This is the next chapter of a year by year retrospective from my viewpoint as a wrestling fan. What did I watch, what was good, what was bad, which men and women were the best and what matches and moments stood out.
2021 was the year that things began to return to normal after being in our homes for several months. The Thunderdome would eventually be decommissioned, and we would once again be able to experience pro wrestling live and in person for every company. The Bloodline Saga was fully up and running, and was beginning to change the fortunes of the company and the entire business. Some more high profile names would make the jump over to AEW and would set the wrestling media ablaze in the process. John Cena, Brock Lesnar, and Becky Lynch would return, and Sting would return to the squared circle. We would also have what I have called the Blackest Year in Pro Wrestling, where from WWE to ROH to MLW to the indies there were more Black wrestlers holding championships and rising up on rosters than at any other time in history.
So let’s get to it.
The Good
We got to go to shows again! After the bizarre and outright weird experiences of the empty PC and the Thunderdome it was great to hear real people cheering and booing from inside the arena. And I made it a point to get to as many of them as I could. I did a double feature on 9/11 weekend going to MSG for Smackdown and a house show in DC the next day, then Ring of Honor Final Battle and the WWE Holiday Tour in December. Pro wrestling was truly one of the things that helped usher us out of what had been a really dark time the year before.
It was a good year for AEW. Their TV ratings and attendance were holding steady, and in the Fall they got some major new additions in Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole and one Phillip Jack Brooks aka CM Punk (more on him later). They ran a show at the new Arthur Ashe stadium and drew over 20,000 people on a Wednesday night. And there was a brief period where, albeit foolishly, some serious people thought they might be finally gaining some real ground on the WWE. As fleeting as it was, seeing Bryan Danielson go at it with Kenny Omega truly was a delight:
Speaking of WWE, the return to performing in front of crowds was a hit. Starting with Money in the Bank in July the buildings were rocking once again and the shows felt like we were back to normal again. Of course the vibes won’t last if the product isn’t good but that wasn’t a problem as the Bloodline Saga hit full speed and the women’s division was rocking through the Summer and Fall. John Cena returned for a brief time and helped get the house show scene moving again.
The Bad
Ring of Honor would shut down at the end of year, dead by the hands of AEW, COVID, and Sinclair Broadcasting’s money troubles. AEW robbed them of the Elite, COVID shut them down for months and then Sinclair had to spin them off when they had to shed stations to settle debts. They made a couple of bad booking decisions along the way (Matt Taven as World Champ for like 6 months was a choice), but nothing they did hurt as much as those three things I mentioned. And it was a shame because they’d really turned a corner creatively when the bottom fell out. I went to Final Battle in December and it was a big bittersweet farewell to everything. Yes, Tony Khan would buy it and revive it but that doesn’t make what happened here any better.
On the WWE front there was some bad stuff, too. Releases happened again and they were a doozy. There was a round after WrestleMania that claimed people as big as Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman along with some closer to the bottom of the roster like the Ruby Riott and Lana. There was the incident where Mickie James’ items were put in a trash bag for her to take out when she got released, and where Alaister Black got released right after appearing on TV! Then another round came shortly after the draft and included people who had just recently come up from NXT like Karrion Kross and Tegan Nox along with veterans like Nia Jax. Vince seemed to just thrown up his hands and said ‘I got no use for these folks’ and sent them away.
That wasn’t the only bad time in WWE – there was the infamous belt swap segment, where Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair exchanged belts after being drafted to the opposite brand of the title they were holding. The less said about it, the better. FU Vince for cooking up one up.
Last but definitely not least there was the exploding barbed wire death match at AEW Revolution. What was supposed to be a tribute to fabled Japanese promotion FMW turned into a laughingstock of a fiasco when the big explosion we had been sold was going to happen turned out to be something that would get booed at a local fireworks show, just like it did here:
Anything special happen?
Night one of WrestleMania featured a historic main event between Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Title. It was the second time Women main evented WrestleMania but the first time two Black women main evented a WWE pay per view against each other. Every now and then WWE fulfills it’s true potential in entertainment and this was one of those times. A million words have been spoken about it already, and to this day I can’t do it justice but I’ll just reiterate that for decades Black women wrestlers existed primarily to prop up their white counterparts while never getting the same accolades so for two of them to get the spotlight to themselves on this stage was such a huge deal.
But that wasn’t all. At some point or another in 2021 Black wrestlers won and held 6 out of the 9 active WWE titles, 5 out of the 6 titles in Ring of Honor, and the MLW National Openweight Title. Black wrestlers began to thrive on the indie scene in larger numbers than ever before. Bobby Lashley and Big E main evented WWE PPVs and Big E won Money in the Bank. 4 different times in WWE when a title changed hands one Black wrestler or Tag Team lost it to another one. And in the Final PPV of the year, Ring of Honor’s Final Battle two Black wrestlers (Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham) main evented while two Shane Taylor and Kenny King battled in a marquee match that had a full on Black Power salute afterwards. As a Black wrestling fan this was a year that will probably never be duplicated and needs to be put in a time capsule.
