite Babyface, he was impressive then but this new change in character gave him an edge. I got to see ELP wrestle on a RevPro show live inbetween the New Japan video tease being shown and his debut. He came out in his black gear which he would later use over seas, and he wasn't interacting with the fans anymore. He won his match and the crowd started chanting Bullet Club, he got on the mic and tried to wiggle his way around it. But it was all so clear to the fans and he left. It was a fun little thing that he had no reason to do, but made his eventual debut in New Japan a little cooler for me.
Runner Ups:
Lance Archer
Usually a 'Breakout Star' implies a young star who turns heads and people look at and say 'they are the future' but when I created this award, I wanted it to be inclusive of any wrestler who had a year where they showed massive improvement and change, who broke out. For me, I have always liked Lance Archer in New Japan, but he was in a team and overall that team never got to the heights that other teams did in my opinion. Lance is a veteran, but it doesn't mean he couldn't improve in a way that would turn heads. He did a mild change of look, and lent more heavily into his previous heel stuff, but the biggest thing was his in ring matches and his sense of legitimacy. Archer became a lethal agile big man in that squared circle and I love everything about it.
Robbie Eagles
Last year had Robbie Eagles in the Breakout team category with his then stablemate Taiji Ishimori. But this year Robbie went above and beyond, I was afraid that Robbie's time in New Japan was up after the junior tag tournament last year but he came back for the BOSJ and got everyone's attention with his great storytelling and jaw dropping move set. Also during this year Eagles went through a stable transition with a great story including ELP and Ospreay, eventually leading to Robbie taking on Ospreay and joining CHAOS. Following that tagging with Ospreay and being a part of the junior tag division.
Female Breakout Star - Rhea Ripley
Same as Male Breakout award but for female competitors.
Rhea Ripley was a talent in NXT UK the year previous, but there is an inherent lower value to a star on that show in comparison to even normal NXT. So when Rhea made her jump to Full Sail and started making massive waves as a competitor on that show, it didn't go unnoticed. It didn't take long for the Full Sail faithful and everyone at home to be swooned by her swagger and in ring capability, allowing her to stroll so easily into the NXT Women's Championship scene and be the eventually foil to the formidable Shayna Baszler. Here's to hopefully seeing more of Rhea in the main event scene.
Runner Ups:
Riho
Similar to other entries on my year end lists, Riho isn't an unknown quantity in some circles and so the idea of her being a breakout is maybe slightly insulting. But for me, this is my first exposure to her and she is one of a kind. Riho as the innate capability to make an entire arena cheer for her with just the simple movements of her moveset and transitions in-between. Realistically that is all any wrestler ever does, or aims to do, but Riho does this so flawlessly and so convincingly that it's really quite hard to forget that this is pro wrestling. Of course it helps if your face to face with a monstrous opponent, like...
Nyla Rose
Although at times Nyla Rose can seem a tad under experienced between the ropes, she has done more great than awful and the matches with Riho in AEW have proven to be the basis on the fledgling companies women's division. Nyla has come across as a massive threat and completely legitimate while also having an exciting moveset that you've not really seen from a monstrous women's wrestler before.
Tag Team Breakout Year - Private Party
Same as the previous awards but for the tag division.
Although the runner ups for this award are more experienced, Private Party in my eyes have been the biggest breakout. Only been around for a short amount of time AEW snapped up the young guys and they have proven ten fold that they have incredible talent, and with more experience these two maybe just topple The Young Bucks one day.
Runner Ups:
Santana & Ortiz
Santana and Ortiz have been around for a while, and have been impressive for a while. So the idea of this year being their breakout is probably untrue, but from my eyes, Santana and Ortiz have made there presence on the tag team division of wrestling very clear by having some of the best tag matches of the year. Add the fact they are on weekly television with one of the legends of the business Chris Jericho, and it's easy to see why this might be their breakout for a lot of people.
Street Profits
It felt like Street Profits were one of the hidden and forgotten tags of NXT for a long time, there were always rumblings that they were an exceptional team, but NXT didn't give the duo many times to show it on their weekly tv. That was until this year where it felt like out of nowhere the duo made massive waves, and by the time they had won the NXT Tag Team championships they were already starting to get utilised on WWE's main roster. The promos from the two on Raw were starting to become a highlight and their exciting Tag belt win and defences on NXT were turning heads, I'm personally excited to see if they continue this hot streak.
Top 15 Matches Of The Year
The most coveted award in my mind, The absolute best 15 matches that happened in 2019 according to me.
A surprising change this year was when I watched some of the Best Of The Super Juniors for the first time, here you will start to see that reflected.
Top 5 Feuds OF The Year
One side of wrestling is the in ring work, the other is storytelling, this award gives props to the best stories in wrestling this year.
5. Shayna Baszler vs Rhea Ripley
4. Robbie Eagles, Will Ospreay, El Phantasmo
3. Jon Moxley vs Juice Robinson
2. Jon Moxley vs Kenny Omega
1. Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston
Event Of The Year - NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors Finals
What I considered to be the best all around event of 2019, from start to finish.
A show that really just came out of left field for me personally, but the two biggest matches on the card with every other bout being good too meant that it was the most enjoyable show to watch this year.
Promotion Of The Year - New Japan Pro Wrestling
The award for the consistently best wrestling company of the year.
This is no real surprise, yet again New Japan take the award, it will be interesting to see what the inclusion of a full year of AEW will do to this award. They are the best shot at dethroning New Japan for me, but I don't see it happening just yet if we go by the current offering from the new company.
That was the The Fluffies for this year, see you next time, with more of my opinions of wrestling.