And lastly there was a transformation in NXT. The Black and Gold Era, where it was essentially and indie company with a bigger budget, came to an end. The Black and Gold Era had some outstanding matches and shows from 2017 to 2020 but in it’s last year had begun to tail off. A big part of that was that since 2019 we had the full realization of what it could be over in AEW, which left it looking like a lesser copy instead of the striking contrast to the WWE main roster that it used to be. 2021 would see the beginning of NXT 2.0, where the indie veterans would be replaced by younger people, largely recent college athletes and a few who were already working but were still new to the business. The stark change rattled some people but it was a much needed Kickstart to what was supposed to be the developmental brand of WWE.
Awards – Who was the best?
Top 5 Male Wrestlers: 1. Roman Reigns, 2. Kenny Omega, 3. Bobby Lashley, 4. Drew McIntyre 5. Daniel Bryan (Danielson)
Roman Reigns was the unquestioned King of Pro Wrestling in 2021 as every day of every week he was the number one topic of discussion, the number one star, and the main event of every show he was on even if he didn’t go on last (or at all, in the case of Hell in a Cell that year). Omega was the ace over in AEW, holding the World Title for most of the year and having mostly banger matches (that one explosion match notwithstanding), during a year when they were still considered a threat to WWE’s audience. Drew and Bobby dominated the first eight months on Monday Night RAW and were the clear top men on the program while they were champs. They faced each other 3 different times on PPV for the World Title, including at WrestleMania. And Danielson may have had the best full year of ringwork taking his act from WWE to AEW and putting on stellar matches in both places
Honorable Mentions: Big E, Seth Rollins, Edge, Hangman Page
Putting Big E in the honorable mention section is a choice given all that he won this year, I know. But in hindsight even as he stacked up titles and victories he wasn’t treated as much of a big deal as he should have been even as World Champion. He was top 5 in terms of kayfabe accomplishments, sure, but when push came to shove they always let you know he was the ‘other’ World Champion.
Top 5 Women Wrestlers: 1. Bianca Belair, 2. Charlotte Flair, 3. Britt Baker, 4. Becky Lynch, 5. Deonna Purazzo
Bianca ruled the world of women’s wrestling through Summerslam and was still doing great work through the rest of the year. Charlotte came on with a vengeance after WrestleMania and took her omission from that show personally and went on to do some of the best work of her career. Baker claimed the AEW women’s title and it’s throne as the top woman in the company. Lynch only worked for the last four months of the year but did great enough work over that time to garner a spot this high. And Purazzo was great at leading the Knockouts Division in Impact.
Honorable Mentions: Rhea Ripley, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Asuka, Rox C
Standout Matches
- Women’s Royal Rumble
- Sasha Banks vs Bianca Belair, WrestleMania 37
- Roman Reigns vs Edge vs Daniel Bryan, WrestleMania 37
- Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match
- Charlotte Flair vs Rhea Ripley, Money in the Bank
- Edge vs Seth Rollins, Summerslam
- Bryan Danielson vs Kenny Omega, AEW Grand Slam
- Edge vs Seth Rollins, Crown Jewel
- Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks vs Bianca Belair, Crown Jewel
- Sasha Banks vs Bianca Belair, Smackdown
- Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch, Smackdown
- Charlotte Flair vs Bianca Belair, October 18 RAW
- Hangman Page vs Kenny Omega, Full Gear
- Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch, Survivor Series
- The Briscoes vs Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, ROH Final Battle
- Shane Taylor vs Kenny King, ROH Final Battle
Others worth your time: Bad Bunny and Damien Priest vs Miz and John Morrison at WrestleMania 37, Ripley vs Flair vs Asuka at Backlash, Belair vs Bayley at Backlash and Hell in a Cell, Flair vs Ripley vs Nikki ASH at Summerslam, Men’s Elimination Match at Survivor Series
There’s one more I want to mention – the Zombie Lumberjack match at WWE Backlash was ripped to shreds by the IWC but I thoroughly enjoyed it so it makes the list. You guys just hate fun.
Match of the Year
Men: Reigns vs Edge vs Bryan at WrestleMania
The main event of the first WWE show back in front of people, and the image that would cement who the top dog in professional wrestling was now. If you’re a star ratings guy you’ll probably pick something else since this was mired with a lot of outside interference but it was still a great match in it’s own right that, combined with it’s significance, make it the pick for me.
Women: Banks vs Belair at WrestleMania
On night one, they made history and did it in great fashion. Unlike my men’s pick you can call it the best match of the year if you’re a star rating type and no one should argue with you.
Show of the Year
AEW Full Gear
It was the first PPV after the arrivals of Punk, Cole, and Danielson and the last one before reality would begin to set back in about who was who in the whole AEW/WWE situation. It was also chock full of great matches from those guys, MJF and Darby Allin, and the big main event where Hangman Page finished his story vs Kenny Omega.
My runner up is Summerslam. It had several great matches but it also reset the table in the WWE with the returns of Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar, the further establishment of Reigns and the Usos and Charlotte Flair, and big first title wins for guys like Damien Priest and Matt Riddle. It also gave us the ‘F- them kids’ moment of the year from Bobby Lashley:
Final Verdict
I’m gonna give it an A. There was great ring work all year, lots of great shows and great feuds. And I was able to attend a few of them so that always helps. My favorite people had great years, too. Yes there were plenty of bad things but the good overwhelmed by far IMO.
The grade tally so far – 2012: B, 2013: C, 2014: A, 2015: A-, 2016: A, 2017: C, 2018: B, 2019: C, 2020: C
Stroke of Genius 